Boris Johnson has been snubbed by Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill during his visit to Northern Ireland after he declined a political meeting with Sinn Fein.
Ms O'Neill refused to welcome the Prime Minister to Belfast on Friday in her Stormont role after a request for a meeting with her and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was not accepted.
After he declined the political meeting, requested amid growing tensions over post-Brexit restrictions, Ms O'Neill, Sinn Fein's deputy leader, refused to meet him at all.
Mr Johnson however met with First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster during a visit tied to the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He also joined Mrs Foster at a vaccine centre in Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen, which is in her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
Ms O'Neill said: "Mary Lou McDonald and myself have a long-standing request to meet with the British Prime Minister to discuss a number of commitments which he and his government have reneged on in the New Decade New Approach over this past year, and also his reckless and partisan approach to the Irish Protocol. He did not facilitate the meeting.
"I have no plans to meet with him today."
Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said the party was refusing to engage with the "day out for unionism" after No 10 refused the request for a "professional, grown-up engagement", to cover topics including the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The North Belfast MP said: "We're not in the business of engaging in a fairly superficial PR stunt, which is what the British Prime Minister invited us to do today.
"We have made the request to meet with him. I think it's insulting to the 770,000 people on this island who vote for us that he feels it appropriate to ignore and refuse that meeting."
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Michelle O'Neill was invited to join the PM on the visit."
Mr Johnson had "frank" conversations with the DUP on the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has angered unionists over extra checks and processes on goods arriving from the rest of the UK.
Mrs Foster urged him to "stand up for Northern Ireland" and ditch the "intolerable" post-Brexit arrangements governing Irish Sea trade.
She said he had been in "listening mode" and "alive to the issues".
The First Minister said: "Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol.
"Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the Protocol has created societal division and economic harm.
"Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored."
She told the Prime Minister a local school in Fermanagh was unable to order trees from England due to red tape surrounding the transport of soil.
Mr Johnson also visited a military base in Belfast as part of his engagements.
The visit came as the UK government unveiled its programme of events to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland.
A special post-mark, a decorative rose and a tree for every school are among the official plans.
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