Lord Empey has cautioned unionists who are cheering the end of the Belfast Agreement that they are playing into Sinn Fein’s hands.
Lord Empey said:
“I would caution those who now seem to be cheerleaders for the demise of the 1998 Agreement that they are doing nothing more than playing into Sinn Fein’s hands. The Belfast Agreement gave unionists in Northern Ireland the strongest possible arrangements on retaining our position in the United Kingdom. The principle of consent, the three stranded approach and the Republic of Ireland giving up its territorial claim put our future in the hands of our people and meant we could go forward with confidence.
“The Agreement put in place institutions that should have grown in time with society as trust and respect developed. But then Sinn Fein and the DUP got their hands on the steering wheel and we now have institutions that have only earned contempt from our society.
“The fact remains that the restoration of the devolved institutions remains the best outcome. However, the notion that, in lieu of this, the default position for Northern Ireland is joint stewardship is nothing more than a nationalist aspiration. Those who have spent months calling for the protection of the Agreement now appear happy to throw it aside and attempt to ride roughshod over the will of the majority in Northern Ireland.”