The Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, has called on Michelle O’Neill to state clearly if Sinn Fein still supports the Belfast Agreement, following weekend comments from Mid Ulster MP Francie Molloy, in which he described it as ‘just a bluff.’
Steve Aiken OBE MLA said:
“Weekend comments by Sinn Fein’s Mid Ulster MP Francie Molloy have raised serious questions about Sinn Fein’s commitment to the Belfast Agreement.
“Sinn Fein has spent years making public statements about the need to ‘defend the Belfast Agreement’ yet at the weekend, Sinn Fein’s Mid Ulster MP Francie Molloy said that nationalists had been ‘sold a pup’ and described the Belfast Agreement as ‘just a bluff.’
“Either Sinn Fein supports the Agreement or it doesn’t and Michelle O’Neill needs to clarify this as a matter of urgency.
“The Belfast Agreement removed Articles 2 and 3 and enshrined the principle of consent, meaning that the people of Northern Ireland – and they alone – would decide the future of Northern Ireland. This wasn’t hidden, it was there in black and white from the start, although it appears that someone has only just informed Mr Molloy.
“Mr Molloy’s frustration is no doubt heightened by the fact that the Sinn Fein demand for a border poll has been rejected out of hand by all three governing parties in Dublin - Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens. Given that a few weeks ago Sinn Fein was boasting of how it expected to provide the next Taoiseach, it may be that some in the party are having difficulty adjusting their expectations to meet uncomfortable new political realities.”