Stormont: North-South legal action 'should be last resort'

Legal action over the DUP's boycott of certain north-south meetings are an overreaction and should be a "last resort", DUP MLA Paul Givan has said.

His comments come after Sinn Féin joined the SDLP in seeking legal advice over the party's non-attendance.

Mr Givan said there had to be a recognition of the opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, the SDLP's Nichola Mallon said she firmly believed the party was in breach of the ministerial code.

She also accused the DUP of being "dishonest" in how it has communicated its absences from North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meetings.

On Wednesday, Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill called on DUP leader Edwin Poots to attend a meeting later this month, saying the boycott cannot "be allowed to continue".

Sinn Féin colleague Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said she had sought legal advice about a potential judicial review over the DUP's actions.

However, speaking on BBC Good Morning Ulster on Thursday, Mr Givan said: "I don't think judicial reviews are necessary - I know this is something that the SDLP and Nichola Mallon has raised now for a number of weeks.

"Politics is about making things work, it's about building up relationships and trust, it's about putting yourselves in each other's shoes and trying to see it from their perspective."

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the issue of the boycott would be raised by her party leader Colum Eastwood at a virtual Stormont party leaders' forum on Thursday.

Ms Mallon said she had received legal advice on the issue, which she could not discuss, but that she firmly believed the meetings missed by DUP representatives were "a breach of the ministerial code and is a breach of the pledge of office".

She also said the party had been "dishonest" in their approach.

"I have had multiple excuses - first of all scheduling difficulties, even though these meetings are put into diaries months in advance, then it moved and it shifted and it became an issue of clearance of papers.

"If the DUP are boycotting all north-south meetings then they should have the courage and the honesty to be upfront about it."

This issue of north-south meetings will be at the top of the agenda at Thursday's leaders meeting, the party forum set up under the New Decade New Approach deal.

The virtual party leaders meeting will be the first one to include Edwin Poots as DUP leader, but it seems his guests may want to do more of the talking than he does.

As well as anger over north-south meetings, there are concerns over the fragility of Stormont and accusations from the SDLP that the DUP are engaged in student politics.

Edwin Poots has said he wants people to show good faith and will want to start well with the other leaders - he does not need to start with a row.

There is real concern in many quarters that the DUP boycott is doing real damage to the workings of government.

People will want to hear Mr Poots explain the DUP position on the boycott.

Sinn Féin's Deirdre Hargey said on Thursday that the DUP's absence at some meetings was a "serious situation" and that "important business decisions and allocations of funding and resources cannot take place".

"Edwin said he wants to build trust and faith," she said.

"To do this you need to attend meetings and engage on important issues.

"To boycott fundamental strands of the Good Friday Agreement is not a way to build stability."

Meanwhile, Edwin Poots will make his first trip to Dublin later on Thursday to meet Taoiseach Michéal Martin since becoming party leader

The meeting will take place at 19:00 local time at Government buildings in Dublin.