South Down MP Chris Hazzard was in Downing Street as part of a senior Sinn Féin delegation which travelled to London to discuss the restoration of the political institutions.
The delegation also outlined the enormous challenges posed by the British government’s commitment to Brexit.
Mr Hazzard said: “For years now successive British governments have disengaged from the peace process. They have walked away from their responsibilities as a co-guarantor of the peace agreements and they continue to fail to protect the rights of minorities.
“The Tory/DUP pact has compounded these difficulites and fundamentally compromises the role of the British government as in respect to the Good Friday Agreement.
“More recently, the refusal of Downing Street to respect the democratic rights of the majority of people in the north who voted to remain in Europe is both undemocratic and unacceptable. Theresa May’s blind commitment to Brexit is reckless and would be disastrous for all of us here in Ireland.
“Today, Sinn Fein made it abundantly clear that any sort of Brexit is bad for the North of Ireland.
“For local people to have any hope of a bright and successful future we need special status within the European Union.”
