Nesbitt says DUP are ‘inextricably linked’ to the St Andrews Agreement
Senior Ulster Unionist Dermot Nesbitt today rebuffed DUP MLA Mervyn Storey who claimed that the DUP was not ‘bound’ by the St Andrews Agreement.
In a statement Mr Nesbitt said,
“In the Fairmont Hotel, the governments had their rooms on the third floor, where both Ministers and officials had bedrooms converted into offices. Indeed one room was marked by the NIO ‘Systems operations room’ whatever that meant!
It was along these corridors that officials and Ministers from both governments were scampering and exchanging drafts of the final communique and probably the various side deals as well.
Certainly on the 13th October the DUP had the use of a room on this corridor, a facility not available to other parties. They were right at the heart of this deal as it was being finalised. It is therefore disingenuous in the extreme for Mr Storey to suggest that the DUP are not bound by the St. Andrews Agreement contents.
There is no backing out now for either Sinn Fein or the DUP. A week ago Sammy Wilson said that they were ‘intermeshed’, referring to the steps both parties must now take. Perhaps a better phrase would be ‘inextricably linked.’