Doug Beattie too sick to fulfil St Patrick’s Day travel plans says UUP

The Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie is too ill to travel to America this week.

The announcement was made by his party via a press release tonight.

placeholder image — 28/12/2021: UUP leader Doug Beattie speaks to the media at Tandragee before leading a UUP delegation to Brussels tomorrow to engage with EU officials about the Protocol

The party had been intending to attend St Patrick’s Day events in the USA.

The statement tonight reads: “Doug is too unwell to travel to Washington and a lot of the events are non-transferable.

“The Ulster Unionist Party remains committed to ongoing engagement with the US Government, officials and all those who have Northern Ireland`s best interests at heart.

“This is not a snub, in fact quite the opposite, and we regret that our party leader is unable to take up the invitation on this occasion.

“It would have been an ideal opportunity to follow up on our last series of engagements in the United States after Doug Beattie led an Ulster Unionist delegation to Washington and New York in November 2021.

“We wish those attending this week`s events a happy St Patrick`s Day and we look forward to taking up future invitations and opportunities to engage directly with the US administration.”

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