Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney met with a delegation of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on a visit to Stormont on Monday.

The delegation included Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister and Chair of the Delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly Nathalie Loiseau.

Speaking after the meeting, the party’s Brexit spokesperson said:

“I was delighted to meet with a delegation of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee today. I commended the Committee on its consistent engagement with political and civic leaders in the north, and addressed the huge importance of the Peace Plus official announcement just last week. I also stressed the need for ongoing and close working partnership between this region and the EU. 

“The committee is currently working on a report on the implementation of the Windsor Framework.

“I strongly welcome that members of the committee restated their support for the Windsor Framework and the restoration of our political institutions.

“The Windsor Framework is now an integral part of the protocol and is widely supported across the north, in Westminster and the EU. 

“The British Government has made it very clear that further renegotiation of the Windsor Framework is not plausible and that the matter is settled. This is the unambiguous position of the European Commission.

“I pointed out that in a time of such economic difficulty for workers and families and endemic crisis across public services, it is beyond belief that the DUP appears determined to undermine the significant potential granted by the Windsor Framework to the north’s economy. 

“It is time for that party to end its anti-democratic boycott of the assembly and return to the power sharing institutions. We need a return to power sharing and the North/South institutions to realise the potential of the Windsor Framework, and create the political stability needed to begin addressing the scale of crisis across our public services.”