By Paul Gosling
15 April 2010
A hung Parliament would offer a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to secure strategic gains for unionism, the leader of Northern Ireland’s main unionist party has said.
Setting out the Democratic Unionist Party’s aims for the general election, Peter Robinson said the DUP could play a major role in the establishment of the next UK government.
‘We ask you to give us the strongest mandate to negotiate the best deal for Northern Ireland over the [next] parliamentary term,’ he said.
But the DUP is facing a challenge from Traditional Unionist Voice, set up by former DUP MEP Jim Allister, which refuses to deal with Sinn Féin.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionists have been criticised for their electoral alliance with the Conservatives. Their only sitting MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon, has left the party to stand as an independent.
The DUP wants the UUP to agree ‘pan-unionist candidates’ in marginal seats. One has been adopted – former council chief executive Rodney Connor in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Sinn Féin’s retaliatory call for some joint candidates with the Social Democratic and Labour Party has been rejected as ‘sectarian’ by new SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie.
15 April 2010
A hung Parliament would offer a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to secure strategic gains for unionism, the leader of Northern Ireland’s main unionist party has said.
Setting out the Democratic Unionist Party’s aims for the general election, Peter Robinson said the DUP could play a major role in the establishment of the next UK government.
‘We ask you to give us the strongest mandate to negotiate the best deal for Northern Ireland over the [next] parliamentary term,’ he said.
But the DUP is facing a challenge from Traditional Unionist Voice, set up by former DUP MEP Jim Allister, which refuses to deal with Sinn Féin.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionists have been criticised for their electoral alliance with the Conservatives. Their only sitting MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon, has left the party to stand as an independent.
The DUP wants the UUP to agree ‘pan-unionist candidates’ in marginal seats. One has been adopted – former council chief executive Rodney Connor in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Sinn Féin’s retaliatory call for some joint candidates with the Social Democratic and Labour Party has been rejected as ‘sectarian’ by new SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie.
