Undermining fellow-Unionists

Editorial Department • Published 4 Mar 2010 12:51 0 Comments

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Dear Sir, - Minister Arlene Foster's letter in this paper last week was the latest in a long line of attempts by the DUP to undermine fellow Unionists. While on the one hand she would like people to believe the DUP want Unionist unity, on the other she then produces words of venom and arrogance as she attacks the UUP and Jim Allister.

Ms Foster talks of the arrogance of some Ulster Unionists in 2001 caused the Fermanagh-south Tyrone seat to be lost to Sinn Fein. If I remember correctly Ms Foster was actually a member of the UUP at that time and didn't leave until a number of years later following her election as an Ulster Unionist. Maybe Ms Foster is talking about herself when she describes the arrogance of some Ulster Unionists.

Minister Foster wrote "If the Ulster Unionists decide to pull the Assembly down by not voting for the Devolution of Policing and Justice then we will face an election." This is false scare propaganda which has no factual basis. The DUP and Sinn Fein have more then enough votes, 62 in total, between them to put Policing and Justice through the Assembly, not to talk of the readily available support that will come from the Alliance with them getting the Justice Ministry, so how would the UUP voting against the Hillsborough agreement bring the Assembly down? The reality is that the DUP are so scared of the electorate that they won't stand on their own to defend the deal they agreed with Sinn Fein at Hillsborough unless the Ulster Unionists agree to support them and tell them everything will be ok. This is a sad reflection of a weakened and demoralised party who often claimed to be "leading for Unionism."

Minister Foster goes on to say that "The Hillsborough Castle agreement delivers a new approach to parading; policing and justice coming home to Stormont and £800 million additional this year for the police and the justice system." This line of course demonstrates perfectly that major shift in DUP thinking towards Policing and Justice. What ever happened to Nigel Dodd's not in a "political lifetime" or Lord Morrow's "Not in the lifetime of this Assembly". The truth is that these phrases were forgotten about as swiftly as the infamous "Never, Never, Never." The DUP suffer from selective amnesia when it suits, and produce spin that even Rumpelstiltskin would be proud of.

Minister Foster also says that "there will no Irish Language Act." Maybe it is right that there will be no act in name, but the £20m that Gerry Adams received for the promotion of the Irish Language has not gone unnoticed amongst the Unionist people. We can only wonder how Sinn Fein secured this money, and undoubtedly many will link it to the Hillsborough Agreement, as an extra deal outside of the agreement published for the public to study. While such rumours exist how can the DUP expect the Unionist people to have confidence in the deal they brokered with Republicans? Are the Ulster Unionists not right in such circumstances to approach the deal with a degree of caution? Certainly, any right thinking individual would not accept a deal at face value without first studying the small print.

Minister Foster betrays her own letter by indulging in "ghosts" and "myths" while seeking to twist facts to suit DUP purposes. She is correct in one thing however, when she notes that "Unionism needs a co-ordinated and strategic approach, taking Northern Ireland forward based on sound reason and not merely emotion or reflex." It also needs a leading Unionist Party it can trust, and that is clearly not the DUP. Many of us remember that Ms Foster opposed the Belfast Agreement with the UUP but quickly rolled in support for the DUP negotiated St Andrews agreement which resulted with the DUP sharing the First Minister position with the Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein - One of the greatest U-Turns in Northern Ireland politics.

Yours faithfully,

Ulster Scot

This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 04 Mar 10

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