The First Minister has told the DUP leader Gavin Robinson he should “butt out” of an argument about a jobs fair in Derry as the row betwen government parties deepens.
Michelle O’Neill was responding after the British Army was told it could not have a stall at the event on Tuesday.
Taking place at the council-owned Foyle Arena, the fair had been organised by the Department for Communities.
Following criticism from Sinn Féin and SDLP councillors, defence officials were told that Derry City and Strabane Council was unable to offer them a stand.
The DUP’s Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has said he is now taking legal advice over the decision.
On Tuesday morning Mr Robinson said it was unfair for young people in the city to be denied the opportunity to learn about a career in the armed forces, and called on Ms O’Neill to show she really was “the First Minister for all.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson called for unity from ministers (Liam McBurney/PA)
Speaking to the BBC, Ms O’Neill said that Mr Robinson should respect the “democratic process” of the council, that it was “inappropriate” for the army to be invited and she would not “take lectures” from him about the issue.
“It may not have went the way the DUP would have liked, but they have to respect the outcome,” she said.
“It sounds to me like the old days of DUP domination where they got to call the shots, this choice needs to be honoured.”
In a statement, the Sinn Féin MLA Ciara Ferguson said: “Derry and Strabane Council are democratically entitled to make decisions that relates to council property and to reflect, in doing so, the deep hurt that the British Army inflicted on the people of Derry.
“The DUP leader might want to believe that we have somehow reverted to the dark days of unionist domination but those days are gone and they are never coming back.
“Michelle O’Neill has consistently shown she is and will continue to be a First Minister for All.”
The SDLP’s Foyle MP Colum Eastwood also defended councillors opposing the army involvement, noting that Mr Robinson should show “more empathy” with families in the city still affected by the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972.
“In less than a week Soldier F will stand trial charged with the murder of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murder of five others,” he said.
“It was completely right in those circumstances, setting aside the clear security concerns and the risk that the event would be disrupted, that councillors raise their very serious objections.”
Last week, Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson said his party “fully opposed” the army job stand, while the SDLP’s Brian Tierney said “ample opportunities” were available elsewhere and suggested it would have created a security risk.
The Ulster Unionist councillor Derek Hussey described some of the criticism during a heated council debate last week as “sheer hatred and bigotry.”
The Ministry of Defence said they were no longer offered a stand at Tuesday’s job fair. (Jane Barlow/PA)
Mr Robinson called the decision to exclude that army a “failure of leadership” within both the SDLP and Sinn Féin because of their “prejudice.”
“They’re going to have to get over themselves on the aspirations of their neighbours…on the fact that there are other people in Northern Ireland that think differently from them.”
Referencing Michelle O’Neill, he said “the First Minister for all needs to speak up and say her people got it wrong…they have created a hostile environment which is unwelcome in Northern Ireland.”
“She attends events with the Commander in Chief of the British Armed Forces and she gets plaudits for doing it, but it’s meaningless if her councillors are acting in this way in Londonderry.”
“It is intolerable and it is unsustainable that it’s ok to sip champagne with the commander in chief of the armed forces, but to deny opportunities to the young people of Londonderry.”