Sinn Fein pulls out of protocol meeting after party leader ‘excluded’

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sinn Fein has dramatically withdrawn from roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly over the Northern Ireland Protocol, claiming party leader Mary Lou McDonald was excluded from attending. A party spokesperson said: “In an extraordinary turn of events last night we were informed that the British government is excluding the Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald from today’s meeting. “We look forward to engaging with the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and the British Labour leader Keir Starmer tomorrow.” Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill accused the British government of “bad faith and petulance”. “The restoration of devolved government is only made sustainable when the protocol is replaced by arrangements that restore Northern Ireland’s constitutional and economic place within the United Kingdom.” The visit follows Mr Cleverly’s meeting with Vice President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, on Monday, where they reached an agreement on the way forward regarding the EU’s access to UK IT systems that provide live information about what goods are moving across from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.