Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt MLA has expressed his disappointment at the latest statement by Sinn Fein National Chairman Declan Kearney in which he claims that “sections of Unionism” are to blame for “slowing down the peace process.”
The Strangford MLA said:
“The Ulster Unionist Party has no fear of advancing the Unionist case in any forum, including face-to-face meetings with Republicans. As Leader, I have met Mr Kearney both publicly and privately to discuss how we deal with our past in a manner that will allow society to move forward in a manner that opens opportunities to all, in a truly shared future.
"But when it comes to slowing down the Peace Process, in my experience, the real masters of applying the handbrake are Sinn Fein themselves. Does he forget how long Sinn Fein took to respond positively to the Downing Street Declaration in 1993, the foundation of the Belfast Agreement? Does he think the five year gap to the Belfast Agreement was fast? And does he not recall his own statement recently that acknowledged that the biggest single factor delaying talks with unionists was the IRA's murderous campaign?
"I agree with Mr Kearney’s warning that division 'has the potential to be passed from one generation to the next'. Indeed, as a Victims Commissioner, I have met the children of dead IRA men whose families are split in two in their opinion of their father and his actions. We need look no further that the Irish Civil War to see the inter-generational impact of violence.
"The Sinn Fein Chair encourages us to "walk in each other’s shoes.” I invite him to take the lead, by trying to walk in the shoes of any victim of IRA violence watching the scenes at the recent Hunger Strike commemoration event in Dungiven in County Londonderry which was addressed by the Sinn Fein Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill and attended by the Deputy First Minister.
“How does he feel a unionist reacts to the photographs of young children dressed in terrorist uniforms and carrying replica weapons. What is the inter-generational impact among his own republican community?
"I would ask Mr Kearney how this was intended to create a better future for all”
ENDS