Unionism must unite - Saulters
ALL unionist views should be incorporated in a single party, the head of the Orange Order has said.
Orange Grand Master Robert Saulters said the institution supported moves towards unionist unity and, careful to stress that it was his personal opinion, said there should be a single unionist party.
In recent months the DUP has called for unionist unity but not spelt out whether that would be an Assembly pact between it and the UUP or a single party.
But Mr Saulters, who earlier this year signed North Antrim DUP MP Ian Paisley Jnr's nomination papers, said: "Personally, I believe there should be one big unionist party which represents all the views that I hear.
"It must be a party that is big enough and modern enough to allow people with conflicting opinions to work together for the common purpose of maintaining the Union."
During the course of his remarks at the reopening of Lavin Orange Hall in Armoy, rebuilt after an arson attack in 2006, the Grand Master said that he was repeatedly told by Orangemen that they want to see "all the many shades of unionism" working together.
"There is a huge grounds-well of opinion that there must be a drive towards unionist unity or at the very least better joined-up thinking between unionists," he said.
"The one phrase which seems to really upset our enemies is unionist unity. They are unable to cope with the prospect and we should take note of that."
He argued that if unionists "continue to fight and bicker" they will "dilute the Union".
The Grand Master added: "The Orange Order has warned our unionist leaders that the time is right for intelligent and radical thinking about the way forward.
"As an institution, we stand ready to play our part – whatever that may be – in working towards a more cohesive unionist community and ultimately ensuring that the Union is maintained for future generations.
"People like me must stand up and articulate the views of our members."
However, Mr Saulters' comments are likely to be seized upon by republicans who have in the past held up political pronouncements by the Orange Order as evidence that it is not solely a religious and cultural organisation eligible for Government grants.
And, although Orange endorsement of the DUP's unity campaign will be welcomed by Peter Robinson, a section of the Ulster Unionist Party – which through its link with the Conservatives is attempting to persuade Catholic unionists to back the party – will be unsettled at the prospect of a single unionist party, fearing it would become an exclusively Protestant entity.
Stressing that he had not seen Mr Saulters' speech and therefore couldn't comment on the detail of it, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: "I am pleased that there is focus in the Grand Master's remarks on the issue of unionists working together.
"We in the DUP welcome the fact that this issue is moving up the agenda because it is one of the central aims of our party."
Responding to Mr Saulters' comments last night, the most prominent UUP proponent of closer links with the DUP, Assemblyman David McNarry, said he believed the call was "very timely".
The senior Orangeman said: "I think the Orange Institution has a major role within the Orange family and is respected for staying out of party politics.
"I think that his speech will be a significant contribution to the ongoing debate.
"I'm sure his aspiration of there being, one day, a single unionist party will resonate with a lot of people. However, I think it's a bit premature in that there is a lot of work to do in bringing together a united unionist coalition, something I have been calling for for a long time."
East Belfast Ulster Unionist Trevor Ringland, who is on the liberal wing of the party, said that he could support a single unionist party, so long as it had an anti-sectarian "vision for unionism" around "a shared future inside a Northern Ireland for all and inside a United Kingdom for all, with good working relations with those with whom we share this island".
And, in a signal that a single unionist party could perhaps include both liberal unionists and traditionalists, he said: "Anti-sectarianism doesn't in any way go against the core principles of the Orange Order – freedom of religion.
"A realignment around core unionist principles can be possible but to unite in any way which narrows the appeal of unionism is not only wrong but strategically stupid.
"A party for Protestants only is a nonsense and goes against the core principles of unionism and any sense of Britishness."
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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