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Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey said the Secretary of State’ comments on the need for a speedy resolution to the question of devolving policing and justice and that people couldn’t take an ‘a la carte’ approach to the St. Andrews Agreement were worthless.

Sir Reg said it was ridiculous to expect parties to be behoven to an entire agreement when they were not privy, nor asked for their opinion on the agreement in its entirety.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“The Secretary of State appears to be in a hurry to force the devolution of policing and justice on the people of Northern Ireland, presumably to a timetable agreed between the DUP and Sinn Fein in St. Andrews. He invoked that people could not take an a la carte approach to the St Andrews Agreement.

I have to say the Ulster Unionist Party is not behoven to the St Andrews Agreement. To go a la carte requires a detailed knowledge of your choices on the menu. There have been many surprise announcements emanating from St Andrews that many of the parties had no knowledge of.

We were not consulted on a timetable for the Devolution of Policing and Justice. In present circumstances we would only consider it when there was sufficient public confidence for it to happen.

There is no current appetite nor confidence for the devolution of policing and justice to take place. It is too soon and any attempt to force it through could destabilise the Assembly. Taken with the recent announcement that Fianna Fail is seeking to organise in Northern Ireland, it is not inconceivable that a Fianna Fail Minister could end up in charge. This would give Unionists further reason to reconsider any moves to devolve Policing and Justice.”

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey called on the DUP to ‘wake up’ to tentative moves by Fianna Fail to organise in Northern Ireland after Dermot Ahern appeared on a television debate yesterday evening on the issue.

Sir Reg said the move was an attempt to by-pass the settled issue of sovereignty enshrined in the Agreement and would ‘re-constitutionalise’ political debate in Northern Ireland at a time when the new power sharing government was just beginning to bed down.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“I am alarmed at the complacent attitude of the DUP to this move. I find it incredible that they appear to be so relaxed and un-enthused at the prospect of a major Irish Republican Party seeking to organise in Northern Ireland.

The move in itself may indeed fragment the nationalist vote but they are missing a fundamental point if this is all they have to comment on the move.

The Ulster Unionist Party has been calling for the normalisation of politics in Northern Ireland. We want a transition to dealing with the normality of life here and the concentration on our social and economic policies. With the return of Stormont the door has opened once again to achieving this progress to normality. The constitutional question has been settled and dealt with.

Now the prospect of Fianna Fail Ministers being in both the NI Executive and the Dublin Government could put unbearable strain on the political process before it has had a chance to settle down and re-open the tired old constitutional debate.

There are no clear benefits to the people of Northern Ireland - who want pressing issues dealt with like education, health, the economy and the environment, to name but four - to see nationalist and republican politicians shifting their focus to old constitutional quarrels, which are already settled, in an effort to out green each other. It is like having a debate about how to build a castle in the sky.

The people of Northern Ireland have only just got their devolved institutions back, this move is ill-timed, ill-advised and seeks to by-pass settled sovereignty matters. I am urging the DUP to wake up to this issue, which of detriment to the political process, and join with us in opposing it.”

Responding to increasing speculation that a new Unionist Party is to be formed to oppose the DUP and Sinn Fein’s Power-Sharing arrangement, Kenny Donaldson, an Ulster Unionist Party Officer has stated:

“Many Unionists of my parent’s generation will feel a deep sense of deja-vu. The reality is that Unionism started internally dividing itself when the present First Minister, Dr Paisley and others decided they neither had the stomach, nor the political or civic responsibility to face up to the challenges of accommodating nationalism within an internal political settlement. 30 years later and the penny still hasn’t dropped for some people.

“Let’s be clear; we have the sectarian carve up that we have because people refused to share responsibility for the governing of Northern Ireland decades ago. Furthermore, the terrorist campaign of the PIRA and so-called ‘loyalist’ terrorists were major factors in instilling deep hatred and mistrust between our respective communities. This cocktail of factors meant that no political settlement was deliverable here for a generation.”

Kenny added: “In the run up to 1998 and for the 7/8 years thereafter, the DUP and Sinn Fein set about destroying the centre-ground, fuelled by their own selfish agendas they sought to bring about the conditions, which ensured our Country was carved up between the ‘prods’ and the ‘taigs.’ Despite the fact that this reality has come to pass I am confident that in the medium-long term, the public do not want their children to grow up in a society where there is mutual loathing between the principle protagonists charged with delivering Government. Forget about the amicable photographs, the mutual nods of agreement, the stomach-churning camaraderie on show between the ‘chuckle brothers’ and their respective merry men and women. This is but self-serving spin and mutually constructed choreography.”

Kenny continued: “Unionism collectively needs to realise that fracturing does nothing to assist the aims of promoting the Union. Yes that’s right, I use the word ‘promoting’ because the Union is already ‘protected’ by the enshrined principle of consent which Ulster Unionists negotiated and won in the run up to the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

“My core objective is to see the Ulster Unionist Party rebuild itself so that it can go forth and deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. I do not see the introduction of a new Unionist Party as advantageous. Do people really believe that Sinn Fein can be removed from Stormont at this stage? The parameters of our political settlement have been set, principally by the UK Government and supported by the Government of the Irish Republic, people need to get real; they need to deliver positive change for the people of Northern Ireland within the realms of possibility. For too long politicians in Northern Ireland sought power, now they have it but they need to realise that with power, comes responsibility,” concluded Kenny.

Ulster Unionist Police Board Member and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea said of the Police Ombudsman’s report today,

“Yet again the Police Ombudsman has clumsily and simplistically waded into our society’s painful past. The murder of Rosemary Nelson was a heinous act – one of many heinous acts that occurred during the Troubles. Ms. O’Loan is very well aware that her actions are contributing to a highly politicised attempt to re-write the history of 30 years of violence.

As our society seeks to move away from three decades of violence and paramilitarism, during which the Royal Ulster Constabulary contained the threat posed by terrorists to the entire community, what has the appearance of ideologically inspired investigations into only part of our past have the potential to undermine political progress.

There can be no doubt that we as a society should hold the agents of the State to infinitely higher standards than the actions of those who engaged in terrorist violence. That is not the issue for debate. The debate is about the selective and partisan nature of inquests into our painful and troubled past”.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“The Ulster Unionist Party has been calling for the normalisation of politics in Northern Ireland. We want a transition to dealing with the normality of life here and the concentration on our social and economic policies. With the return of Stormont the door has opened once again to achieving this progress to normality.

Hardly has this been achieved but Bertie Ahern and Finna Fail throw a grenade into the middle of Northern Ireland politics by announcing their decision to organise here and fight some elections.

The last thing we need is another abstentionist party organising here. Bertie Ahern at a stroke has transformed himself from a potential partner in the process of normalisation, to a rival.

The prospect of Fianna Fail Ministers being in both the NI Executive and the Dublin Government could put unbearable strain on the political process before it has had a chance to settle down. A most unwise and unhelpful decision from Bertie Ahern. It will fuel demands from unionists to seek further links with mainland parties as a counterbalance to the Fianna Fail move.

At a time when all our energies are directed at achieving stability, we are having instability injected by one of the two governments that pushed agreement as the way forward.

It seems clear that the hugs and the handshakes between Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern have been interpreted as weakness by Irish Nationalism not as a gesture of friendship. Was Ian Paisley made aware of this move by his friend the Irish Prime Minister”

Speaking in the Assembly on a motion condemning all attacks on Orange Halls and calling on all political parties to use their influence to stop such sectarian attacks, UUP Newry and Armagh MLA Danny Kennedy said,

“I welcome this important debate and at the outset, I am proud to confirm that I am a member of the Orange Order from County Armagh.

It cannot have escaped the attention of everyone in this Assembly that this motion is being debated on 9/11, the anniversary of the appalling attacks on the USA, which ushered in a new and terrible age of world terrorism. This new age of terrorism began at a time when we thought our own terrorist troubles were coming to a close.

The very clear evidence of continuing sectarian bigotry, which manifests itself in attacks on Orange Halls is so unacceptable. Attacks on Orange Halls represent an attempt by Republicans to intimidate, bully and threaten the Unionist and Protestant cultural tradition, and they are entirely out of place in an age and under a new dispensation when all cultural traditions should be mutually respected and equally valued. It is the policy of “Brits Out” taken to one of its most extreme forms. That is just not on.

There must be no tolerance shown towards the people who carry out these attacks. It doesn’t take much common sense to see that these attacks could cost us some of the prosperity this Province is entitled to after so many long, hard years of conflict. We must not and cannot allow the mindless cave men and women who carry out such attacks any opportunity to jeopardise the relative peace we now enjoy. Their actions have no place in a decent society.

That is why there is no reason to protect the people who carry out these attacks. They are dangerous people and they need to be apprehended, caught and convicted and jailed for a long term. Communities must not shield them and republican political leaders must demonstrate their credibility as peacemakers by using every effort to have those responsible handed over to the lawful authorities – the PSNI.

That means that all the community influence which a political party wields, and in some cases, that is considerable, must be used in having these attacks on Orange Halls stopped for good. None of us can be half-in and half-out of this process, supporting law and order only when it suits us and not just when it doesn’t upset some of our supporters. There is nothing more insidious and damaging to the whole political process here than a partial application of the principles of law and order.

Make no mistake about it the world is watching. It is observing. Every attack on an Orange Hall, every sectarian incident is logged by overseas investors. It is still reported in the world’s press in places sometimes that seem unlikely to us. The eyes that are scrutinising these events are not casual observers, they are potential investors. When they ask questions – like has the trouble really stopped? – then we better sit up and listen.

We cannot afford a society which is frayed around the edges with the residue of lawlessness hanging over from the troubled past. There must be no harming our potential to attract inward investment

The best way to effectively marginalise individuals or groups who indulge in these attacks on Orange Halls is by informing the Police. That is the way to deal with such activities. For the nationalist / republican community to do this would help build a lasting peace and would help convince the unionist-minded community that they are sincere about a shared future.

We need action from Sinn Fein – not words

No-one who wants peace and order in a new shared-future society will want these attacks continuing. The many hundreds of attacks over the years, which bizarrely accelerated after the original IRA ceasefire leading right up to the attacks this summer do nothing to create a just society or a lasting peace.

Few things annoy the Unionist people more than the deliberate act of malicious damage against their Orange Halls which effectively serve as community halls, whether in Carnagh or Crosskeys or Mullinture as happened this summer in my constituency, or Seagoe, the most recently destroyed hall in Co Armagh. I say to republicans in particular, stop burning our Orange Halls, start building real peace.”

Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott MLA has warned that the honeymoon period between Sinn Fein and DUP is coming to an end and Monitoring Report on Devolution published at the beginning of September 2007 forecasts that many key issues, like academic selection, the reform of public administration and the proposed Irish Language Act to name but a few could disrupt or destabilise the Stormont Executive but the shortage of money is the most worrying.

Tom said: “As the new Assembly term commences it would seem that both the DUP and Sinn Fein are keen to appease many of their unhappy members over the images of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness (referred to as the chuckle brothers) and have jointly agreed to drastically reduce the number of joint engagements. The carefully staged media events do not hide the fact that everything is not so rosy under the surface.

The DUP stated they would secure a peace dividend but failed to deliver. However it is clear that the financial package requested from Gordon Brown never materialised. To put it bluntly, there is no more money in the kitty and we must live within the budgetary constraints confronting the Executive.

Many Ministers are bristling with expenditure plans but reluctant to press ahead with raising revenue, including water charges and the new domestic rates regime. Quite simply priorities will have to be agreed and a reality checks that we would all like to do many things but we do not have the money to do so.

I personally would like to see more money in agriculture and rural development but as was demonstrated in June 2007 that in order to raise funds for the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme that land will need to be sold to finance this scheme. I’m afraid this is something that is likely to be pressed even more widespread to all departments from the Minister of Finance, Peter Robinson.

Northern Ireland needs an integrated transport infrastructure and we must ensure that the economy can move products and people around quickly, hence the need for proper roads. Whilst there have been major announcements about upgrading certain roads next year, there is clearly a massive under-funding of the roads infrastructure in Fermanagh. There is clearly a lack of equality for roads funding towards Fermanagh.

Add to the above the looming May 2008 deadline for the transfer of policing and justice powers to Stormont and there is a real prospect of stormy days ahead. It reminds me of a honeymoon couple who went off on their holiday without paying any outstanding bills, only to return and face the financial consequences by having to sell the presents.”

Unionists and loyalists will be left with a deep sense of irony following the disclosure that a senior member of the DUP was involved in advocating and promoting the Belfast Agreement as a model for resolving other conflicts in the world including the difficulties in Iraq, Ulster Unionist Deputy-Leader Danny Kennedy said today,

In a statement Mr Kennedy continued,

“The revelation simply confirms the fact that the DUP were never truly an anti-agreement Party but were simply engaged in a deeply cynical political exercise to emerge as the largest political party in NI - something which has proven costly to Unionists in terms of concessions made to republicans. All over this Province grass roots unionists are asking only one question to the DUP leadership - “What was the past 38 years all about?

The Unionist population is also informed now, from no less a person than Ian Paisley Jnr, that any suggestion of a rift in OFM/DFM ie the SF/DUP Government pact was “entirely fantasy politics” - so much for the promise given that “it wouldn’t be a love-in!”

There are many aspects of Dr Paisleys behaviour since becoming first minister that have shown a lack of “bigger picture Unionism” but none more so than the so called “Celtic Alliance” with the Scottish and Welsh Assemblies to produce a coherent strategy to get more money out of Westminster. When you hear the leader of UNIONISM praise our foreign neighbours whilst castigating our own British Government over a lack of investment, it beggars belief and further alienates Northern Ireland in the minds of our fellow British citizens across the water. Does Dr Paisley seriously believe that a region of the UK that receives in excess of NINE THOUSAND MILLION POUNDS is really not being treated fairly whilst praising the Irish Government for a few hundred millions of investment in our infrastructure that will directly benefit the economic competitiveness of THEIR regions.

As Unionists we should be congratulating our neighbours for the strides that their economy has made but making it clear that compared to the UK it is still behind in many significant areas. Our employment legislation, our rates of personal taxation, our OVERALL company taxation (especially for the majority SME companies), and crucially the fact that we can control our own inflation by not being in the single currency adding to the fact that we are one of the best regulated markets in the world give the UK clear competitive advantage over most of the other EU countries. That is why we still receive more Foreign Direct Investment than any other single EU country.

Other things which Unionists never say, or maybe do not recognise, is the massive difference in the quality, accessibility and cost of our public services which are miles ahead of our neighbour. Try having an accident in Ireland that requires significant rehabilitation care and you will soon see why over 50% of the population subscribe to private health care plans.

But of course our Britishness and the strength of the Union can never be taken for granted. One of Mr Paisleys colleagues, Mr Salmond, is pushing for a referendum in Scotland to break up the U.K. Since that has always been his stated position I wonder why the leader of Unionism is forming alliances with him but since he has now started putting the wheels in motions to try to split the Union up, Mr Paisley should stop, or be stopped by colleagues, from further developing links with Scottish Republicans. The United Kingdom is a wonderful place to live, work and play and it is about time that all Unionist politicians started selling the tangible benefits of our participation in it to counteract the spin and bluster of those who would let us believe that our neighbour is about to take over the world!

Upper Bann Ulster Unionist Assembly Member George Savage MLA today spoke out after hearing that the British National Anthem will not be played at Ravenhill when Ireland play Italy. Speaking today, George said:

“I was disgusted to find out that on Friday night at Ravenhill the only National Anthem to be played will be that of the Italians. This is unacceptable. Under the Belfast Agreement’s ‘Parity of Esteem’ principle, I understand that culture and another nation’s emblems and anthem should be respected.”

“When Ireland play in Dublin I agree that the Irish National Anthem should be played as the match is being played in the Capital City of the Irish Republic and I am sure that supporters from Northern Ireland do not take issue with that. When Ireland play away only Ireland’s Call is played and that, I believe, is fair right and proper.”

“However, when Ireland play in Belfast, only Ireland’s Call will be played. I believe this will be a great insult to Ireland players who come from Ulster that the anthem of their country will not be played when Ireland play at Ravenhill. Furthermore, I am astonished that the IRFU gave Ulster Branch no choice – International match and no God Save The Queen or no match at all. This is utterly disgraceful.”

“I trust that the IRFU and Ulster Branch will re-think this decision seriously before they alienate a vast number of their fan base. I have written to the IRFU and Ulster Branch to put on record my disgust.”