DUP LEADER JEFFREY Donaldson has hit out at Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s remarks on the Irish Government’s plan to look at alternatives if Stormont is not brought back in the autumn, saying his comments were “unhelpful”.

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government for more than a year amid unionist concerns around post-Brexit trading arrangements.

During his visit to Belfast last week Varadkar said if power sharing is not restored: “At that point we have to start having conversations about alternatives, about plan B.”

Varadkar reiterated the “pressing need” to get the Stormont institutions in place again “without delay” and met with Donaldson, Sinn Féin’s vice president Michelle O’Neill, the and the UUP’s Doug Beattie during the trip.

Outside Stormont castle today Donaldson said:

“I think the Taoiseach’s intervention was unhelpful. We’re not planning for failure. We want to get this right. And we’ll continue in our engagement with the government to do so.”

“Frankly, these are matters for the government of the United Kingdom. They are matters for the internal affairs of the United Kingdom, and therefore when the Irish government talk about the need to to prepare for a Plan B, I think they should focus on getting plan A sorted out instead of talking about failure.”

Stormont party leaders met with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Jayne Brady, today to discuss a list of potential revenue-raising measures called for by the UK Secretary of State Chris Heaton Harris.

The measures are said to include increasing the prices of school meals and cutting back on free school transport.

Donaldson said the Barnett formula, which largely decides Stormont’s budget allocations from the UK Treasury, needs to be readjusted to provide more funding.

“In terms of the matters you raised about the Secretary of State’s request for additional fiscal measures in Northern Ireland, let’s be clear, that came from the Secretary of State, not from the Northern Ireland parties,” he said.

“We have no part in that. We have made clear to the Secretary of State that he should leave these things to an incoming executive.”

“We’re making, I hope, progress with the government on these areas, but there’s still some way to travel in those discussions to get a successful outcome that will provide the basis for restoring our political institutions.”