Fear over UUP and DUP uniting
THE Government feared the Ulster Unionists and DUP uniting – believing it would "mean trouble for everyone in Northern Ireland".
Secretary of State Roy Mason, in a meeting with Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Michael O’Kennedy (on May 5, 1978, in Dublin) warned that unionist unity could inflame the Province.
He was worried that the Official Unionists, led by Harry West, would harden their stance and join with Ian Paisley’s DUP, in a more radical unionist block.
He made the remark while warning Dublin ministers to stop making public demands for Irish unity, because it was destabilising unionism.
The Secretary of State said “speculation on Irish unity frightened the unionists”.
The minutes from the meeting record that he said “speeches on the goal of Irish unity could bring West and Paisley together by frightening them; that would mean trouble for everyone in Northern Ireland and end to any prospect of political progress”.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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