DUP MP Sammy Wilson has accused the Irish government of having a "hissy fit" just days after he apologised for calling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a "nutcase".

Mr Wilson made the comments yesterday during a Westminster committee evidence session attended by the Brexit Secretary David Davis.

He asked if "a very public hissy fit" by the Irish premier and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was getting in the way of a frictionless virtual border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Last week the outspoken East Antrim MP said he regretted his choice of words when he described the Taoiseach as a "nutcase" in an interview with the website Politico over his stance on Brexit.

"Upon reflection, I should have said Leo Varadkar's EU policies defy logic rather than the language I used. I regret my choice of language," he said later.

Mr Wilson's latest comments were slammed by other political parties as fresh talks resumed at Stormont yesterday.

"Sammy Wilson has form for these comments, he's an attention seeker," said SDLP MLA Claire Hanna.

"The truth is this is a distraction from the important negotiations taking place at Stormont and Mr Wilson's tirade should be ignored."

Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken said he believed Mr Wilson's choice of words lacked manners.

"If a senior Irish politician made similar comments about unionists it would be deemed to be very disrespectful," he said,

"The UUP also have reservations of the language used by the Irish government in recent months, but Sammy's term of 'hissy fit' is completely inappropriate since we're moving into a sensitive period of talks."

Mr Aiken said he had discussed the recent tone of north-south relations with Mr Coveney yesterday.

"The Irish government have a case to answer as well and we made it very clear the language used before Christmas wasn't helpful to anybody. There was an acknowledgement that such use of language should be moderated."

In a speech to the European Parliament last Wednesday, Mr Varadkar said the UK could not "backslide" on commitments they had made on the Irish border, prompting Mr Wilson's "nutcase" jibe.

At the time the DUP's Simon Hamilton commented: "Sammy is never shy about telling you what he thinks.

"On this occasion he used language which he accepts was wrong and he regrets the language that was used and I think he has already expressed publicly his regret at using the language that he did.

"We look forward to engaging with the Irish government as part of these talks on issues that are pertinent and relevant to the Irish government."

Mr Coveney refused to be drawn into a war of words on the matter, but stressed the importance of a positive working relationship with the DUP.

"We need to respect the difference of views on many things but also we need to work in a pragmatic way to improve people's lives on the island of Ireland as a whole and I think we have shown in the past that we can do that," he said.

Belfast Telegraph