A fundamental question from @StephenNolan to @duponline - does Arlene Foster deny she passed a document or piece of paper with the word 'draft' on it to Michelle O'Neill on Friday 9th February 2018?

Mar 05, 2018, 09:43 AM

Episode image

This morning: a fundamental, easy to understand question. Are you being told the truth? Truth in politics is so important. It is not a game. It is not funny. It is the most important contract between you and a politician. As you know, Sinn Fein and the DUP were trying to achieve a deal recently. The journalist Eamonn Mallie has produced "an email chain" between a DUP adviser and the head of Michelle O'Neill's office. Timed at 19.52 GMT on 9 February, the DUP's Philip Weir tells Sinn Féin's Stephen McGlade "attached is latest overall text we have". "I told Conor (Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy) would send u through. Arlene gave Michelle hard copy earlier but have been a couple of small tweaks since then to copy she had." And yet the DUP have told everyone of you, publicly, that a draft did not exist. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds had said on BBC Northern Ireland's The View on Thursday that he had no knowledge of Arlene Foster handing a draft to Michelle O'Neill when he was questioned by Mark Carruthers. And yet, the email chain says "Arlene gave Michelle hard copy earlier but have been a couple of small tweaks since then to copy she had." On Friday, DUP MP Sammy Wilson told BBC's Inside Politics show said no deal would be agreed by negotiators and it is the DUP as a party who makes the final decision. Stephen was joined by political commentators Sam McBride of the Newsletter and Allison Morris from the Irish News.