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02/11/2005
DUP describe SF Irish unity push as 'pipe dream'
The DUP has called Sinn Fein's push for a united Ireland as a "pure pipe dream".
Reacting to Sinn Fein’s call for the Irish Government to publish a Green Paper on Irish unity on Wednesday, DUP Assembly Member for Lagan Valley Cllr Edwin Poots said republicans were ignoring "the elementary fact that a majority of people in Northern Ireland want to have nothing to do with the idea of Irish unity and want to firmly remain part and parcel of the United Kingdom".
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, and the party's leader in the Dail, Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin, said their party was putting forward the motion "as a genuine and honest effort to secure cross-party consensus on the issue of Irish reunification".
"Reunification is a totally legitimate objective of the Irish people and their representatives. It is recognised as such in the Good Friday Agreement. But it needs action if it is to happen it will not happen by ignoring it or remaining silent or inactive on it," they said
However, Mr Poots said unionists would not be persuaded of the advantages of Irish unity.
"Unionists remember too vividly how Sinn Fein’s sidekicks in the Provisional IRA tried to murder and bomb us into a united Ireland for the past 35 years. The pro-Union people withstood that terror campaign and certainly aren’t going to roll over for Sinn Fein now," he said.
(MB/SP)
Reacting to Sinn Fein’s call for the Irish Government to publish a Green Paper on Irish unity on Wednesday, DUP Assembly Member for Lagan Valley Cllr Edwin Poots said republicans were ignoring "the elementary fact that a majority of people in Northern Ireland want to have nothing to do with the idea of Irish unity and want to firmly remain part and parcel of the United Kingdom".
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, and the party's leader in the Dail, Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin, said their party was putting forward the motion "as a genuine and honest effort to secure cross-party consensus on the issue of Irish reunification".
"Reunification is a totally legitimate objective of the Irish people and their representatives. It is recognised as such in the Good Friday Agreement. But it needs action if it is to happen it will not happen by ignoring it or remaining silent or inactive on it," they said
However, Mr Poots said unionists would not be persuaded of the advantages of Irish unity.
"Unionists remember too vividly how Sinn Fein’s sidekicks in the Provisional IRA tried to murder and bomb us into a united Ireland for the past 35 years. The pro-Union people withstood that terror campaign and certainly aren’t going to roll over for Sinn Fein now," he said.
(MB/SP)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:It will be cloudy again throughout the day. Mainly dry in the morning, but patchy drizzle in places, becoming more widespread and persistent in the afternoon. Freshening southwesterly winds. Maximum temperature 12 °C.Tonight:Cloudy with a spell of heavy rain pushing south through late evening and the early hours, followed by some clear spells. Minimum temperature 6 °C.
