SINN Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was criticised by an Irish government minister over a sign she helped carry while taking part in a St Patrick’s Day parade in New York.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney accused McDonald of showing poor leadership after she helped carry a sign which read “England Get Out of Ireland”.

Coveney tweeted: “@MaryLouMcDonald this is NOT leadership – it’s offensive, divisive and an embarrassment – grow up, this is NOT #Ireland in 2019! we are better than this!”

In an earlier post, the tanaiste commended New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the wake of the mass shootings in Christchurch.

He wrote: “This is what leadership looks like,” accompanied by a video of Ms Ardern wearing a hijab as she met the families of the victims of the mosque shootings.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Robin Swann also condemned McDonald’s actions.

Swann said: “Once again Mary Lou McDonald as president of Sinn Fein, has shown them up for what they are really all about as she posed behind a banner which was highly offensive and wrong on so many levels.”

He added: “It is sad that whilst others celebrate St Patrick in a respectful and non-confrontational manner, Sinn Fein return to type.”

Democratic Unionist Party’s Gregory Campbell said Sinn Fein’s caption on the tweeted picture, which read “No explanation needed”, summed up the party’s attitude to explanations, truth and respect.

“When slogans such as ‘Brits out’ or ‘England out of Ireland’ are used the Unionist community are well within their rights to see themselves as the intended focus,” Campbell said.

“The ‘British presence in Ireland’ is the Unionist population in Northern Ireland.”

In response to the criticism a Sinn Fein spokesman said: “The most divisive and offensive act on this island for almost the last 100 years has been the partition of Ireland.

“The faux outrage of some of our political opponents owes more to the silly season of a holiday weekend and petty political point scoring.”