uuptoday.org

Following the rioting and attacks on the PSNI in Bangor’s Kilcooley estate on Wednesday evening, senior Ulster Unionist Alan McFarland MLA has strongly condemned the violence and urged the local community to support the PSNI as it restores peace and order to the area.

Mr. McFarland said, “Last night’s events - rioting, attacks on the PSNI, mob violence - are a throwback to the worst of Northern Ireland’s past, at a time when the overwhelming majority of people in our society are looking to the future. The people of Kilcooley, Bangor and North Down deserve better than this. The men and women who serve our community in the PSNI deserve better than this.

“The area has seen significant advances in recent years, not least through the Impact restorative justice scheme. It is vital that yesterday’s disgraceful scenes do not overshadow the good work, leadership and progress displayed in Kilcooley.

“Together with the recent violence in Carrickfergus, these incidents show the urgent need for loyalism to make the transition to exclusively peaceful and democratic politics, decommission all of its weapons, and cease all criminal activity. Continued criminality and violence undermines any case loyalism has for legitimate involvement in political and community life.”

Senior Ulster Unionist Alan McFarland today welcomed the fact that the DUP have finally and completely rubberstamped the Belfast Agreement by attending the North South Ministerial Council meeting.

The North Down MLA, while welcoming the move, said however that this latest u-turn was categoric proof that the DUP is not a party of principle but a party of power.

In a statement Mr McFarland,

“We welcome the fact that at last the DUP have finally, completely and irreversibly signed up to all 3 strands of the Belfast Agreement, thus vindicating the UUP’s position.

In fact the DUP have gone further than we would have by agreeing to a North-South Parliamentary Forum, something that to us was firmly beyond the pale.

In January 2001 Peter Robinson indicated that he would allow DUP Executive Ministers to meet their Dublin counterparts “as long as it is not in the context” of NSMC. He went on to explain his refusal to accept the NSMC: “The NSMC structure was set up for political reasons and structurally the two parts of the country are working under one political entity and that we will have nothing to do with”. (Sunday Tribune 28th Jan 01.)

The DUP’s 2001 Westminster Manifesto described the NSMC as “an embryo united Ireland government” (p. 9).

The DUP’s 2003 policy paper “Towards a New Agreement” stated, “the NSMC is the central element of North/South co-operation negotiated in the Belfast Agreement” (p. 19).

The St. Andrews Agreement merely provided for NSMC papers to be circulated to all Executive members prior to the meeting of NSMC. It also noted that the Executive Committee should agree relevant matters - ironically this is exactly the situation criticised in the DUP’s 2003 paper: “only the Executive parties have any vote on decisions … power is vested in Ministers”

What we have as a result of today’s u-turn by the DUP is categoric proof, if it were needed that, that they are a Party of power and not of principle. The people of Northern Ireland have been kept back from 10 years of progress until the DUP decided to get its act together. What a waste.”

Following the DUP’s ‘pledge’ on a Finance Ministry and water charges, Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator, and North Down candidate, Alan McFarland has voiced his amazement at the increasingly far-fetched and delusional nature of DUP double-speak on devolution.

In a statement, Mr McFarland said: “This is the final nail in the coffin for DUP hypocrisy. Here we have claims about what they might do in a Ministry – but they’re not honest enough to tell people if they’ll even go into the executive.

“They can’t have it both ways. It was only a short time ago that DUP MP Gregory Campbell said that ‘it would be an insult to people’s intelligence to think we could be in government with Sinn Fein by March 26’.” But the first water charge bills come after April 1. Clearly anything they say on water charges is completely and utterly valueless.

“Nothing can be done on water charges if there’s no devolution in place. That’s why the Ulster Unionist Party is saying loud and clear that we will take the seats to which we are entitled on March 26. If people want movement on water charges, vote for parties that will make devolution work.”

Concluding, he said: “The DUP think easy populism is a substitute for honest politics. They’re wrong. Their claim is a joke – and more evidence that the DUP is desperate and now completely detached from reality. They have no credibility on water charges and finance ministries, because they have no credibility on devolution.

“Northern Ireland needs a strong government of its own. This election is about standing on our own two feet, creating a government of our own, and reversing the disastrous policies of Direct Rule Ministers.

“A vote for the divided DUP is a vote for the unknown - a vote for Plan B, a vote for Joint Authority. A vote for the united UUP is a vote to stand for Northern Ireland to stand on our own two feet - a vote for a government of our own.”

Addressing a meeting in Bangor last night (26th Feb), Alan McFarland, Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator and North Down UUP candidate, said:

“The Democratic Unionist Party is trying to paper over the massive cracks in their Party. They are pretending that there is more negotiating to be done, so that the leadership don’t have to openly admit that Ian Paisley hopes to join Martin McGuinness as First and Deputy First Minister.

Senior, life-long DUP members have left the Party and many of their candidates do not wish to share power with Sinn Fein. All DUP candidates have had to signed resignation letters. These letters are in Dr Paisley’s back pocket and, if any of his MLAs speak out in opposition after the election, they are apt to find themselves sacked! Indeed the DUP candidate that appears on the doorstep is not free, if elected, to represent their constituent’s views. They are stooges who will do their master’s bidding.

To support the DUP at this election is to support instability in any future Government here. Can you imaging Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness leading a trade delegation to the USA. Not speaking to each other, not appearing on platforms or studios together - a recipe for disaster and embarrassment for Northern Ireland.

One of the main DUP election platforms is that unionist voters have to vote for them or Sinn Fein will become the largest Party and be First Minister. How did this possibility come about, because in the first Assembly unionists had a veto on who would be in the two joint posts? We can thank the outstanding negotiating skills of the DUP, it was through them the veto was set aside. The DUP sat in the House of Commons and Lords and watched the change in legislation go through, without raising any objection. It suits them as a tool to frighten the unionist electorate into voting for them.

But the threat is nonsense. The polls show the SDLP making gains against Sinn Fein, the Republican Movement is deeply split on the issue of policing and their vote is fractured. So Sinn Fein is unlikely to be the largest Party. It would be very unhealthy for Northern Ireland to carve up its political system between two very large parties. It would prevent the emergence of proper coalitions and hinder the development of normal politics.

In the 2003 Assembly elections you will recall that the DUP had a ‘cunning plan’ but could not tell people what it was. In 2005, they promised a new, fair deal and one that excluded Sinn Fein from government. Both were ‘smoke and mirrors’. Now they are up to their old confidence tricks again, scaring people and pretending that they can bring stable government to the Province. So unstable is the DUP internally that the will not be able to deliver on their promises. ‘Can’t deal - won’t deal’. ‘Can’t deliver- won’t deliver’.

UUP Chief Negotiator and North Down Assembly Candidate Alan McFarland, responding to comments made by Iris Robinson about the UUP letting Sinn Fein off the hook, branded the DUP as a fundamentally dishonest party.

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“I was under the impression from comments made by Iris’ husband that the DUPs battle with Ulster Unionism had been fought and won. It is amusing therefore to find 3 of the DUPs press statements currently on their web page attacking my party.

Let’s cut to the chase and save a round of needless press statements that will only alienate the public further.

Yes, the UUP will go into government on 26th March. Northern Ireland needs devolved government. We want to deal with the real concerns of the people of Northern Ireland – health, education, rates and water charges, crime, our environment, local business, agriculture, older people, first time buyers and many other areas that matter to people.

If they pledge to support the police and rule of law we can’t stop Sinn Fein being in the Executive. But we can make sure that Unionism has an effective voice, in Stormont, in government.

The truth is that for all the DUPs posturing they are being fundamentally dishonest. They too will go into government, just as they did in the last Executive, and just as they would have done ‘bar a photograph’. They are simply petrified of telling the people because it would split them right down the middle and they would lose support. So the plan is to slither through the next few weeks commitment free and spook people into voting for them with various non-existent threats and with a raw sectarian head count message. This is not the centre ground politics that they aspire to. A leopard cannot change its spots.

The people of Northern Ireland deserve better and they deserve a government now. Not when it suits the DUP.”

UUP Chief Negotiator and UUP Assembly Candidate for North Down Alan McFarland today responded to the DUPs Party Election broadcast.

Mr McFarland said it was the same tired old message, offered no vision of the future and didn’t spell out what the DUP intends to do on March the 26th. The Chief Negotiator, referring to the DUPs £2000 penalty for speaking out of line and the post dated resignation letter, added that if Ian Paisley didn’t even trust his own candidates how can the people of Northern Ireland?

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“The DUP Election Broadcast was a tired re-hashing of old lies and self-serving comfort blanket politics. It should be remembered that for all their huff and puff about sharing power, the DUP took Executive posts and were Ministers in the previous Executive. This hypocrisy cannot go unchecked nor be conveniently be airbrushed out of history. The people of Northern Ireland are not stupid! Nobody knows what the DUP position is and to go into an election on a ticket of vagueness and innuendo is fundamentally dishonest. The electorate deserve and expect more.

Also, how can the public be expected to trust the DUPs candidates when their party leader clearly doesn’t? By forcing them to sign post-dated letters of resignation, Ian Paisley is saying that he doesn’t trust them to do his bidding so he has taken draconian measures to keep them in line. This is because he has clearly done his deal with Blair and Sinn Fein but fears that not all his candidates would back him if it is left to their own consciences.

Never before in British Parliamentary history has a party leader forced his candidates to sign such letters. It flies in the face of British standards which see the individual candidate become an elected representative with his/her own freedom to make decisions on behalf of constituents. What we have today is the nomination of stooges who can be wiped out by their Leader in consultation with a few families in his party. So much for freedom of speech and democracy!

The DUP is a party deeply uneasy with itself. It craves power but cannot handle the responsibility that comes with it. It is divided on the way forward and petrified of committing to anything. Today’s Election Broadcast was weak, lacked confidence and is a reflection of the dire political straits that they find themselves in.”

UUP Chief Negotiator and UUP Assembly Candidate for North Down Alan McFarland today responded to the DUPs Party Election broadcast.

Mr McFarland said it was the same tired old message, offered no vision of the future and didn’t spell out what the DUP intends to do on March the 26th. The Chief Negotiator, referring to the DUPs £2000 penalty for speaking out of line and the post dated resignation letter, added that if Ian Paisley didn’t even trust his own candidates how can the people of Northern Ireland?

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“The DUP Election Broadcast was a tired re-hashing of old lies and self-serving comfort blanket politics. It should be remembered that for all their huff and puff about sharing power, the DUP took Executive posts and were Ministers in the previous Executive. This hypocrisy cannot go unchecked nor be conveniently be airbrushed out of history. The people of Northern Ireland are not stupid! Nobody knows what the DUP position is and to go into an election on a ticket of vagueness and innuendo is fundamentally dishonest. The electorate deserve and expect more.

Also, how can the public be expected to trust the DUPs candidates when their party leader clearly doesn’t? By forcing them to sign post-dated letters of resignation, Ian Paisley is saying that he doesn’t trust them to do his bidding so he has taken draconian measures to keep them in line. This is because he has clearly done his deal with Blair and Sinn Fein but fears that not all his candidates would back him if it is left to their own consciences.

Never before in British Parliamentary history has a party leader forced his candidates to sign such letters. It flies in the face of British standards which see the individual candidate become an elected representative with his/her own freedom to make decisions on behalf of constituents. What we have today is the nomination of stooges who can be wiped out by their Leader in consultation with a few families in his party. So much for freedom of speech and democracy!

The DUP is a party deeply uneasy with itself. It craves power but cannot handle the responsibility that comes with it. It is divided on the way forward and petrified of committing to anything. Today’s Election Broadcast was weak, lacked confidence and is a reflection of the dire political straits that they find themselves in.”

UUP Chief Negotiator and UUP Assembly Candidate for North Down Alan McFarland today responded to the DUPs Party Election broadcast.Mr McFarland said it was the same tired old message, offered no vision of the future and didn’t spell out what the DUP intends to do on March the 26th. The Chief Negotiator, referring to the DUPs £2000 penalty for speaking out of line and the post dated resignation letter, added that if Ian Paisley didn’t even trust his own candidates how can the people of Northern Ireland?

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“The DUP Election Broadcast was a tired re-hashing of old lies and self-serving comfort blanket politics. It should be remembered that for all their huff and puff about sharing power, the DUP took Executive posts and were Ministers in the previous Executive. This hypocrisy cannot go unchecked nor be conveniently be airbrushed out of history. The people of Northern Ireland are not stupid! Nobody knows what the DUP position is and to go into an election on a ticket of vagueness and innuendo is fundamentally dishonest. The electorate deserve and expect more.

Also, how can the public be expected to trust the DUPs candidates when their party leader clearly doesn’t? By forcing them to sign post-dated letters of resignation, Ian Paisley is saying that he doesn’t trust them to do his bidding so he has taken draconian measures to keep them in line. This is because he has clearly done his deal with Blair and Sinn Fein but fears that not all his candidates would back him if it is left to their own consciences.

Never before in British Parliamentary history has a party leader forced his candidates to sign such letters. It flies in the face of British standards which see the individual candidate become an elected representative with his/her own freedom to make decisions on behalf of constituents. What we have today is the nomination of stooges who can be wiped out by their Leader in consultation with a few families in his party. So much for freedom of speech and democracy!

The DUP is a party deeply uneasy with itself. It craves power but cannot handle the responsibility that comes with it. It is divided on the way forward and petrified of committing to anything. Today’s Election Broadcast was weak, lacked confidence and is a reflection of the dire political straits that they find themselves in.”

Ulster Unionist candidate for North Down Alan McFarland has joined business leaders in calling for politicians to work together to build up a new Northern Ireland.

Mr McFarland welcomed comments by the head of the Institute of Directors’, Frank Bryan at their annual dinner that it is now time for the politicians to get down to business.

McFarland said:

“Devolution presents us with a wonderful opportunity to really make a difference after four years of paralysis while the Assembly was suspended. Scotland and Wales have shown what can be done when local accountable government is running the country.

“Frank Bryans is quite right in saying that stable political institutions are a prerequisite if Northern Ireland is to compete to win new investment and open up new world markets. If Northern Ireland is to flourish, it is essential that we are given to opportunity to make it work for all of us.”

Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland has said that the DUP’s are now so confused that they cannot agree on issues ranging from fundamental policy on devolution, down to the content of their Party contracts.

In a statement, the North Down assembly candidate said: “On Tuesday a DUP Spokesperson said that the £20,000 fine was “wild speculation and totally inaccurate”. The spokesman said the figure was “’paltry’ in comparison, and not five figures”.

“Yet in the Fermanagh Herald newspaper, a DUP candidate has said that: ‘In previous contracts, you could be fined but that there was no maximum monetary figure included. That has now changed. There is now a maximum fine amount included of £20,000.’

“So the truth is out. There is a fine, it is in five figures and that ‘wild speculation’ was totally accurate. And the subterfuge was incompetently done – a spokesperson denies what a candidate can freely confirm to the readership of Fermanagh.

“The electorate will look dimly on being misled. The DUP can’t agree on whether they want devolution, they can’t agree on when they might want devolution, and now they can’t agree on the content of contracts for their own representatives.

“From fundamental policy, to internal party documents, the DUP are divided and confused. Is there anything left for the DUP to disagree on?”

He added: “And according to reports, the standard DUP MLA’s contract was understood to include a line to the effect of: ‘I resign from the Northern Ireland Assembly with immediate effect…’.

“And according to the Fermanagh Herald that clause has been updated to say that the Party Leader as ‘your nominating officer can resign you from the Assembly’.

“So the representative doesn’t resign. The representative gets resigned. How democratic is that?”