Sinn Féin review stance 'rewrite', claims McGimpsey

A senior Ulster Unionist Michael McGimpsey has accused Sinn Féin of trying to rewrite the Good Friday Agreement.

Responding to yesterday's publication of Sinn Féin’s review proposals, Mr McGimpsey branded the document an "all-Ireland wish list that sets out to deceive their supporters".

Mr McGimpsey said: "Sinn Féin are deceiving their supporters and deluding themselves with this document. When they, and the other parties, signed up to the agreement in 1998, they did so under the clear understanding that the constitutional question has been settled. Northern Ireland remains a part of the UK and the Republic of Ireland no longer has any claim over this country.

“Their wish to expand all-Ireland commitments and limit the expression of britishness through flags, symbols and emblems is nothing more than a sad attempt to play to the gallery. They are trying to get acts of completion from everyone else except themselves."

The former Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly added: “The very people who, despite having brought down the Executive on three different occasions and who have been urging the governments to protect the agreement are actively trying to re-write it.

“Sinn Féin have had five and a half years to wind up the private army. They must demonstrate that they are a genuine political party and not merely the political wing of a terrorist organisation. That means the IRA has to go away for good.”

(SP)