By David Thompson

Copyright newsletter

The Sinn Fein leader’s comments were made during first minister’s questions in the Assembly, when she was asked what she was doing to promote the aerospace and defence sectors in Northern Ireland. Ms O’Neill said responding by saying that the Windsor Framework’s so-called dual market access is at the heart of the Executive’s economic strategy – and that it would work to “support all of our industries”. DUP MLA David Brooks then challenged the first minister on her boycott of last week’s state banquet at Windsor Castle – and recent remarks in which she said she was “incredulous” about government defence investment in a local defence firm. The minister said it is “right and proper” to have business engagements – and to sell the message “that we’re a great place to live, to work and to invest”. “But don’t sell your soul just in terms of short-termism, just to go to banquets and sip champagne whilst people in Gaza are starving”, Ms O’Neill added. Responding to the remarks, Mr Brooks told the News Letter that growth in the economy “is happening despite Sinn Fein, rather than because of them. “The First Minister said she was ‘incredulous’ that NI might be part of a £1.6billion deal that would see missiles manufactured in Belfast used to defend the people of Ukraine. “The UK will continue to play a vital international role with NI and our local companies at the leading edge of aerospace and defence technologies which not only assist in global security but provide significant scope for further economic growth locally. “In the last few weeks we have seen a significant jobs announcement from Bank of America, which has come directly from UK engagement with the administration in Washington. Those 1,000 jobs seem to be part of what Michelle O’Neill describes as ‘selling your soul’. That sums up a Sinn Fein who prefer virtue signalling to delivering jobs for the people of Northern Ireland.”