Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has said she will not agree to anything that “diminishes the Britishness of Northern Ireland” as the row over the collapse of power sharing talks continues.

The thorny issue of the Irish language is at the heart of the problem with Sinn Fein calling for a piece of legislation which enshrines protections for speakers. The DUP, however, reject the idea with Mrs. Foster telling this newspaper this morning that she will continue to resist implementing a freestanding Irish language act.

And should Sinn Fein insist on such legislation then the chances of a return to devolution at Stormont are slim, according to Mrs. Foster.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter during a business breakfast in Enniskillen this morning, she said: “If they [Sinn Fein] decide that is their position then they will unfortunately continue to hold Northern Ireland to ransom and I regret that greatly.

“I am not prepared to do anything that is damaging to Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom," she said.

"I will not do anything that diminishes the Britishness of Northern Ireland.

"Will I acknowledge there are some people in Northern Ireland who love the Irish language? Of course I will, but I am not going to do anything that will impinge on the lives of those of us who don’t engage with the Irish language,” she said.

Mrs. Foster, who has met with Irish language activists including in Fermanagh, has accused Sinn Fein of “imposing the Irish language on other people who do not want to be a part of that.”

“I am told all the time that all they [Irish speakers] want is recognition. I am prepared to give that recognition. I freely give that recognition that there are people who value the Irish language. Don’t forget we put an awful lot of money in to the Irish language sector – £175 million was spent over the last five years so it is wrong to say we haven’t recognised the Irish language,” she said.

Last night Sinn Fein outlined details of a draft agreement it insisted it struck with Mrs. Foster’s party before negotiations collapsed with party president Mary Lou McDonald saying she needed to dispel “mistruths and inaccuracies” about what it contained.

She said the deal included three separate pieces of legislation; an Irish Language Act, an Ulster Scots Act and an overarching Respecting Language and Diversity Act. However, Mrs. Foster disputes this.

“She [Mrs. McDonald] is saying there was an agreement, I am telling you very clearly today that that was no agreement. By the very nature an agreement is an agreement between two sets of people. If one of those sets of people are saying there was no agreement then there was no agreement, that’s the reality.

“She can put out as many proposals and position papers as she likes, it doesn’t change the fact that there was no agreement,” she said, accusing Sinn Fein of “bullying” and “trying to put out propaganda.”

“They are trying to paint a picture that they had an agreement when there wasn’t an agreement. I think that’s very short sighted, I have to say. It makes it more difficult to come back to try and form an agreement in the future,” she said.

Asked who in the DUP made the decision that there could be no agreement, Mrs. Foster said: “Of course I did because I lead the negotiation team."

"I felt that there wasn’t enough to make a recommendation to the officer team and therefore it was never taken to the officer team.

"Were they briefed in terms of where we were in the negotiations? Of course they were. They were briefed on numerous occasions in the past four weeks.”

Asked if she realised that people across the country, including in her own constituency of Fermanagh-South Tyrone are fed up with what they are hearing from her and other politicians, Mrs. Foster replied: “If they are fed up they should try and be in my shoes for a day or two to find out how frustrating it is to be elected to do a job and not be allowed to do that job by Sinn Fein.”

“Frankly it has been the most frustrating year of my life, this past year, because we haven’t been able to move things forward," she said.

Mrs. Foster said direct rule “is always a second best option.”

“But it is the only option at the moment,” she said.

She said Sinn Fein and the DUP will need to “reflect” on the events of this week and added: “I hope we will be able to come back to negotiations again because at the end of the day we and Sinn Fein are the two larger parties.”

“We need to reflect on where we have reached. We only broke off on Wednesday so I think it would be a bit premature coming back quickly. If Sinn Fein want to see devolution then they need to reflect on that," she said.