O'Neill to meet senior US officials in Washington

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill will travel to Washington on Monday for talks with US officials

Michelle O'Neill is to travel to Washington on Monday to meet senior US officials and members of Congress.

The Sinn Féin deputy leader plans to discuss the political situation in Northern Ireland following the outcome of the recent council elections.

The party won 144 council seats, up from the 105 councillors they had in 2019.

The party is now the largest in both local government and Stormont for the first time.

Stormont's assembly and governing executive are not functioning because of a protest by the the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) against post-Brexit trading rules.

Clear signal

Ms O'Neill said the people of Northern Ireland had sent a "clear signal that they want parties working together around the executive table".

President Biden met Mr Sunak in Belfast in April during his visit to Ireland

Ms O'Neill's visit comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to travel to Washington on Wednesday for talks with US President Joe Biden.

The leaders are expected to discuss trade as well as the war in Ukraine.

The White House said the pair would also discuss the situation in Northern Ireland.

Michelle O'Neill says the people of Northern Ireland want Stormont back up and running

Michelle O'Neill said the United States has been a "key partner for peace in Ireland for decades".

She said she would be urging the US administration "to impress on the British prime minister during his visit to Washington this week to start working with their partners in the Irish government to prioritise restoration" of Stormont.

She said there was an onus on the two governments "to realise the promise and potential of the Good Friday Agreement and its institutions".

More needed from UK

Last month DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party had concluded that the Windsor Framework, agreed between the UK and EU to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol, did not pass seven tests the DUP had set out for it to support any NI post-Brexit arrangements.

As a result, he said, "more work is required by the UK government if we are to secure the necessary conditions for a return of the Northern Ireland Executive".