Tag: Ulster Unionist Party

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 7 November 2022.

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott MLA:

“Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of one the IRA`s most horrific atrocities when they exploded a no warning bomb as people gathered on Remembrance Sunday in 1987. Twelve innocent men and women were murdered in the Enniskillen Poppy Day Massacre, with dozens more injured.

“It was an act of barbarity that even in a time when outrages were sadly almost commonplace, still had the power to shock people who had become almost immune to the horrors of the Troubles, and exposed to the wider world, the cruelty and the fascist nature of the IRA.

“Only recently, the memorial to the victims was erected in Enniskillen. Not only should there be a memorial to the victims, but their families also deserve truth and justice. The families have endured years of pain and watched on as IRA victims have been sidelined whilst others tried to justify the IRA`s barbaric murder campaign.

“Only this week Mary Lou McDonald attempted to differentiate between murders carried out by the IRA`s murder gangs and murders carried out by Dublin based criminal gangs. All murder is wrong whether it was 1987 or 2022. It was the Provisional IRA who massacred innocent men, women and children in Northern Ireland. The IRA`s bloody list of atrocities should be something to be ashamed of, not to be romanticised or glorified.

“To this day, many continue to live with the pain and suffering of losing a loved one or with the physical and emotional suffering of terrorist activities. Even with that pain and suffering I pay great tribute to those who have persevered with the erection of the Memorial in Enniskillen.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 7 November 2022.

Doug Beattie MC MLA said:

“The weekend comments from Mary Lou McDonald that there is ‘no comparison’ between IRA violence and gangland violence has rightly been rejected, as has her claim that Jonathan Dowdall would not have been “anywhere near” Sinn Fein had her party known he was involved in any form of criminality.

“The whitewashing of the IRA’s part in the butchering of men, women and children and the continual harm and hurt visited on families is appalling and what we are witnessing is the Disneyfication of murder, seeking to romanticise brutal crimes.

“Mary Lou McDonald is deluded if she thinks that IRA atrocities such as the Abercorn, Claudy, La Mon or Enniskillen were not crimes. The shooting of Angela Gallagher, Jean McConville and Mary Travers – to name but a few – are crimes that would shame the devil, but not it would seem Sinn Fein.

“Gun attacks by drug gangs are no different to gun attacks by the IRA, because both are the work of illegal criminal gangs.

“I fully understand that Sinn Fein has a vested interest in trying to sanitise the bloody past of the IRA, but they face some inconvenient facts in the process. The first is that that 60 per cent of Troubles related deaths were the work of republican terrorists. The second is that the IRA in supposedly defending the Catholic population, killed more Catholics than all the other actors combined.

“Sinn Fein may attempt to pretend that black is white but they should not be surprised when they are challenged every step of the way by those for whom the truth is not a stranger.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 31 October 2022.

Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey has warned the Taoiseach to be very careful following weekend comments in which he described Northern Ireland’s governance system as ‘not fit for purpose.’

Lord Empey, who was one of the Ulster Unionist Party’s lead negotiators at the time of the Belfast Agreement, said:

“I would urge caution to the Taoiseach in his comments. The Belfast Agreement managed to strike a balance that had previously proved elusive. It created institutions that allowed both of the main communities here to have a hand on the steering wheel. The vandalism that has been caused to those institutions was facilitated by both the Irish and UK Governments as they bent over backwards to placate the DUP and Sinn Fein since 2003.

“Ironically if it hadn’t been for the changes made at St Andrews, there would have been a DUP MLA in line to be nominated as First Minister following the last Assembly election because Unionism is still the largest designation in the Assembly. Both Governments are as complicit in the current stalemate as any of the Northern Ireland political parties.

“We are in the current scenario due to a mechanism put in place by both Governments in ‘New Decade, New Approach’ which was supposed to improve the sustainability of the institutions.

“The Belfast Agreement has a review mechanism, this is correct. But to simply take a hammer to parts of the Agreement is unlikely to fix the problem. Indeed, it could be that success lies in returning to the Agreement’s factory settings.

“It was clear throughout the 1996-1998 negotiations that the Irish Government was not involved in Strand 1 Talks (the internal affairs of Northern Ireland) and it is my firm conviction that this must be respected in any future discussions.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 28 October 2022.

Responding to a letter from the Loyalist Communities Council, UUP Leader Doug Beattie MC MLA said:

“I read the words in the letter with a sense that a section of unionism is condemned to keep repeating the mistakes of the past. Quite simply it is the words of unionism in retreat, not the confident presentation of our argument which will win out on the Protocol. It is the school of thought which sees unionism return to the table in a weaker position each time.

“The Ulster Unionist Party has been unequivocal in our opposition to the Protocol since it first emerged in Boris Johnson’s proposals to the EU on 2 October 2019. While the DUP were forced to play catch up after realising the folly of these proposals having initially welcomed them as a “serious and sensible way forward”, the Ulster Unionist Party was sounding the alarm that they amounted to “playing Russian roulette with the future of the United Kingdom”. Now those who created this mess by pursuing Brexit without a plan are trying to make others the fall guys for their mistakes.

“We will make no apology for spending the last three years making our case wherever it needed to be heard. We will continue to engage with the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government, the European Union and the US State Department to make sure they are in no doubt about why the Northern Ireland Protocol is unacceptable to unionists and is a bad deal for Northern Ireland. The evidence of this being the right approach is there for all to see in proposals made by us being adopted by the UK Government in their Command Paper, in the European Union coming back to the negotiating table and in the change in position from Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance who once called for “rigorous implementation” of the Protocol now forced to acknowledge its faults.

“The Ulster Unionist Party totally rejects any notion of moving back to pre-ceasefire days and will resist anyone who seeks to take us back there. The days of men and women being sent to fill jail cells or early graves in this country should be over. Peace and political process are the only way to advance our argument, be in no doubt of that.

“Finally, if the LCC would like to acknowledge who or what is to blame for Sinn Fein holding the post of First Minister then they should look no further than the DUP’s negotiating prowess at St Andrew’s. That unionism should be the majority designation in the Assembly, but not fill the office of First Minister is a failure they have to explain.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 28 October 2022.

The Chair of the Ulster Unionist Party, Councillor Jill Macauley, has paid tribute to the local Veterans community following a very successful event organised by Veterans Awards NI.

Jill Macauley said:

“This week I was honoured to attend the inaugural awards presentation of the Veterans Awards NI.

“The event celebrated and recognised the achievements of our service community and was attended by the newly appointed Minister for Veterans Affairs, the Rt Hon Johnny Mercer MP and the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner, Danny Kinahan.

“I would like to congratulate all those who were nominated for Awards, particularly Party colleagues Londonderry Councillor Ryan McCready who won the Reservist of the Year award, Banbridge Councillor Glenn Barr who won a silver award in the same category, and our Crotlieve representative Ricky McGaffin who won Volunteer of the Year.

“Many other Ulster Unionist friends and colleagues from across the Province were also in attendance including East Belfast MLA Andy Allen.

“Everyone who attended was both impressed and humbled at the work being done to celebrate and support our Veterans and the breadth of work being undertaken across Northern Ireland by those who have served in our armed forces.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 27 October 2022.

Responding to comments made by former DUP leader, Peter Robinson, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:

“I noted Peter Robinson`s comments about the Ulster Unionist Party.

“It`s time to set the record straight about how unionism got into the position it is in today. Unlike the DUP, the Ulster Unionist Party has always opposed the Protocol. When Boris Johnson first published his proposals for an amended protocol on 2 October 2019 which stated that ‘the proposal set out in this note would see regulatory checks applying between Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ and ‘Agri foods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain would do so via a Border Inspection Post or Designated Point of entry as required by EU law’, the then DUP leader Arlene Foster welcomed them as ‘a serious and sensible way forward.’

In contrast, on the 2 October 2019, the then UUP leader, Robin Swann MLA, stated that ‘this new protocol should be deeply concerning for all those who have the long term economic and constitutional welfare of Northern Ireland and its people at heart.’

“I warned the DUP on 3 October 2019 that they were ‘playing Russian roulette with the future of the United Kingdom.’ Yet the DUP ploughed on regardless.

“In an interview with BBC`s Spotlight programme on 2 March 2020, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP said, ‘in the end customs checks doesn’t mean that you change the constitutional status of a part of the United Kingdom, that’s not going to happen.’

“Then in an interview with BBC Good Morning Ulster on 27 May 2020, when Edwin Poots was asked by Chris Buckler, ‘Do you think that has the potential of damaging trade or do you think that there are opportunities with what is to come? With this ability to trade with the EU as well?’, Edwin Poots` response was to say, ‘we need to maximise the advantages and to minimize the disadvantages.’

“The DUP`s fingerprints were all over the Protocol whilst our record in opposition to it has been consistent since the day it was published. I welcome the fact that they had a road to Damascus conversion and have come over to our way of thinking. The Ulster Unionist Party said the Protocol was a bad deal from the very start and we brought forward alternatives and solutions to the break the impasse, some of which were included in the UK Government`s Command Paper from July 2021 and form the basis of the potential landing zone for negotiations.

“Whilst we have common ground with the DUP`s latest position on the Protocol, in opposition to it, where we differ is tactics. We have brought forward alternatives, we have engaged with the UK Government, EU, Irish Government and US State Department, and believe that negotiations are the best way forward. The DUP have brought down Stormont. I don`t think that it is in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland in the face of a cost-of-living crisis nor for the long-term benefit of Unionism.

“It is ironic that Peter Robinson is now stepping forward to give advice to the DUP. It was under his leadership that the Belfast Agreement was changed at St Andrews, amending the way in which the First and deputy First Ministers are elected in the Assembly. If those changes hadn`t been made, a DUP MLA would today be First Minister designate, not Michelle O`Neill. And that is down to the DUP. Peter Robinson is in no position to lecture the Ulster Unionist Party given the huge strategic errors made whilst he was leader of the DUP which have harmed unionism in the long run.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 21 October 2022.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s Policing Board Representative, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has described the Chief Constable’s warning – delivered in a letter to Party Leaders – of up to 1,000 fewer officers being available over the next three years, as something that no political leader can ignore and a matter of public safety.

Mike Nesbitt MLA said:

“I welcome the Chief Constable’s letter as the latest step in a staged response to what can only be described as a Police budget crisis.

“The letter to the Party Leaders obviously includes the Justice Minister Naomi Long. Surely she can no longer hide behind the excuse that this is an operational matter, given how the Prison Service made it clear that she has engaged in debate on operational decisions regarding staffing levels in the Prison Service.

“Once again people need to understand that if the Police don’t recruit, they don’t stand still they go backwards, because hundreds of officers leave every year for very justifiable reasons including retirement.

“Furthermore, the Director General of the Prison Service recently stated there was a headcount figure below which the Service is unable to keep people safe. This must inevitably also apply to the Police Service.

“My primary concern is that senior officers and staff at the PSNI are now looking actively at cutting services. It is no longer a question of reducing a team of ten officers down to nine or even eight, but redeploying all ten to cover gaps elsewhere and no longer delivering the original service at all.

“When the Chief Constable talks of the prospect of having up to 1,000 fewer officers available over the next three years ‘taking officer headcount closer to 6,000 than the 7,500 commitment made in the New Decade New Approach Agreement’ then this is a warning that no political leader can ignore. It is a matter of public safety.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 7 October 2022.

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 3 October 2022.

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionist Party on 2 October 2022.

Ulster Unionist Party leader, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has stated that his focus is on making Northern Ireland work for all its people within the United Kingdom.

Mr Beattie said:

“The Ireland’s Future conference in Dublin’s 3Arena may have been a substantial event for those who want a United Ireland, but as a show of unity it demonstrated that nationalism has its own problems. The event included political, civic and celebrity voices focused on the ‘what we want’, but yet again failed to outline the ‘how’.

“What I saw and heard at the conference were individuals outlining a geographical unity without a people being united. There was no plan, not even an outline, instead it was heart over head time and time again.

“I certainly don’t feel threatened by it as I believe it is as fair to have an aspiration for a United Ireland as it is for me to have a strong belief in a United Kingdom. However, it is not reasonable to ask unionists to design what they are fervently opposed to.

“As a unionist with a strong sense of Britishness and Irishness I am clear the challenge is to make Northern Ireland work for all its people. That means focusing on the economy to create better services in education, health and infrastructure, creating jobs, better housing and a connected future where all are respected regardless of their religion, sexual orientation or cultural background.

“For me this can be best achieved in the United Kingdom. Unionism needs to adapt and enhance its approach, selling the positives and being more inclusive. My confidence in my Union is unshakeable, but it can be delivered better if we focus on a union of people.

“As a positive, inclusive unionist I can listen to Jimmy Nesbitt and not feel threatened or try to portray him as some kind of modern day Lundy. In fact listening to his words I feel challenged; challenged to change his mind and thousands of others minds.

“The Ireland’s Future Conference in the 3Arena really did nothing to assist with unity of any type, be that its people or the geographical space. Despite massive resource it missed the mark, drove individuals to their trenches and increased suspicion.”