Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has dismissed the significance of US newspaper adverts calling for a date for a referendum on Irish unity, describing them as routine expressions of opinion by Irish American organisations.
The adverts, paid for by Friends of Sinn Fein Inc, appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post on Wednesday. They were criticised by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as unhelpful at a "sensitive moment" for powersharing restoration in Northern Ireland, and by DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who called them "incredible" and divisive.
Speaking at a gala dinner in Washington DC, where she is attending St Patrick's Day events alongside other Irish political leaders, McDonald said: "They’re ads from Irish American organisations whose view on reunification is well known and held for a very long time and they take out ads every year." She urged focus on restoring the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, which remain blocked by the DUP's boycott over the post-Brexit Windsor Framework.
McDonald acknowledged the DUP's right to seek clarification on the Framework but stressed it would not be renegotiated. She called on the DUP to end its Stormont boycott while deliberating, stating: "The negotiation is over, the agreement has been struck... we need to get the Assembly back up and running and we need the executive to work for everybody."
