https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2er3ynvmlmo

First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said she is "incredulous" at a UK government deal for a Belfast factory to supply air defence missiles to Ukraine.

The Sinn Féin vice-president said that "rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services".

The Thales missile factory is to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth up to £1.6bn, the UK government announced on Sunday.

It will involve recruiting 200 additional staff.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the order as he laid out a four-point plan to "reach peace and defend Ukraine".

Media caption,

Michelle O'Neill made the comments in the Northern Ireland Assembly

In the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, O'Neill was asked by independent assembly member (MLA) Claire Sugden whether she supported the deal.

The first minister said she found it "incredulous" at a time when "public services are being cut left, right and centre".

She added: "At a time when we've endured 14 years of austerity, at a time whenever winter fuel payments are being cut from older people, at a time when lots of small local businesses are going to go to the wall because they can't afford the national insurance hikes.

"At a time whenever our farmers are worried because of the inheritance tax, I think at a time like that, rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services."

O'Neill said she believed "the focus of the international community should always be to work towards negotiation and peace settlements".

"That's my approach to these things," she added.

Earlier, East Belfast MP and DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the order was "hugely significant" given the "turbulence" in international relations and the acknowledgement of the "skill and ingenuity" of the Thales team.

He said there was no point talking about international principles and values "if you're not prepared to stand up for them".

"We're giving the tools to make sure a sovereign country has the ability to stand against an international aggressor in Russia, a country that decided to walk over the border, destroy cities, villages and towns and kill civilians," he said.

Robinson added that the defence spend was "encouraging" for the industry and the Northern Ireland economy.

by UnnaturalStride

48 comments

  2. If ever there was a time to hold your tongue Michelle, this was it love.

  3. funny how they turn their noses up when a country is under attack from a literal imperialist power

    fucking achievement to make the dup seem reasonable

  4. Roi now need to up their defence, they are one of the lowest funders per capita when it comes to Ukraine also. This is dangerous times.

    I mean it actually sounds like she supports trump on this lol, very weird indeed.

  5. >At a time whenever our farmers are worried because of the inheritance tax

    And the massive concern the general public has about this 🥹 /s

  6. Almost like N.Ireland was slowly and careful being prised out of the hands of the sleeping giant towards reunification, for the giant to wake up and remember it has a munitions factory and to utilise its own territories

  7. Sinn Fein don’t want N.I to succeed and they never have.

  9. Exactly the same kind of rhetoric as pro-Putin German politican Sahra Wagenknecht.

  11. I may be wrong….but isn’t it a loan? There’s an understanding of the money being paid back (granted it’s possible it won’t be and the UK govt will have to step in). But unless she’s wants a 1.6£ billion loan for NI and have us all pay that back it’s just the usual complaining.

  12. The point most people are missing here is that the magic money tree suddenly appears when multinational weapons manufacturers are the beneficiaries, but the same supply of finance isn’t available to fix the problems at home.

    What’s the point of funding a war thousands of miles away if you’re ultimately just going to die in pain on a trolley in a hospital corridor because Cedric from London spent your tax contributions on bunging Hugo millions of pounds on PPE which went straight in the bin?

    The people venting about this are the same who’ll be raging about the proliferation of potholes or rising water bills

  14. Michelle FFS this is a win across the board, people get jobs and Ukraine gets weapons to stop a massive tool from getting into Europe. question that will be raised is who`s side are you on?

  15. Can someone explain to me why she is getting so much stick for this? Genuonely I am out of the loop.

    Edit: why are you toxic fucks downvoting a genuine question? Agenda much?

  16. Incredulous…….. Does that mean she’s giving credit and it’s fabulous?

  17. I’m sure it got nothing to do with them being based in the east at all

  18. I’ll just asker the same question that Ukrainian asked. What sort of diplomacy does she think will work with Russia?

  19. For once I agree with her. Ukraine is not our problem. We can’t afford to arm a war monger. We should send home the Ukrainian refugees, what sort of cowards are they to flee their country when it needed them most.

  21. Weapons of war…air defence missiles

    Can she not find a single Ukrainian in the whole of NI to explain to her how their country is under near constant air bombardment from missiles and drones.

    She’s pushing the Trump line here isn’t she? Same as Farage. Strange bed-fellows.

  22. SF is an Irish political party first & foremost. Ireland has a neutrality clause for a reason. I don’t want a nuke hitting my city over an inner ethnic conflict, with a proxy on one side representing western hegemony & on the other an imperialist dictatorship.

    All over the ownership of regions of land (Donbas, Crimea) neither of which are even Russian or Ukrainian to begin with.

    The way some of you talk, you act like we should be at full war with the country with the most nukes on the planet. Go ahead & volunteer if you’re so full of war fervour but keep the rest of us out of it.

  24. Would Michelle be happy with more dead Ukranian kids

  26. She’s another one, propping up the dying liberal project – she doesnt know anything else. We are now in crazy times and have other higher priorities.

  27. How much of the £1.6bn spent will end up on Belfast’s streets? Aside from the x200 good salaries (guessing around £8m per annum), surely much of it will go to the French companies accounting balance sheet.

  28. Get to fuck Mickie, you were happy enough with bombs when your friends were using them. You may as well send us a photo of you licking Putins beige daisy.

  30. Also to point out, the money isn’t coming from the tax payer, its profits from seized Russian assets. So it’s just kinda a free investment really!

  31. She’s in no position to complain when the assembly has let the people of Northern Ireland down year in year out.

  32. No money for Sandy Rowe,

    No money for casement park,

    No money for healthcare,

    No money for child welfare,

    No money for cleaning up our water source,

    No money to house the homeless.

    But fuck me do you lot love the idea of a few jobs to pump bombs out of Belfast, because the Red Tory signs a deal.

  34. Pro-Russia party against helping Ukraine, just another day for Sinn Fein. 

  35. This is money into our economy that we wouldn’t otherwise have seen a penny of.

    You’re a sack of spuds Michelle.

  36. I’ll not be voting SF next time around, am I fuck voting for Russia apologists.

  37. Got this one wrong Michelle, hold your hands up and admit you got it wrong. People will respect you for your honesty

  38. The money is being taken out of the foreign aid budget to pay for defence. That money was never going to “local communities”. Building weapons locally creates jobs

  39. The shinner shills are well out in force on this thread.

    Almost as if they had been told to be on alert to “protect the party” as soon as she opened her gub

  40. Im genuinely not sure at this point if people on the irish left are just incredibly stupid or actively working on bad faith? Yes, dear, negotiations with no hard power backing it up will surely lead to peace from the country that bombs agreed upon humanitarian corridors and have broken every truce its made with Ukraine.

  43. I think the whole thing could be solved with a high stakes kabaddi match. Naked.

  45. This is the time to act as a First Minister and to rise above SF’s political baggage. A good deal for Northern Ireland’s economy and an invaluable contribution to the war effort. For once I find myself in complete agreement with the DUP.

  46. Michelle, with due respect you wouldn’t be talking about negotiations when this prick is hailing down missiles from above in your neighborhood. Ya stupid tool.

  48. I’m no fan of Sinn Féin or Michelle O’Neill but she is 100% correct in saying this. The conflict has been going on for 11 years, it’s just a money pit and too many innocent people have died for nothing.

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