DUP chairman: Situation now as serious as 1974 strike or Anglo-Irish crisis

The DUP chairman says that the current crisis is on a par with the Ulster Workers’ Council strike and the days of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
By Adam Kula
Published 10th Apr 2021, 08:00 GMT
December 1985: PROTESTS AT MARYFIELD AND STORMONT ON DAY OF ANGLO-IRISH CONFERENCEDecember 1985: PROTESTS AT MARYFIELD AND STORMONT ON DAY OF ANGLO-IRISH CONFERENCE
December 1985: PROTESTS AT MARYFIELD AND STORMONT ON DAY OF ANGLO-IRISH CONFERENCE

Lord Morrow, who first took elected office in 1973 as a Fermanagh councillor, said the authorities have shown “total and absolute capitulation to the demands of militant republicanism” – and wondered “how much further” such capitulation could go.

A former Stormont minister who has been party chairman for 20 years, Lord Morrow was asked how the present drama rates against major loyalist upheavals of the past.

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Compared with the workers’ council strike and Anglo-Irish deal, today’s crisis is “of equal seriousness” he said.

The 1974 strike brought much of the Province to a standstill in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, whilst mass loyalist street protests contributed to the scrapping of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Treaty.

“Government has looked at the situation and said: Which would we rather annoy, which would we rather not annoy,” said Lord Morrow.

“They’ve concluded they don’t want to annoy republicans – everybody else seems to be expendable.

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“Issues have been simmering for quite a while, and there was always going to be that one thing that pushed it over.”

The thing in question was the message that Sinn Fein are “untouchable” – which added to existing anger over the Irish Sea Border (he said Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney in particular needs to take a “vow of silence” on the subject).

He also endorsed calls for a halt to protests out of respect for the Royals, saying it is a proper way to “show respect” following Prince Philip’s death.

More from this reporter: IN FULL: Orange Order statement on ‘growing unionist resentment’

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More from this reporter: Loyalist protests: ‘I get why people want DUP to quit Policing Board – but now is not the time’

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