DUP north-south boycott is ‘cutting off nose to spite face’

Minister of Finance Conor Murphy has criticised the DUP boycott of NSMC meetings (Peter Morrison/PA)

The DUP’s boycott of cross-border meetings has been described by Stormont’s finance minister as “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face”.

Conor Murphy made the remark as he told MLAs that he had to bring a paper seeking approval for £1bn of EU peace funding to an earlier meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NMSC) to ensure that some of the money was not lost.