We won't be held to ransom over Executive formation, says Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill

Prospective Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said they won't be "held to ransom" over the DUP's refusal to re-enter the Stormont Executive.

In a press conference on Monday, she also vowed to be an inclusive and respectful first minister.

She was speaking in the aftermath of Thursday's election that saw Sinn Féin returned as the biggest party in Northern Ireland.

The DUP has been defiant it will not nominate Executive ministers while problems persist around the NI Protocol.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he does not plan to be personally involved in the Northern Ireland talks and Downing Street played down reports of a Cabinet rift over the protocol.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Ms O'Neill said: "The people have spoken and they have spoken very clearly.

"The message is one of hope, it is also one of optimism for the future, for the political leaders to work together and to make politics work.

"That is my commitment as a political leader and as an incoming first minister.

"The electorate also demands that the parties get back down to business, to elect a speaker, to sit in the Assembly, to have it function, to appoint a first minister and a deputy first minister, to form a new Executive."

She added: "Today we have met with the British Secretary of State, have spoken with the Taoiseach and will be engaging with other party leaders and my message is clear.

"As democrats, the DUP, but also the British Government, must accept and respect the democratic outcome of this election.

"Brinkmanship will not be tolerated where the north of Ireland becomes collateral damage in a game of chicken with the European Commission.

"Responsibility for finding solutions to the protocol lie with Boris Johnson and the EU. "But make no mistake, we and our business community here will not be held to ransom."

Speaking in the aftermath of Thursday's election that saw Sinn Féin returned as the biggest party in Northern Ireland, Ms McDonald said that "the job now is to get to work".

Voters went to the polls on Thursday 5 May and returned, for the first time, a Nationalist party as the largest group in Stormont, something Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald hailed as "historic".

She said it was now time to get back to work.

Any delays to the formation of a new would be "intolerable and must not happen," she added.

The Sinn Féin leader described the DUP's refusal to enter government over the issue of the NI protocol as "grandstanding".

The party president also said that the British government may attempt to use NI as a "bargaining chip" as part of its "gamesmanship" with the EU over post-Brexit arrangements.

The comments also come ahead of the Queen's Speech later this week, where the British Government is expected to announce plans to deal with the protocol issue.

Sinn Féin has previously criticised the British government for what they see as a willingness to ignore or harm Northern Ireland during negotiations with the European Union.

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