It was the arrogance of the UUP that cost Fermanagh-south Tyrone

Editorial Department • Published 25 Feb 2010 09:48 0 Comments

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Dear Sir, - Just as some things change other things depressingly stay the same. I read with a sense of déjÀ vu the report of the Fermanagh unionist AGM in last week's edition of the Impartial Reporter.

It is sad that some in the UUP just don't understand that by unionists working together the unionist family can make great strides at the Westminster election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

According to Sir Reg Empey the DUP need to "repair the damage" they caused to the unionist electorate of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in 2001 when we "put forward an independent candidate".

Surely, if a candidate is independent he is not put forward by a party and of course it is well recorded that Mr Dixon was indeed an independent candidate who was a member not of the DUP before the 2001 election but in fact the UUP.

Contrary to what Sir Reg indicates, the DUP has been repairing the damage inflicted on all of the people of Northern Ireland since 1998 and will continue to do so as is evidenced through the Hillsborough Castle Agreement.

It was the arrogance of some in the Ulster Unionists in 2001 that caused this seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone to be lost to Sinn Fein and I just hope and pray that they will not gift the seat to republicanism again.

Finding a unionist replacement for Michelle Gildernew is a challenge for all unionists - not just the DUP. We are up to solving this challenge and I hope that others are as well although from last week's report of the Ulster Unionist AGM, the signs are not good.

Sir Reg and the Ulster Unionists have big choices to make not just about Fermanagh and South Tyrone, but also about the continuance of devolution.

The only way that devolution can continue is if there is confidence across the political parties in the Assembly and that has been consistently been the position of my party. 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 not only to Westminster but also to the Assembly.

Is the UUP going to side with the TUV and move Northern Ireland backwards or is the UUP going to try and build Northern Ireland into the success that I know it can become. Seems like a very straight forward decision to have to take: but it is a decision for the Ulster Unionists and them alone.

For my part I am more than happy and confident to go to the electorate on the basis of making Northern Ireland work, which brings me neatly to those who don't - the TUV.

Reading the latest Jim Allister offering on Fermanagh and South Tyrone, it did make me think about the time when Jim left politics in 1987.

He left, for those who have forgotten because of unionist unity. The two main parties had decided not to run against each other in the face of the Anglo Irish Agreement. Jim who had hoped to run against Roy Beggs in East Antrim took so much umbrage that he left politics completely until he returned in 2004.

Therefore neither I nor the people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone will take lectures from a man who could not stomach unionist unity if it meant he lost out personally.

The TUV may appeal to the emotions of our people but it should be clear to all that Jim Allister has a scorched earth policy for Northern Ireland. There is a simple question for those thinking of voting for the TUV. If you vote for Jim Allister's party what happens next? Does anyone know, as we have yet to hear Jim's big plan for accommodating 42 percent of the population of Northern Ireland who are nationalist. "Plenty to shout about, but nothing to offer" should be the slogan of the TUV.

Unionism needs a co-ordinated and strategic approach, taking Northern Ireland forward based on sound reason and not merely emotion or reflex. Reactions based purely on an emotional response are nearly always based on refighting battles of the past and they don't deliver for the needs of today or tomorrow.

Those who have suffered over this past 40 years cannot and will not be forgotten. That is why we have made it a priority to deal with issues such as recognition for the part time reserve with a £20 million package.

It is why there will now be £400 million to deal with hearing loss claims for former RUC officers. It is why we lobbied to have a new approach to the provision of personal protection weapons.

The TUV policy of "no to everything" would not have delivered any of these packages for those who have served this community.

Jim Allister of course tells us that if there was no Assembly then there would be no Sinn Fein in government. That is true. What we would then have would be direct rule; the same direct rule which gave wants to impose an Irish Language Act on Northern Ireland. Lest we forget, this would not just be direct rule from London but to quote Jim Allister himself, "direct rule is Dublin rule".

The devolution we have in Northern Ireland is imperfect and we must strive constantly to improve it, however devolution is the best way to maintain and strengthen our position within the Union. We cannot allow ourselves to believe that there is some unionist panacea which would somehow see the voting intentions of a sizeable and growing majority of the nationalist population miraculously change.

The DUP is determined to position Northern Ireland for its future within the United Kingdom. That will be achieved by a strong and cohesive unionism. 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.

We have kept our manifesto commitments whilst others have walked away from theirs - there will be no Sinn Fein control of policing and justice; there will be no Sinn Fein minister for Justice; there will be no Irish language Act and there will be no new North South bodies.

The operational independence of the courts and the police has been protected and there is a new determination to make the Executive deliver for all.

Whilst others like to deal in myths and look for ghosts where there are none, I much prefer to deal in facts and they are available for everyone in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to read for themselves.

Yours sincerely,

Arlene Foster,

MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 25 Feb 10

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