Letter: Questions remain over DUP-Sinn Fein talks revelations from Rev Harold Good's book
A letter from Lord Empey:
The revelations in Rev Harold Good's book, combined with evidence from local journalists, has exposed a sordid tale of deliberate deception of the electorate by the DUP between 2004 and 2007.
While always supportive of attempts to bring about or maintain peace, the goings on during those years owed more to furthering a DUP political agenda rather than bringing about stability.
People were misled, deliberately, and it could not possibly have been rogue behaviour by a few individuals.
The DUP is a highly centralised party, and there is no way such senior figures were meeting with Sinn Fein multiple times without the knowledge of the leadership.
Their 2007 election manifesto specifically ruled out talks with terrorist representatives. They knew this was a falsehood.
Only political gain can have been the motivation.
The question now is which other senior figures knew about these secret talks? Did they too go along with the cover-up and deception or are we to believe that they only learned about all of this in recent days?
Just like Sinn Fein has had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to tell the truth about its failures over the abuse of children scandal, so I suspect that the DUP will continue with a cover-up and attempt at distraction, rather than ‘fess up’ to its untruths.
It is chilling that this same pattern of behaviour was on display earlier this year when they went back into Stormont under the terms of the discredited Donaldson deal. It seems elements in that party are strangers to the truth.
Lord Empey, former UUP leader