Sinn Fein’s Catriona Ruane says the independence of the judiciary in Northern Ireland is at stake

Last year, a judge ruled that Mr Poots' decision not to lift a ban on gay men giving blood was irrational.

The Health minister strongly criticised the ruling, saying he believed the judge was wrong.Those comments prompted the lord chief justice to send a strongly worded letter of complaint to the first and deputy first ministers.

In it, he said it was entirely unacceptable for a minister to suggest that the Court of Appeal was biased or unfair.

However, eight months on and Northern Ireland's most senior judge has still not received a reply from Peter Robinson or Martin McGuinness.