DUP would never agree to Irish Language Act - Foster

• By Deputy Political Editor Tracey Magee

Arlene Foster has insisted that the DUP would never agree to an Irish Language Act.

Twenty-five days to go to polling day and the election campaign is finally hotting up.

In a speech to the party faithful in Lurgan on Monday morning, Arlene Foster launched a broadside on her former Executive partner Sinn Féin.

She accused the party of plunging Stormont into crisis to pursue its own agenda and she'd a stark message for republicans on their call for an Irish language Act.

"This characterisation of we should have given something to Sinn Féin to keep them appeased is not the way I do business," she said.

"If you feed a crocodile they are going to keep coming back and looking for more."Not long after Sinn Féin held its own event in Belfast.

The party's new northern leader Michelle O'Neill dismissed the DUP leader's comments.

"We are not interested in negativity," she said.

"We are fighting this campaign. We have launched our candidates here this morning on the basis of three key principles - respect, equality for all, and integrity in the political institutions.

"That's our job of work, that's what we are concerned with."

This election is gathering pace but unlike the last election this is shaping up to be a confrontation between former partners in government the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Meanwhile the SDLP and Ulster Unionists were talking up their plans to work together after the election.The SDLP were holding their own event near Lurgan on Monday morning with leader Colum Eastwood committing to work in partnership with the Ulster Unionists.

"Choose parties who want to work together for the common good," he said.

"I want to make clear today that no amount of criticism will change that commitment.

"I will stick by it and I stand by it. We will co-operate, compromise and if given the opportunity we will share power."

The Ulster Unionist leader seemed to agree with that position.

Mike Nesbitt said: "Colum talks about making Northern Ireland work, so do I and we measure it terms of the prosperity of our people, not just economically but also in terms of their wellbeing.

"We would be more than happy to work with the SDLP on the far side of this election."

Meanwhile Alliance leader Naomi Long has concerns about how this election campaign is shaping up.

"What worries me more, I have to say, is the genuinely abusive tone of some of the exchanges so early in this campaign," she said.

"At the end of the day, we should expect better from our political leaders than what amounts to trash talk before a wrestling match because that’s not what politics is about."

So this campaign is gathering pace but there's still four weeks to go to polling day. If the DUP and Sinn Féin confrontation turns ugly the question is how will the politicians put Stormont back together again after the votes are counted.