SF: DUP must respect our democratic mandate

Sinn Féin chairman Mitchell McLaughlin says the DUP must "respect Sinn Féin's mandate" and concentrate on agreeing a package that will quickly see the political institutions re-established in the North.

He was responding to an article by the DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson in yesterday's Irish Times in which he said the Sinn Féin electoral mandate did not make the party democratic.

The DUP is very firmly of the view that just because thousands of people vote Sinn Féin, it does not make the party a democratic partner.

Republicans must fully disarm and end all IRA activities before the DUP will see Sinn Féin as a fully legitimate party, said Mr Robinson.

Sinn Féin, however, says that its voters must be treated equally with those who vote for other political parties.

It says it cannot be held responsible for the IRA's actions.

Mitchell McLaughlin said it was way past time the DUP accepted that and treated his party with the respect it deserved as representing a majority of nationalists.

The problems faced were huge, he said, but there was no reason not to tackle them now.