NI election 2022: Parties clash at first leaders debate

The leaders of Northern Ireland's five main political parties have clashed over the DUP's decision to collapse the executive.

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill accused DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, of being "dishonest".

This was over his claim that £300m left unspent could have been used without the executive meeting.

While Alliance leader Naomi Long said his claim other parties were playing politics was "a scurrilous allegation."

But the UTV debate - the first in this election campaign - also saw Michelle O'Neill come under pressure.

This was over a Sunday Times story which reported that two years ago Sinn Féin national chairperson Declan Kearney wrote to the political wing of the New IRA, the group behind the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, seeking a meeting to arrange a common strategy to pursue a border poll.

When it was put to Ms O'Neill that her party had been "found out", she said: "Firstly, let me say the tragic loss of Lyra McKee was shocking and still has ripples right across our society.

"No gangs who are involved in criminality, who are involved in armed actions, should exist today. So as political leaders we all have a responsibility to call it out and say no, nae, never, it shouldn't happen."

However she said Declan Kearney "reached out" saying they must work towards Irish unity and change in the constitutional position, only by consent.

But Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who has spent much of the campaign warning Sinn Féin would use an election victory to pursue its claims for a border poll, said the story proved what his party had been saying.

He commented: "It's particularly an issue when you have Sinn Féin looking to build an alliance with people who are still committing murder on our streets to deliver their unity goal."

'Nothing to offer'

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "These people will not be involved with me in trying to build a new Ireland. They have nothing to offer in that. They should be rejected and that's the way to deal with them."

While the Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said: "There's a real issue here and that's the issue of trust. The Real IRA are a dissident group which are still maiming and murdering people, our citizens, here in Northern Ireland.

"If people are doing stuff behind closed doors in order to create a coalition that is really concerning for us."

The Alliance leader and Justice Minister, Naomi Long, said "When it comes to engaging with paramilitary organisations and those who front them up and speak on their behalf I have a fairly clear line on this.

"The only conversations we should be having with them, whether they are loyalists or dissident republicans, is a conversation about when they are going to stop."

But the most feisty clashes during the hour-long debate were over the DUP's decision to collapse the Executive.

There's a reason why this has been the dullest Northern Ireland election campaign in years.

No-one wants to drop the ball and make a mistake they will not recover from.

After this first leaders' debate nothing has changed - no big blows landed and no new revelations.

It's as-you-were, wherever that is.

Michelle O'Neill started off on the defensive over the Sunday Times story that her party wrote to the political wing of the New IRA a year after Lyra McKee's murder seeking a meeting over the pursuit of a border poll.

Then it was the turn of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to feel the heat over the DUP's decision to pull down the executive leaving unspent three hundred million pounds which could have gone to relieve the cost of living crisis.

We've heard most of it before. Maybe that will change when they do it all again on the BBC on Tuesday night at 9pm. But don't bet on it

'Absolutely dishonest'

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the £300 million unspent, because of the decision, could still have been used claiming he proposed at a party leaders' meeting the energy payment support scheme could have been extended to help working families.

But Ms O'Neill accused him of being "absolutely dishonest" adding the money could only be spent by a functioning Executive.

He interjected claiming that the money could have been spent by the Sinn Féin Finance Minister Conor Murphy, a claim rejected by Ms O'Neill.

He went on to accuse the other parties of "playing politics" with the issue. But that brought a sharp response from Naomi Long who called it a "scurrilous allegation."

She added: "All of us want to see money in people's pockets and want to help people with cost of living crisis. But it was very clear, in terms of the advice that we have received as ministers, that we cannot make decisions that are cross-cutting, that are significant and that are novel."

Mr Beattie said "As politicians the bottom line is all of us have failed the people. It was £300m, it wouldn't have fixed all the problems but it would have given them money in their pockets in the short term and that was important. That's a failure, that's a failure of politics to help the people that we should be helping."

A second leaders' debate will take place on BBC Northern Ireland on Tuesday at 9pm.