THE BRITISH government was last night urged to fulfil its commitments on Irish language legislation despite its potential to trigger a DUP walk-out from Stormont.
Sinn Féin Deputy Minister Michelle O'Neill said yesterday that Brandon Lewis needed to honour his June pledge to introduce cultural legislation from the end of this month if Stormont failed to progress the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) commitment.
Ms O'Neill said she expected Westminster to introduce the legislation as early as next week.
However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has previously warned that if MPs bring forth Irish language legislation while Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market is not restored, then he would collapse the institutions and force an election.
A DUP spokesperson said last night that the party's position had not changed.
"Implementing NDNA in a one-sided manner when the government has not delivered on its own NDNA pledge in relation to protecting Northern Ireland’s place in the UK Internal Market is not a sustainable position," the spokesperson said.
But SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the British Government needed to fulfil its promise regardless of the ongoing negotiations around the protocol.
"All the main parties, including the DUP, agreed to a number of cultural provisions as part of the New Decade New Approach agreement and they must be realised in full," he said.
