An Ulster Unionist delegation consisting of Party Chairman, Lord Empey, Doug Beattie MC MLA and John Stewart MLA met Julian Smith MP, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at Stormont House this morning.

Following the meeting Doug Beattie MLA said:

“It was a useful first meeting with the Secretary of State. It was a grip and grin session. We have to introduce ourselves. He does need time to put his feet under the table, but he doesn`t have a lot of time. He doesn`t have weeks. He needs to ramp up the talks process. He needs to give a very clear structure to that talks process and he needs to give us a direction of travel which has been sadly lacking for the last number of months and weeks.

“We made it absolutely clear to him that never matter what his relationship is with the DUP, he cannot be a sop to their tantrums and he cannot be meek and mild in front of Sinn Fein intransigence. He has to bang their heads together and he needs to get this process moving forward. What he cannot do is ignore the smaller parties and think he is going to bounce us at the very end of this process and expect us to jump in. There is an issue of governance, there is an issue of transparency, and we want to see those addressed and addressed properly. If agreement cannot be reached, then the pace of decision making from Westminster must be ramped up.

“As a Secretary of State he needs to be pro-active and if he`s not pro-active, then he will fall in exactly the same way as the last Secretary of State fell. If he doesn`t deal with Historical Institutional Abuse, then he will lose credibility; if he doesn`t deal with the thorny issue of pensions for the most seriously injured and ensure that perpetrators do not get a pension, then again, he will lose credibility. There are key decisions that he must make and he needs to use his moral courage and make those decisions.

“If he does, he will get the support of the Ulster Unionist Party. If he does not, then we will hold him to account.”