Sinn Fein/DUP joint advert - an exercise in vanity and fraud
16 February 2010
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister QC:-
"The joint DUP/Sinn Fein advert launched today, at huge public expense, is a mere vanity stunt and fraud, because the public response will not change one jot or tittle of their inter-party agreement; it will remain a humiliating defeat for unionism.
"As to the exhortation to read the Sinn Fein/DUP Agreement, maybe Arlene Foster should be first to do so, because her weekend declaration that it has nothing to do with the Irish language or north/southery suggests she never got as far as Section 5. Within 48 hours, of course, her disingenuous spin was exposed by the Culture Minister having to announce he would produce an Irish language strategy by 31st March, exactly in keeping with the requirements of Section 5 and the Sinn Fein timetable.
"The spectacle of Peter Robinson jointly promoting with McGuinness the DUP's climbdown at Hillsborough will, of course, be a timely reminder of how politically he is joined at the hip with the IRA commander. So, this advert might not prove to be such a clever device as he thinks."
