Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by thanking the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Teachta Coveney, and the team of Government officials who participated in all of the discussions at Stormont Castle. I want to commend also our own negotiating team who have been immersed in this process for weeks and months and who for our part, to reassure the House, have kept channels of communication with every party and with Independents open. That is as it should be. It is a fair ask of the Taoiseach that he would also meet with the other parties, so I support that.

The outcome of all of this is certainly not one we wanted. We are disappointed, but we are not deflected from the task at hand. It boils down to this. The DUP has adopted and seeks to defend an approach that is anti-equality. The issues at stake are issues of long standing. They are not orange or green. They are not Sinn Féin issues; they are civic issues. They are issues around equality before the law, in the case of marriage equality, or a bill of rights, as agreed at the time of the Good Friday Agreement. It is an issue around Acht na Gaeilge, for all Gaelgóirí. Their religious denomination does not matter. These are fundamental building blocks of identity, respect for diversity and, as I said earlier, equality before the law. The Taoiseach and the Government in Dublin not only have a right but an absolute responsibility to have a view and to pursue a progressive agenda on all of these matters.

We need to get the institutions back in place. That is still the position. The DUP has its confidence and supply agreement with Theresa May. I believe she has a very serious case to answer in terms of her role and the role of the Tories in subverting the dynamic of the talks. Has the Taoiseach spoken directly with Mrs. May on the implementation of these rights-based matters?

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