Northern Ireland’s deputy First Minister ‘fell asleep’ during Sussexes interview

By Rebecca Black, PA

Northern Ireland’s deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she fell asleep during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The blistering broadcast dominated media on Tuesday, the day after it was broadcast in the UK.

It included a claim by Meghan that a fellow royal was worried about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.

The Sinn Fein vice president said it was not for her to comment on it, but added that any suggestion of racism anywhere “should be called out”.

“Look, it’s not for me to comment.

“I think that some of the commentary around racism, racism should be called out in any form wherever it is seen, so that’s the only thing I would say on it,” she said during a visit to a coronavirus vaccination centre at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

Speaking on the same visit, First Minister Arlene Foster insisted that she had not watched the interview.

She also made clear she would not be watching it in the future either.

“I think it’s incredibly sad for Her Majesty the Queen to have had to listen to all of that,” she said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first official visit to Northern Ireland in 2018 shortly before their wedding.