Kiss star Gene Simmons has called for the return of the Stormont government and spoken of his desire to meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The singer and bassist, who is in the UK for the band's End Of The Road tour, visited the House of Commons on Wednesday as a guest of the DUP’s Ian Paisley, MP for North Antrim.

On previous travels with Kiss, Mr Simmons has had the opportunity to tour Dáil Éireann but added that he has not yet had the opportunity to meet the Irish premier.

He said: "I’ve been to the Irish parliament as well, I wanted to meet Taoiseach (sic), we didn’t quite get there but we did tour the facility a few years back."

Mr Simmons said that devolved government in Northern Ireland needs to return and he "hopes everything gets back in order."

The Stormont government has not been operational for more than a year due to the DUP’s ongoing boycott in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements.

"It’s important for that to happen (Stormont to return) because the people’s business needs to get done. Northern Ireland is just as important as any country on the face of the planet, and you can’t have people pointing fingers," he said.

He added: "People have their lives to lead and it’s the government’s job to take care of people’s needs.

"So, I hope everything gets back in order in Northern Ireland and the people’s business should be done by their elected officials."

The rock star received a private tour of Parliament in London before making his first trip into the Commons chamber.

Mr Simmons said he did not know MP Ian Paisley Junior prior to his visit but had heard of his father, the Reverend Ian Paisley Senior, a former DUP leader and first minister of Northern Ireland.

"I did not (know Ian Paisley) one of our crew happened I guess to know him, or they discussed something, and I guess he was a big fan or something and I had known about his father of course, legendary Ian Senior, with what he did for Ireland," he told the BBC.

At a press conference in Belfast on Thursday, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was asked was he a fan of Kiss.

"I'm afraid that rock music doesn’t feature greatly these days," he replied.

"In my life, if you took me back to the 1980s I might be a bit more knowledgeable on these things having been a great fan of The Jam and other groups in my time, but I’m afraid I’m the last person to ask about rock music these days, I tend to look for something a little more gentle."

Asked by a reporter if that was a sign of division between himself and Ian Paisley Jnr, Sir Jeffrey joked: "Not at all. It’s a sign of diversity, which is the lifeblood of any political movement."

Kiss’ current tour, the End Of The Road, will finish on 2 December at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Source: Press Association