SENIOR DUP figures last night travelled to Portugal, where they will hold talks about the future of the party following the UUP by-election win in Dromore.
MPs, including Peter Robinson, Nigel Dodds, Jeffrey Donaldson and David Simpson, jetted out yesterday in the wake of the Dromore by-election setback.
They are in Lisbon as part of a Westminster delegation which Ian Paisley Snr could not join becau
se of prior commitments.
The group said they would inevitably be addressing the Dromore issue and strategy.
Their discussions will be held against a background involving further scrutiny of MLA Ian Paisley Jnr as today it will be revealed that he claims more for office rental than any other MLA.
The Junior Minister last night confirmed to the News Letter that he tops the list of claimants.
The figures are expected to show that Mr Paisley Jnr will claim £32,000 in public money for rent and rates on two offices – one in Ballymena, which he shares with Ian Paisley Snr, and one in Bushmills – by the end of the current financial year.
Anticipating that opponents will seize on the large sum, he noted that the funding goes through the Assembly vetting process and is reviewed every year.
MLAs have an overall allowance of £70,000 for employing staff, office costs and other expenses.
The strategy talks and the focus on Mr Paisley Jnr's affairs follow a bad day for the DUP in Dromore.
Beaten in the poll by the Ulster Unionist Party, they were also dealt a blow by bitter rivals in Traditional Unionist Voice, which took 28 per cent of the unionist vote away from the DUP.
