Stormont passes motion criticising DUP’s boycott of north-south meetings

During the debate, the assembly was told First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly could not provide a response because “there is no shared position across the joint office”.

The NSMC was set up under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and involves ministers from Dublin and Stormont working together on matters of mutual interest.

Sinn Féin assembly member Declan Kearney said that in a “post-Brexit era”, north-south cooperation “has never been more important”.

He said any attempts to “hollow out” any institutions of the agreement were “unacceptable”.

Supporting the motion, Alliance Party assembly member Paula Bradshaw said she shared the “frustration” over the past boycott of NSMC meetings.

Former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said the refusal to attend NSMC meetings “didn’t achieve anything”.

But he said he was “not sure what this motion is trying to achieve”.