Tory-DUP deal 'threatens Good Friday Agreement', Gerry Adams says

Gerry Adams - Image credit: PA images

Yesterday’s deal between the Conservatives and the DUP to prop up Theresa May's government could wreck the Good Friday Agreement, according to Gerry Adams.

The Sinn Fein president said the agreement, which will see up to £1.5bn extra spending on Northern Ireland, would lead to "continued Tory austerity and cuts to public services".

"It provides a blank cheque for a Tory Brexit which threatens the Good Friday Agreement," he said.

Adams also said Sinn Fein "will resolutely oppose any attempt to give preferential treatment to British forces, either in terms of legacy or the provision of public services" as a result of the Conservative-DUP pact.

He added: "If as they claim in today’s agreement, both the Tories and the DUP will fully adhere fully to the Good Friday Agreement and its successors, they need to deliver on this for the political institutions can be restored.

"So there is work to be done by the DUP and only limited time to do this."

The UK Government has set a deadline of Thursday for the Sinn Fein-DUP power-sharing executive in the Northern Ireland Assembly to get back up and running.

However, Downing Street has confirmed that the extra public spending for Northern Ireland earmarked in the Tory-DUP deal will still be spent if those talks are unsuccessful and direct rule from Westminster is imposed on the province.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "The price of Theresa May's political weakness is now becoming clear.

“The same Conservative party which spent the recent election campaign saying there was no money available for the crisis in the NHS and schools has now found at least £1 billion to buy a Parliamentary majority.

"Let’s call this grubby deal what it is: this is a straightforward political bribe to desperately prop up Theresa May in office.

“This Tory-DUP deal is clearly not in the national interest but in May's party's interest to help her cling to power."

But First Secretary of State Damian Green, who helped broker the deal, said: "This is a good deal for the whole of Northern Ireland.

“Everyone from all political persuasions in Northern Ireland can benefit from this deal and the Northern Ireland Executive can decide how best to spend this money."