Powersharing negotiations will require more than “nice words” to restore the Stormont Executive, Michelle O’Neill has warned.
The warning came after a day of talks involving Northern Ireland’s five main political parties and Secretary of State James Brokenshire.
Ms O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s Northern Ireland leader, said: “We’ll see what happens over the course of the week but obviously today there has been a whole series of engagements and we will be engaging in a whole series of meetings throughout this week.
“It’s certainly been useful in terms of the engagement that we’ve had and in terms of understanding positions, but really what we need to see is more than nice words.
“We need to see delivery, we need to see outstanding agreements implemented, we need to see rights delivered for all citizens, and that’s the basis that we can form a sustainable executive and one that can actually stand the test of time.”
She added that her party remains committed to the return of powersharing: “We have to talk, we have to deal with these issues, and certainly from a Sinn Fein point of view, we want to restore the executive, but it has to be an executive that works for everybody.”
Michelle O’Neill and Arlene Foster. (Niall Carson/PA)
The party has previously said there can be no return to government without assurances from the DUP that a standalone Irish language act will be introduced, as well as legislation to introduce marriage rights for same-sex couples.
The DUP has insisted it has no preconditions for returning to government and remains committed to powersharing.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has suggested that cross-community legislation could be introduced to protect the rights of Irish language and Ulster Scots speakers.
However, this was rejected by Sinn Fein, who said the proposal was “nothing new”.
Last week, Mr Brokenshire called on the parties to reach an agreement to return to government: “The window of opportunity to restore devolution and to form an executive is closing rapidly as we move further into the autumn, and with pressures in public services already evident, the need for intervention is becoming increasingly clear.”