Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The call by Sinn Fein for Westminster to legislate for Irish over the head of Stormont should herald the death knell of devolution.
“The Protocol trashed the principle of consent which supposedly was the cornerstone of the Belfast Agreement.
“We have the most liberal abortion regime in Europe because Westminster went over the heads of MLAs.
“Sinn Fein are now demanding that this route is used to bring in Irish language legislation.
“If devolution can be bypassed by Republicans at will then there is no point in devolution. Unionism needs to make it clear that if Irish language legislation is passed at Westminster then Stormont is over and the project in which London and Dublin have invested 20 years in is at an end. If the supposed protections of the Belfast Agreement can be cast aside whenever Sinn Fein make a demand they are worthless.
“Doubtless there will be some in the DUP who will regard this as a very convenient solution to a tricky problem. Perhaps all the talks Mr Poots has been having with Sinn Fein in recent weeks have been leading to this as the agreed outcome. Such cynical behaviour will not wash with the Unionist electorate. If Mr Poots gets his man in as First Minister on the basis of such a shady agreement he will never be forgiven by the Unionist electorate.”