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In a statement responding to news in the Sunday papers that the DUP were imposing a fine of £20,000 on Candidates who break the Party’s central line, and today’s revelations that candidates must sign a post-dated resignation letter for stepping out of line, UUP Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland said,

“This is outrageous, reeks of a paranoia and shows a party deeply unease with itself. It also runs contrary to basic principles of democracy.

It is clear that the DUP are trying to buy the silence of their candidates.

It’s a bit late for that as there are currently a plethora of views within the DUP on power sharing on the 26th March ranging from South Antrim candidate Mel Lucas who rules out power sharing full stop, to Gregory Campbell, Jim Allister and Nigel Dodds saying the 26th deadline cannot happen, to finally Peter Robinson, Jeffrey Donaldson and Ian Paisley saying they won’t be found wanting in response to Sinn Fein.

The real question to ask the DUP is what their definitive position is on power sharing. It appears they are just too scared to tell their electorate and the people of Northern Ireland what it is they are voting for.”

In a statement responding to news in the Sunday papers that the DUP were imposing a fine of £20,000 on Candidates who break the Party’s central line, and today’s revelations that candidates must sign a post-dated resignation letter for stepping out of line, UUP Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland said,

“This is outrageous, reeks of a paranoia and shows a party deeply unease with itself. It also runs contrary to basic principles of democracy.

It is clear that the DUP are trying to buy the silence of their candidates.

It’s a bit late for that as there are currently a plethora of views within the DUP on power sharing on the 26th March ranging from South Antrim candidate Mel Lucas who rules out power sharing full stop, to Gregory Campbell, Jim Allister and Nigel Dodds saying the 26th deadline cannot happen, to finally Peter Robinson, Jeffrey Donaldson and Ian Paisley saying they won’t be found wanting in response to Sinn Fein.

The real question to ask the DUP is what their definitive position is on power sharing. It appears they are just too scared to tell their electorate and the people of Northern Ireland what it is they are voting for.”

UUP Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland said in a statement,

“On 13th October, at St Andrews, an end of talks plenary meeting was held at the Fairmont Hotel which was attended by all the delegates from the parties and governments. A few words from the Prime Minister and Bertie Ahern were followed by a presentation to Rev. Ian and Baroness Paisley upon the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. Following receipt of the gifts, Dr Paisley got to his feet to thank both governments for the gifts. He said ‘This is a great day for all of Ireland and all of the United Kingdom…’ Such language would not have been used if the DUP Leader was returning to Northern Ireland with a document which was simply an agreement between the two governments containing only their own thoughts on the way ahead. What Ian Paisley was referring to was an agreement to which the DUP was a principal party, its officials having spent 48 hours involved in its drafting. His comments at the DUP press conference afterwards, where he deliberately used the language of Terence O’Neill nearly forty years ago, clearly indicated that he was bringing home a set of proposals to ’sell.’

The wobbles which became apparent last week over the ‘pledge of office’ do not alter the fact that both the DUP and Sinn Fein knew what was coming in the document and were complicit in it.

As the public comes to terms with the details of St Andrews, including the proposal to introduce an Irish Language Act, which will have far reaching implications for Northern Ireland, the DUP are now trapped in this deal. To run away now would be an admission of either gross imcompetence or absolute cowardice.

The fact is that Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson have now made their bed with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, and like it or not,  they will all have to lie on it.”

UUP Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland said the DUP position on sitting in the sub-committees of the Preparation for Government Committee (PFG) was confused.

Ian Paisley Jnr and Peter Weir fully participated in the economy sub-committee today despite Ian Paisley Snr stating that there would be no DUP participation in sub-committee activity because of the voting mechanism.

In a statement today Mr McFarland said the DUP should clear up their confused position,

“Ian Paisley Snr has told the Secretary of State that the DUP will not be taking part in any sub-groups of the PFG and that tackling each issue in a specialised sub-committee is “completely unacceptable to us”. The reservations are apparently over the majority voting system.

But lo and behold on the economy sub committee today Ian Paisley Jnr and Peter Weir played a full and active role, even agreeing to a sub-committee press release outlining ways forward.

This is a confused position and I would call on the DUP to clear up whether they are in fact taking part in sub-committees or not.”

Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland has welcomed the publication of Preparation for Government Committee minutes on the Northern Ireland assembly website.

The minutes of the meetings can be found at http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/theassembly/CPFG/cpfg_commpage.htm

In a statement, the North Down MLA said: “This is a welcome development. It is vitally important that the people of Northern Ireland are able to see for themselves what has been happening within this committee.

“Of course to-ing and fro-ing over chairmanships and so on will have done nothing to raise optimism that progress can be made. But I think if people look through the minutes of these meetings they will see that a significant level of engagement has been reached by all involved in the committee.

“All the political parties, under the joint chairmanship of Sinn Fein and DUP, deal with each other freely across a range of issues and the exchanges so far have been reasonably encouraging. The work of this committee will continue throughout the summer and I would urge anyone with internet access to read the minutes for themselves.”

UUP Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland today welcomed the news from the Secretary of State that the Assembly will sit this Friday and that the Preparation for Government Committee is due to meet over the summer to move towards the government’s work plan leading towards the 24th November deadline.

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“Truth be told the stop-start nature of the last few weeks has been a fiasco and has done little to endear the political process to the general public. Having said that I welcome the fact that the Assembly will sit this Friday. The Assembly should and must be given the right to express its views on the raft of damaging and on-going direct rule policies that are being foisted upon the people of Northern Ireland against their clearly stated wishes.

With this in mind I also welcome news that the Preparation for Government Committee is meeting over the summer to identify the issues and blockages standing in the way of a return to devolution. It will be a good barometer for some parties to test whether they are committed to finding a way forward to the benefit of all in Northern Ireland or whether internal party political considerations will override the dangers posed by current proposals on education, rates and water charges.”

Ulster Unionist Party Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland today criticised DUP efforts to force the Speaker Eileen Bell to chair the Committee for Preparation for Government.

Mr McFarland said that Mrs Bell did not want to do it, that the proposal would have compromised the impartial role of the Speaker and that the DUP were engaged in ‘pure evasion’ running away from an arrangement that means a rotating chair amongst the parties.

Ultimately, added the UUP Chief Negotiator, if the DUP could not even manage to agree to a chair for a Committee it spelt out their lack of vision and determination for progress to be made.

In a statement Mr McFarland said,

“It is a sad indictment that due to obstruction from the DUP, we cannot perform the simple task of appointing a Chair for the Committee. The ridiculousness of the situation does not bode well for the future.

This is an exercise in pure evasion. In the last Assembly the DUP sat in Committees with Chairs from other political parties day in, day out. Now they bizarrely seem opposed to a rotating Chair system.

Mrs Bell has indicated that she does not wish to chair the Committee. We respect her decision. There is no precedent in any other Parliament for the Speaker of the House to chair a committee. The proposal would have compromised the impartial role of the Speaker.

The rest of the parties are keen to ensure that progress can be made in this Committee. We want to identify the pressure points standing in the way of a return to devolution. The prevarication and petty wriggling by the DUP is preventing the potential for progress and holding us all up to public ridicule.”

The moderate centre ground parties have shown that consensus-building can work, and that politics can work. It is a matter of lasting regret that government failed to keep to its promises and properly protect democracy here from the criminal excesses of others.

Centre ground politics plays the necessary role of counterbalancing the extremes. Because we know what can happen, or what little can happen, when the extremes take the lead role.

That said, we are concerned about the structure of this new Assembly. The Northern Ireland Assembly has not been recalled – the Northern Ireland Bill 2006 creates an entirely new institution.

This Assembly has no legislative, financial or Executive powers, and has an agenda and standing orders determined on the whim of the Secretary of Secretary. This is not a good start.

We view the interim Assembly as a short-term stepping stone while we seek to attain the maximum amount of devolution possible. Therefore our focus is to ensure that the focus is fixed firmly on the restoration of devolution. We will not support a prolonged talking shop.

That’s why Ulster Unionist Chief Whip David McClarty submitted a resolution calling for the creation of a ‘restoration of devolution committee’ to look precisely at this question. This was met with immediately support from all but the DUP.

This committee could discuss unfinished business from the Review of the Belfast Agreement, such as accountability of North South arrangements, a revised Ministerial Code, and of course the issue of ongoing criminality. We have also been compiling motions designed to challenge NIO plans on water; education; rates and the economy.

The Secretary of State has also proposed that the recalled Assembly should meet twice a week. But if we are truly committed to restoring the maximum level of Devolution, then we need to be working full time on it. The message from Ulster Unionists is that the Assembly means to do business.

Ulster Unionists have significantly more power and influence than many would give us credit for. Both ourselves and the SDLP represent over 40% of each designation within the Assembly. This is important because we can deliver cross-community votes.

Indeed, the only way our views can be overturned is if Sinn Fein and the DUP combine against us. With our experience and knowledge of the system, we intend to play an important role and we have shown from the start that we want to resolve the issues that are holding up the political process.

However, the extremes may show more interest in cloak and dagger deals. And for government - offering crumbs for one political party over another causes widespread tension and division, and is a source of instability.

Along with other centre ground parties we have been highlighting the need for openness and transparency throughout this process. The public has no stomach for side deals.

That’s why we have published the details of all negotiations on our website (www.uup.org) and have challenged others to join us.

Moderate centre ground Unionism is a vital part of Northern Ireland’s political DNA. That this remains intrinsic to the make up of the assembly is essential to the health of the body politic.

We want to use the Assembly to progress the talks and end the constant to-ing and fro-ing to the Secretary of State and Prime Minister. We are critically aware that people want to decide their own future, and to shape their own society, through the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The moderate centre ground parties have shown that consensus-building can work, and that politics can work. It is a matter of lasting regret that government failed to keep to its promises and properly protect democracy here from the criminal excesses of others.

We want to use the Assembly to progress the talks and end the constant to-ing and fro-ing to the Secretary of State and Prime Minister. We are critically aware that people want to decide their own future, and to shape their own society, through the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland has hit back at the DUP for “displaying breath-taking hypocrisy” in recent days, warning that “collective memory loss had clearly separated the DUP from the real world”.

In a statement, the North Down MLA said: “Memory loss is uniquely a DUP condition which seems to be infecting all levels of the Party.

“For the sake of consistency, Mr Weir should condemn the DUP councillors who voted for a PUP Mayor in Belfast City Council. He should condemn his colleagues who sit alongside loyalist paramilitaries on the North and West Belfast Parades Forum. He should condemn DUP Policing Board members who sit alongside the PUP president. He should condemn senior party colleagues who shared a platform with Portadown loyalist Billy Wright.

“As Mr Weir has said, the UVF has been responsible for some of the most vicious sectarian crimes during the Troubles. How does he feel about his Party colleague, a former member of the UVF, who represents the DUP in North Antrim?

“The DUP cannot claim a clean pair of hands. In 1986 the DUP leader said that Ulster Resistance would “take direct action as and when required”. Just to be clear, he went on to say that “Ulster Resistance was not for the faint or half-hearted and we will use all means which are deemed necessary to defeat the Agreement”.

“If Mr Weir wants to maintain the purity of his position then he ought to raise his concerns at the next DUP AGM.”