SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has hit back at remarks by First Minister Arlene Foster on equal marriage.
The DUP leader said her party would continue to oppose same-sex marriage in the Assembly using the blocking mechanism of a ‘petition of concern”.
Mr Eastwood said: “We must not allow Arlene Foster to drag us down or hold us back.
“The high handed and aggressive comments which she has made betray a majoritarian view of politics that has long passed.
“She has gone low. We must all now go high and rise above the politics of division.
“Foster’s disgraceful comments on Equal Marriage and a five year veto on legislation are a slap in the face for equality and further evidence that the DUP is clinging to the politics of veto which has set communities against each other for decades.
“The response of all those who embrace the values of respect, diversity and love should be to rise above this bad judgment, bad politics and bad approach to our future.
“We must turn our backs on the politics of fear, division and marginalisation.
“The campaign for Marriage Equality will continue. The campaign for Marriage Equality will grow.
“The people will more and more stand up to those, like Arlene Foster, who stand in the way of the basic recognition that the love two people of the same sex share is as equal as any other. The DUP leader is on the wrong side of this fight.
Addressing comments made by the First Minister on the all island forum on Brexit, Mr Eastwood said:
“A few weeks ago Arlene Foster contemptuously dismissed the all-island forum on Brexit.
“The fact that she has now returned to that theme, even more aggressively, demonstrates that she realises the significance of all Ireland cooperation on this matter.
“In the face of Hard Brexit, she has continued in her attempt to slap down those working hardest for the best outcome for people on this island.
“We must be clear about the DUP position here. Their arrogant dismissal of the all island forum is the precursor to an attack on strand 2 of the agreement.
“It is an aggressive agenda that makes the work of the forum even more important. That work must be a statement of good authority and a vehicle to protect the people of Ireland.
“The comments on equal marriage and the forum are of such provocation that everyone including Dublin needs to sit up and take note.
“The DUP seems to believe that just because they run rings around Sinn Féin that they have the measure of others. They are badly in error,” added the Foyle MLA.
