'Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly': Unionism should give no credence to Irish unity event addressed by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern says Jim Allister

The TUV leader suggested that, whilst the event has overtones of being sympathetic to the concerns of unionists, that it (and others like it) are akin to a trap.

The gathering in Dublin is being held under the auspices of the New Ireland Commission, an SDLP-connected group which appears similar in purpose to Ireland’s Future – namely, having a “conversation” about Irish unity.

More on Ireland’s Future here:

• Speaker declared all DUP voters ‘c***s’ and said party ‘spreads hatred against women and non-white people’

The commission’s “experts and reference panel” is led by SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole and includes 33 other names, ranging from a former Provo to Presbyterian minister Rev Norman Hamilton.

In today’s event Mr Ahern is set to take part in a discussion event at Leinster House about the SDLP's mission to build a "detailed prospectus for Irish unity, building on the experience of leaders across Ireland who spilled their sweat for peace".

In a statement ahead of the event, Mr Ahern said: "I fundamentally believe that the vision for a new Ireland based on the consent of the people who share this island, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement, is not just possible but it is the most desirable outcome for people and communities across Ireland.

"It is not a short-term goal. All of those who believe in change must be committed to putting in the hard yards to build a prospectus that reaches across traditional divides and demonstrates to our unionist neighbours that they will be respected, their traditions will be cherished and their children will be at home in the new Ireland we build together."

Reacting, Mr Allister said unionists dismissed nationalist “platitudes” and said: “It's another manifestation of 'come into my parlour said the spider to the fly'.

"The reality is unionism has seen what the Irish Republic is like on the most fundamental issue touching upon life and death: their record is of providing a haven to IRA terrorists, and of non-co-operation with multiple inquiries – most recently demonstrated in the Kingsmill situation, and still ongoing with respect to Omagh.”

He added that “actions rather than words will forever be the determinate” in what unionists think of the Republic of Ireland.

He said the pro-Irish campaign is “relentless,” adding: “My approach to politics now, post-Protocol, is they can continue to campaign if they wish for the unification of Ireland.

"I'm now in the business of campaigning for the re-unification of the UK!”

The DUP meanwhile said that current polling is not favourable to Irish unity.

In a statement in the name of Gregory Campbell, it said nationalists “need to face up to the ironic reality which is the more diverse Northern Ireland within the UK becomes, the less likely we are to want to leave”.

The News Letter also spoke to Rev Hamilton last night about his involvement in the New Ireland Commission.

Rev Hamilton says the only other unionist that he is aware of on the panel is Chris McCabe, the former political director of the Northern Ireland Office.

As to why he joined a body which is pro-united Ireland in outlook, Rev Hamilton said: "I joined it as a Christian pastor, rather than as a politician.

"My rationale at the time was that as a Christian pastor in an all-island church, the well-being of the people of Cork matters as much to me as the well-being of people in Coleraine. But that is not a political statement: it's a pastoral statement."

Irish unity is "self-evidently a perfectly legitimate aspiration... politicians can do whatever they want to do, provided what they are doing is a reasonable expectation, to be achieved in a reasonable way".

Asked about the involvement of former IRA prisoner-turned-author Richard O’Rawe on the New Ireland Commission’s “expert panel”, Rev Hamilton said the matter "is for him and the SDLP – Jesus never declined to sit down and talk to anybody".

But Christ also criticised people too, didn't he? Rev Hamilton said this criticism "was all about hypocrisy, it wasn't about their political affiliations".