Anger over Sinn Fein meeting with Ministers

The Government was today warned by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble that it was being used by Sinn Fein for electoral purposes by holding talks with Stormont ministers Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brun.

Mr Trimble said he could not understand why Health Minister Micheal Martin and Education Minister Michael Woods were meeting their Stormont opposite numbers in Dublin today.

The Northern Ireland First Minister said he was going to lodge a protest with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern about the meeting at Dublin Castle which is taking place despite the Ulster Unionist ban on Sinn Fein ministers attending North South Ministerial Council meetings.

He said: "This is simply a political stunt. It has got nothing to do with the Sinn Fein ministers discharging ministerial duties.

"It is completely disingenuous to say that. This will not be a formal North South meeting. They are operating outside the structures but that in itself will tend to undermine the structures.

"For short-term political gain, they could do long-term damage to the North South Ministerial Council.

"But what disturbs me most is the behaviour of the Irish ministers. I really am astonished at their behaviour.

"They must know they are being used as an electoral stunt by Sinn Fein, so why are they doing this?"

Mr Trimble said it was clear that Sinn Fein would exploit the meeting between Mr McGuinness and Ms de Brun with their Irish counterparts during the election.

He said it raised serious questions about the Government’s attitude.

"I will be making representations to Mr Ahern about this matter immediately.

"I regard it as ill-advised and wholly inappropriate."

Mr Trimble introduced the ban on Sinn Fein ministers attending cross-border body meetings in November in a bid to force progress on IRA decommissioning.

However, in January a judicial review in Belfast’s High Court declared the ban illegal.

Mr Trimble has not lifted his sanction, claiming the judgment also enabled him to withhold nominations of ministers to the NSMC if he believed they were unsuitable to represent the Stormont power-sharing executive.

He is also appealing against the judgment.

Before the meeting today, Ms de Brun said the ban on her and her colleague needed to be lifted.

"The work we are involved in through the health and education sectoral meetings is vitally important to everyone on this island," she said.

"We need to remove the blockage created by David Trimble so that we can get on with this important work that we need to carry out."

However the Ulster Unionist responded by claiming Sinn Fein was acting in a "cavalier manner".