Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Mike Nesbitt`s Speech on the motion in the Assembly entitled "Recent Unrest"
Monday 10/12/2012
“Mr Speaker,
The Ulster Unionist Party unreservedly supports this motion, and joins in condemning all attacks as detailed just now by the Deputy First Minister.
During the week, we actively sought out opportunities to call for an end to the illegality, and further to argue that what was needed was a strategy rather than a knee-jerk reaction – for brains rather than brawn.
Anyone who attacks a police officer; anyone who attacks an elected politician; anyone who attacks any individual or engages in illegal activity on our streets, fails to understand the values that are encapsulated in the Union flag.
In doing what they did, the rioters lost the very argument they want to advance.
That flag stands for a society that is progressive and pluralist, a society where Mo, short for Mohamed, Farah, born in Somalia in Africa, wraps himself in the Union flag to celebrate his contribution to a fantastic Olympic Games for the United Kingdom.
That is a glimpse of what the Union flag means to me.
It should not be abused. And it was this week. By those who used it as an excuse for criminality.
The people who took part in the riots did so on what they - and I - would call the Queen’s Highway. That is an appropriate place for peaceful protest. But nothing more.
Nothing more. Anything more is an abuse of the Queen’s Highway with all the implications that flow from that.
And I condemn the attacks on elected representatives of this House, on their constituency offices, on other elected representatives, on their staff, their homes, and property, including the attack on the home of an Ards Councillor who is a professional neighbour in South Street in Newtownards.
The Ulster Unionist Party has lost many elected representatives to terrorist murder. Senators in the old Stormont, Members of Parliament, members of earlier iterations that paved the way for this Assembly, councillors, and of course our old Party Headquarters at Glengall Street.
This Party has paid too high a price, especially in human terms, to condone or in any way incite violence.
So, let me repeat, we condemn what happened last week.
Mr Speaker, that is the easy part.
The challenge, and it is a challenge for every party, is how to acknowledge what last week was about.
On one level, there was a democratic vote at Belfast City Council to stop flying the Union flag - except on a very few days of the year.
And yes, it was a democratic vote.
But on another level, it has been received as part of a process.
And it was also described as a “clear victory” which suggests winners and losers.
I sense very clearly that the people who took to the streets last week included many who felt they were the losers, and not for the first time .... indeed, far from the first time.
People who might be a little more comfortable if Newry Council had not endorsed the controversial naming of a playpark.
The Peace Process promised many things, but chief among them were Economic and Political benefits. Economically, I remember reporting many times as a journalist the promise of a Peace Dividend. A Peace Dividend.
Do they feel they got one? No. They got a double-dip recession, just like everyone else.
They were promised a political settlement that put the constitutional question to bed. But do they feel that has happened? No, because they feel – rightly or wrongly – they perceive their Britishness under constant attack.
One way unionist anger was expressed last week was by the burning of the flag of the Republic of Ireland outside City Hall. I condemn that act. This is not about oppressing others, it is about reassuring those who feel oppressed.
The issue for this Assembly, Mr Speaker, is simple. We must stop this piecemeal attitude to the fundamental problems that add up to the unresolved legacy of the Troubles.
The Ulster Unionist Party says this is the time and the opportunity to tackle the poison that remains after forty years of death and destruction.
Let us recognise that sectarianism remains largely unaddressed, and lingers as the toxic waste of the conflict.
Let us commit to the big legacy issues, of Dealing with the Past, and building a Shared Future.
This Party was first through the door when the former Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, called for bilateral talks on Dealing with the Past. We went on to publish a position paper on the issue – not a road map, because we recognise no Party can, or should take sole ownership of the process.
The Ulster Unionist Party has also engaged directly with Sinn Fein’s initiative on Reconciliation, and while we cannot support their proposals, we have committed to the need for a process of reconciliation.
We also brought forward our own ideas many years ago now on a Shared Future.
It is time for this House to be honest with itself and the people of Northern Ireland. Honest and bold. We need to acknowledge some issues will take many years to sort out.
So let us do that. Let’s say we will set a new basic standard of numeracy and literacy for our schoolchildren and reach it in 5 years.”
Let’s commit to a single education system – and one which is no threat Roman Catholicism – in 10 or 15 or 20 years ... leave the detail for later and commit today to the principle, because it is the right thing to do, otherwise our young people do not mix with each other until long after relationships are formed.
In short Mr Speaker, let us commit, like a good builder after handing over the keys to a new house, to return to address the snag list of Devolved Government, but accept the snag list includes fundamental flaws that need addressed most urgently."