DUP ‘throwing dead cats on the table’

The DUP has been accused by a Sinn Fein Assembly member of raising “deflection issues” amid pressure for the largest unionist party to end its Brexit-related boycott of the Six County political institutions.

Conor Murphy said the unionist party kept throwing “dead cats on the table” to divert attention from their failure to restore the power-sharing institutions at Stormont.

He criticised the DUP strategy after unionist media headlined criticism of Sinn Fein for not signing a statement opposing the removal by republican activists of Crown Force recruitment posters. It followed another manufactured controversy over an IRA commemoration which was addressed by Sinn Fein MP John Finucane.

Speaking at Stormont Castle on Thursday, Mr Murphy said, “The DUP has engaged in a series of deflection issues over the past while.

“The obvious question for them is what they are doing in terms of getting back into the executive, but they continue throwing dead cats on the table on these issues.

“They want to involve us in selective areas they have identified as interesting to them.

“They have no interest in talking about threats to Alliance councillors, issues around bonfires, Nazi symbols, and I have no doubt that over the next number of weeks we will have a number of issues regarding material on bonfires, which the DUP will be very reluctant to seek joint statements on.

“There are posters in loyalist areas that attack the PSNI, and I have yet to hear the DUP comment on those.”

Mr Murphy added, “They have involved themselves in these selective approaches and then try to create attention around that in a way that deflects from the real question – when do we get back into an executive?”

The absurdity of the DUP position was further underlined this week, firstly by their failure to condemn threatening posters related to Brexit which appeared in Cookstown, County Tyrone (pictured), and secondly by their attendance at loyalist marches linked to loyalist paramilitary groups.

Among the paramilitary groups honoured at Orange Order parades attended by DUP representatives, ostensibly to commemorate the Battle for the Somme, were the Red Hand Commandos, Protestant Action Force, the UDA, and the UVF. Mass-killing British soldiers, including one directly involved in Bloody Sunday, were also honoured at the events.

Nationalists believe that the DUP’s ongoing boycott of the assembly is related to the outcome of the last Assembly election, which returned Sinn Fein as the largest party for the first time.

Sinn Fein spokesman Declan Kearney said the DUP’s boycott is in direct opposition to the expressed wishes of the majority of people.

“The most recent polling from Queen’s University shows that 61 percent of respondents believe that the Protocol and the Windsor Framework are protecting the north from the worst impacts of Brexit.

“This belief is borne out by the latest economic data showing that while GDP growth in all other regions is lagging, the north’s economic output is expanding, with two consecutive quarters of recorded growth, and an expectation that this pattern will continue.

“The Protocol and its Windsor Framework clearly provide the means with which to expand on these growth trends due to the access provided to two of the world’s largest markets and the associated competitive advantage.

“This is a time of unprecedented economic and investment potential for the north. The DUP’s ongoing recklessness is endangering this opportunity for businesses, workers, and families across the north.

“The DUP boycott of the assembly must end immediately so that the potential available through proper implementation of the Protocol and Windsor Framework can be fully realized, and help mitigate the economic and social crisis currently impacting citizens and public services in the north.”

Urgent Appeal