The British government no longer provides “absolute protection” for Northern Ireland’s union with Britain, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has asserted.

Mr Adams said in a blog on Thursday that DUP leader Arlene Foster’s call for a return to direct rule, in the absence of an agreement with Sinn Féin to restore Stormont, flew in the face of her party’s devolutionist position.

That stance also reflected a refusal on behalf of the DUP to “face realities”, he added. “The fact is the DUP is betraying the people of the North and the clear vote against Brexit.”

“The rationale behind the DUP stance is that it is focused on maintaining the union. But there is no longer any absolute protection for the union from British governments the way there used to be,” he added.

“British government involvement in our affairs will end when a majority vote for that. That is why the Irish Government’s recent assertions about Irish unity are welcome,” said Mr Adams.

Mr Adams said Sinn Féin’s Northern leader Michelle O’Neill “and our negotiating team stand ready to engage positively in any talks”.

“Sinn Féin wants the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement [on April 10th] to be a positive point in the history of our island,” he added.

The DUP East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson in response said if Mr Adams “really is concerned about the poor, homeless and sick then he will join with other parties in returning to the Executive without preconditions rather than the mindless pursuit of squandering money on an Irish language Act at all costs”.

‘Current impasse’

Referring to how Mr Adams is standing down as Sinn Féin president next month Mr Wilson said, “Gerry Adams is about to lose his job, but appears to have already lost his mind. There is no doubt that he’s already lost his memory because the current impasse is entirely a result of Sinn Féin’s actions in collapsing the Executive and blocking its restoration.”

Added Mr Wilson, “Since his rhetoric at the start of 2018 is no different to the end of 2017 the prospects for restoring devolution look bleak unless the UK government removes the veto Sinn Féin currently holds by ensuring that if they refuse to participate then other parties can get on with the job of providing government for Northern Ireland. ”

Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist Party leader Robin Swann has accused Mr Adams of hypocrisy over comments he made in an interview with The Irish Times on Wednesday.

Criticising elements of political unionism Mr Adams said, “I understand all of us can say things that people find objectionable but there is a difference between me misspeaking and you misspeaking and an entire system being offensive and refusing to tolerate.”

‘Offensive’

“If ever there was a textbook example of an entire system that was offensive and refusing to tolerate it was the republican movement which he has led for more than 45 years,” said Mr Swann.

“The IRA was responsible for almost 1,700 deaths, ranging from babies to pensioners. They murdered police officers, prison officers, soldiers, shoppers, people in restaurants, people in pubs in Belfast and Birmingham, people standing at war memorials, Australian tourists in Holland and children on a High Street in Warrington,” he added.

“Sinn Féin provided the political cover for this campaign of brutal terror and Gerry Adams himself spent decades refusing to condemn IRA actions and seeking to excuse the inexcusable,” said Mr Swann.

The UUP leader said it would surprise “nobody that Gerry Adams is unable and unwilling to see the utter hypocrisy in his comments”.