'That might not have been seen as a wise thing to do.'
It would not have been wise to invite Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald to a political meeting about the Northern Ireland Protocol because she is a "representative of a parliament in an EU member state", Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said.
However, the row over Mrs McDonald's exclusion, which led to Sinn Fein and the SDLP refusing to join roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Heaton-Harris earlier this week, has continued to overshadow the meetings. "We wanted to update Northern Ireland parties on that negotiation and, with the greatest of respect, Mary Lou is a representative of a parliament in an EU member state.Mr Heaton-Harris said he had extended an invite to dinner to Mrs McDonald.
Asked if he would have had any issue with Mr Cleverly meeting with Mrs McDonald, Mr Martin said: "We certainly got no heads-up in relation to that at all, and I think it needs to be stated.
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