Ulster Unionists must clarify Loyalist threat: Parsley

12.35.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 6th Aug 2006

Alliance North Down Councillor, Ian Parsley

North Down Alliance Councillor Ian James Parsley has said the people of Northern Ireland need urgent clarification about what was meant by an Ulster Unionist Assemblyman's claim that cross-border cooperation would lead to violence. David Ervine was quoted in the Sunday Times saying "It would be my dream that there won't be violence, but the reality is that when you make a people voiceless there will be a reaction and a response."

Cllr Parsley, who chairs his party's Councillors' Association, stated: "These comments amount effectively to a warning that if Unionists do not get what they want, there will be violence.

"Is that the position of the Ulster Unionist Assembly Group? If not, what action do they intend to take against those within their ranks who suggest that it is?

"If Unionists are concerned that no deal this autumn will mean further cross-border cooperation, then they had better focus on finding a way forward urgently, not on daft tactical manoeuvres which invite opponents of democracy into their midst.

"Frankly it is time Unionists stopped complaining about 'not having a voice'. They have a voice, it is about time they learned how to use it -- wholly democratically and wholly peacefully."

ENDS