LEADER’S INTERVIEW – DOUG BEATTIE: ‘Saying no to Stormont doesn’t mean direct rule by London alone – it means Dublin too’

Inside Strandtown Hall in East Belfast shafts of Spring sunshine lit up the portrait of Thomas Moles, the first ever Ulster Unionist to be elected to the Stormont Parliament’s old House of Commons at Northern Ireland’s foundation in 1921.

To the right of the painting the latest Ulster Unionist leader was musing on the future of the Province 101 years on from that historic landmark.

With his sleeves rolled up Doug Beattie gave a combative response to those rival unionists who contend that direct rule from London is more preferable than the current devolved system in Belfast.

The former army officer and highly decorated soldier mounted a robust defence of Stormont and devolution: “If you walk out of government then you don’t have the means to provide for your people.

“This is one of the reasons why these Protocol rallies irk me so much because they have turned them into protests about the Belfast Agreement and about not having a government at Stormont. The silliness of it is that some of those people think just because we don’t have an Executive it will mean direct rule from London but it won’t be.

“If you look at the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ paper it was brought forward by the Westminster Government and the Dublin Government! These people are advocating for much of the same while we are arguing for the Executive to get up and running after the election.

“Direct rule will have an element of Dublin rule if that is where we are going. It’s worth mentioning that whenever ‘New Decade, New Approach’ was being launched it was Simon Coveney (Irish Foreign Minister) and then Secretary of State Julian Smith announcing it while we in the UUP were still reading the document.

“We hadn’t even finished reading it when the two of them launched it over our heads. This was a deal produced by London and Dublin with buy-in from the DUP and Sinn Fein. Think about it - the return of direct rule will have Dublin input. I just can’t understand why people cannot and will not see that. Those who want to wreck devolution are going down a road that will not leave unionism in a stronger position.

“What I am trying to say is that if you want to have unionism in a stronger place then make Northern Ireland work and to make that happen we need public services controlled locally by a government here.”

Mr Beattie appealed to the electorate not to put back “the same the people who have failed over the last 15 years” into any new devolved administration.

Asked if the entire system also needed a proper, probing and numerically strong opposition at Stormont, the UUP leader was hedging his bets ahead of polling day on May 5.

“An opposition is really important, not one that is just a chattering group in the corner complaining about absolutely everything but an opposition that gives constructive criticism and alternatives.

“So I do believe that we need an opposition and we will wait to see what the election produces in terms of who goes into government and who will decide to form an opposition.

“I am not ruling out opposition but we are working to win this election and to return as many MLAs as possible so we could have as many ministers as possible but the next Programme for Government will determine what happens and if that programme is not, in our view, in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland then we can’t support it. In those circumstances we might go into opposition,” he added.

One of the reasons Mr Beattie cites for refusing to take part in anti-Protocol rallies on the streets is that he believes the protests are transforming into a wider campaign against the Belfast Agreement.

So, what does he make of the argument that the post-Brexit trade deal with its Irish Sea Border has made the Agreement, and particularly the principle of consent within the 1998 peace deal, redundant?

“It has brought us peace and is not null and void. Some of us had to fight for that peace and those who never had to fight for peace are openly undermining the Belfast Agreement.

“It needs an overhaul, we have said that previously and it is something we can look at in the future.”

The UUP leader described himself as a “confident optimistic unionist” who rejected the scenario painted by the DUP throughout this campaign that if Sinn Fein emerged as largest party the pressure for a border poll would be virtually unstoppable.

“There is not going to be a border poll, there is not going to be a United Ireland, not in my lifetime, not in my children’s or even grandchildren’s lifetime. I genuinely believe that. Michelle O’Neill, whether she is First Minister or Deputy First Minister will not change that,” he said.

Mr Beattie was also adamant in his assertion that the Northern Ireland Protocol is not the number one talking point when he meets voters at their doorsteps or on the streets both in his Upper Bann constituency and across the Province.

“It is not to say they are not interested in the Protocol but generally what people are talking about when we are going around to speak to them in this campaign is health, the cost-of-living crisis, getting an appointment, if possible, with their GP and many people I’ve met are talking about when they will ever get an MOT for their car.

“The main issues can be summed up in three words - heat or eat. People who are struggling, some of whom I know, they have to make a decision whether they put food on their table or heating their home,” he added.

‘Largest parties are set up thanks to mutual fear of one of them topping poll’

Doug Beattie said he is not worried about a unionist “fear factor” that on polling day could drive most pro-Union voters into the DUP’s arms again over concerns about Sinn Fein emerging as the single biggest party.

“It happens every single election because the Ulster Unionist Party and other smaller parties have to fight elections with one hand tied around our backs because of dodgy deals that were done around the St. Andrew’s Agreement.

“They changed the rules from the Belfast Agreement to set the two largest parties up with mutual fear of one of them topping the poll. That meant it was not about policies but fear of one and other, poke-in-the eye politics if you like. But I believe hope can trump fear and it is the hope of a working Northern Ireland for all which the people should vote for.”

Mr Beattie said he cannot take Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald seriously when she calls for dialogue with unionists while she continues to state that the Provisional IRA’s armed campaign was justified.

On Easter Sunday the Sinn Fein President said she wanted “partnership” with unionists to help create a new United Ireland.

Mr Beattie said she “continues to say the IRA campaign of murder and violence was justified so as long as she says that she walking on the graves of victims of the IRA.”

He continued: “If she really wants to reach out the simple thing to do is for her to say that it was not justified, that we did not need to lose one single life to get to where we are today.

“Her kind words are purely for show and people need to ask her when she puts her hand out to unionists, ‘will you say that the armed campaign of the Provisional IRA was not justified?’ More than that they might ask, ‘will you stop eulogising those people who murdered our citizens from right across Northern Ireland, indeed right across the island of Ireland.”

On his party’s prospects in the May 5 poll the UUP leader said: “We want to return as many MLAs as we possibly can because we believe we provide better ministers. If you look at what Robin Swann did as Minister of Health during the pandemic just imagine what we could do if we held more ministries.”

Ukraine war has brought back traumatic memories:

The carnage of Putin’s war in Ukraine has resurrected memories of death and destruction on tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Doug Beattie has revealed.

Daily images of dead civilians, fleeing refugees and the destruction of cities have conjured up traumatic experiences in wars he served in, the UUP leader (pictured right) said.

“The pictures from Kharkiv or Mariupol do bring back traumas like holding an eight year old child called Shabia who was handed to me by her grandfather.

“She had been wounded and I held her as her life ebbed away from her in Afghanistan. There was nothing I could do for.

“I still feel that daily so when I see images of children suffering or dying they are not abstract pictures for me. They bring back thoughts, memories, sounds, sights and smells of things I really didn’t want to remember.

“Those who served in the military around the world and in NI will know what I am talking about especially when you want to do something about these awful things but you know there is nothing you can do,” he said. “What’s going in Ukraine does bring it back especially the memory of the loss of my friends in Afghanistan who were killed or seriously injured.

“There were many who returned but could not cope and have taken their own lives. Four of my friends who came back have taken their own lives.”