Lord Kilclooney: I hope the Stormont parties challenge Micheal Martin on the breach of Strand One
A letter from the former Ulster Unionist MP, Lord (John) Kilclooney:
At the negotiations for the Belfast Agreement it was agreed by all parties involved that the Republic of Ireland should be excluded from Strand One discussions, ie devolution within the United Kingdom and the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.
Mr Micheal Martin, Prime Minister of the Republic, has announced that he intends to visit Northern Ireland to discuss the NI Assembly with all NI political leaders.
That would be a breach of the agreement and would undermine it in the future.
I hope that all Northern Ireland party leaders will uphold the agreement and not contribute to its collapse, as Mr Martin’s statement would cause!
Lord (John) Kilclooney, Ex Ulster Unionist MP, MEP & deputy leader, Co Armagh
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• Nigel Dodds May 13: Reg Empey is attacking other unionists when voters want a united approach
• Samuel Morrison May 13: The TUV got 8% of the vote in Northern Ireland and can no longer be ignored
• Editorial May 13: The NIO has been right to send a minister to US amid American pressure on UK
• Lord Empey May 12: The DUP have no-one to blame but themselves for disastrous election
• Peter Robinson May 11: Ignore those who are urging DUP to just go back into Stormont
• John Cushnahan May 11: SF hypocrisy to attack DUP leader over MP seat while boycotting Westminster
• Ben Lowry May 9: The TUV vote surge should have been one of the main stories of the election
• Ben Lowry May 7: Unionism now faces a considerable challenge in how to go forward
• Ben Lowry May 7: Unionist overall vote stays ahead of nationalist total, albeit narrowly