Arlene Foster: Unionism needs votes to counter nationalism’s surge
Posted by Jim on May 9, 2017
by JOHN MANLEY
09 May, 2017 01:00
Arlene Foster: Unionism needs votes to counter nationalism’s surge
DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds with former special adviser John Robinson at yesterday’s campaign launch. Picture by Hugh Russell
NATIONALISM’S electoral resurgence makes it essential for the DUP to maximise its vote in next month’s Westminster election, Arlene Foster has said.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of her party’s general election campaign, the Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA said June 8 was not a border poll but was “inevitably a referendum on Northern Ireland’s place in the UK”.
Mrs Foster’s party is hoping to successfully defend its eight Westminster seats, while also targetting potential gains in South Belfast and South Antrim.
The DUP has unilaterally stepped aside in Fermanagh-South Tyrone, where former Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott is defending the seat he won two years ago with the help of a unionist pact.
However, hopes that a more extensive unionist pact could be brokered ahead of next month’s election have been dashed with a joint statement from Mrs Foster and her Ulster Unionist counterpart Robin Swann saying they were unable to “conclude any formal pact arrangements on this occasion”.
The two leaders have pledged to continue to discuss better unionist co-operation beyond next month’s election.
The DUP will contest all but one of the north’s 18 constituencies on June 8, with former MLA Emma Little-Pengelly standing in South Belfast. Accountant Diane Forsythe will run in South Down, where DUP veteran Jim Wells has been his party’s Westminster candidate on the past four occasions, while Paul Girvan will seek to unseat Danny Kinahan in South Antrim.
Mrs Foster said the March 2 assembly election was a “wake-up call for many”.
“At this election we must sound the alarm bells and make sure that each and every person in Northern Ireland is aware of what is at stake – the choice is clear,” she said.
“This Westminster election gives unionism an early opportunity to put things right and to get back on the right track.”
The DUP leader said that to in order to redress nationalism’s gains, unionism needed to “think and to act strategically”.
She described the DUP as “the voice for unionism” and the party who secure the best post-Brexit deal for the north.
“Our job now is not to re-fight old battles but to use our mandate and our influence to get the best deal for Northern Ireland,” she said.
“The United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union inevitably brings with it challenges as well as opportunities – whichever way people voted in the referendum last June, and whatever concerns they may still have we can all unite to ensure Northern Ireland’s interests are promoted.”
Responding to questions from journalists, the DUP leader said she had not ruled out the possibility of an Irish language act.
Mrs Foster has previously insisted her party would never agree the nationalist demand.
She indicated yesterday that she was more amenable to an Irish language act, as long as there was also respect for the Ulster Scots, the Orange and the British cultures.
“If there are to be moves forward in terms of cultural tolerance and respect then it has to be in the context of doing that and we are very clear in relation to that,” she said.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds said more important issues, such as health, education and public service, need to be addressed first.
“We are ready to go into government today,” he said. “It is Sinn Féin putting up red lines for issues that for most people of Northern Ireland are not the most important issues.
“Sinn Féin is holding (power-sharing) up for narrow partisan reasons. That’s a tragedy for Northern Ireland and a disgrace for Sinn Féin.”