Conservative Party leadership contender Michael Gove has claimed that Sinn Féin’s poor showing in recent elections in the Republic was a response to their approach to politics in the north.
The environment secretary said during an interview with the Spectator Magazine that voters in Ireland were unhappy at Sinn Féin’s refusal to re-enter a power-sharing arrangement.
During an event in London he also said that Sinn Féin's "bad time" in the recent Irish elections was in part because "voters there did not like the approach towards devolution in Northern Ireland and the refusal to re-engage".
He added that this represented a "significant change" which might provide an "opportunity to get the parties back around the table to get a negotiated settlement so that we restore devolution".
Sinn Féin president May Lou McDonald said: “I don't know if Michael Gove is an expert on politics in Ireland.
"He certainly doesn't follow it very carefully if he doesn't realise that we have always moved to engage,” she told the BBC.
