Praise Trimble not Paisley, says Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, as Hilary Benn hails 'courageous leadership' of late DUP leader on anniversary of Good Friday Agreement he opposed
The Secretary of State should save his kind words for Ian Paisley and praise David Trimble instead, Mike Nesbitt has said.
The Health Minister hit out after Hilary Benn hailed the “courageous leadership” of the late DUP leader when speaking about the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended the Troubles – a deal Paisley famously opposed, going as far as haranguing other political chiefs as they walked to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile Mr Nesbitt and the TUV have both slammed Mr Benn for dismissing an ongoing row over a Sinn Fein minister’s decision to spend £145,000 of public money replacing existing signs and ticket machines in Belfast’s newly-opened Grand Central Station with versions sporting Irish, the party complaining he needs a reality check from residents of neighbouring Sandy Row if he doesn’t think there’s a problem with the situation on the ground.
During an interview broadcast on BBC Radio’s Good Morning Ulster today (18th), the Secretary of State described the Good Friday Agreement as “clearly the greatest achievement of the last Labour government” and something that “made the impossible possible”.
Recalling a Troubles-era incident in which he heard what sounded like a nearby bomb detonating, only to run outside his London home and find it was over two miles away, Mr Benn said: “If someone had tapped me on the shoulder then and said, one day Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will sit side-by-side as First and Deputy First Ministers in a power-sharing government, I’d have said I’d love to live to see this day, I don’t think I will.
"I did; we did, the people of Northern Ireland did, and that shows the power of courageous political leadership. Because the truth about all conflicts around the world is, if you’re going to end in a compromise, then people have got to reach out, out the past behind them and be prepared to cooperate in the interests of peace – and that is the most extraordinary thing about what was achieved on that miraculous Good Friday 27 years ago.”
His words infuriated Mr Nesbitt, who pointed out Ian Paisley didn’t want the Good Friday Agreement signed; its main architect on the Unionist side was in fact the UUP’s David Trimble.
"Does he not know where Dr Paisley was on the day the agreement was reached?” asked the Health Minister. “He was on the far side of the crush barriers, shouting Lundy, Judas, and Traitor at David Trimble and the Ulster Unionists who made the agreement happen. Trimble was the courageous one.
"He said the 1998 Agreement was the outstanding achievement of his Labour Party – but not a word about how the DUP undermined it with the St Andrews Agreement, passed without reference to the people, unlike the original, which secured over 71% support in a referendum in Northern Ireland.”
During the same interview Mr Benn dismissed the row over Grand Central Station, saying he didn’t understand what the fuss was about and commenting: “There are so many more important things than having an argument about signs”.
Mr Nesbitt said: “[re Mr Benn’s] totally imbalanced assessment of the issue of Irish language signage at Grand Central Station. Mr Benn says he wants us all to celebrate all traditions. Does that include the tradition of some republicans to believe every word spoken in Irish is another bullet fired in the battle for Irish freedom? That tradition needs to be addressed if we are to achieve cross-community support for the language my party would like to see.
"I’m disappointed he does not realise progress requires compromise, not fully throated support for one side or the other."
Stated TUV councillor Ron McDowell: “If he wants to understand the issues involved, he should come to Sandy Row and talk to local people. At the moment, he sounds like many other politicians on this matter – ignorant because he hasn’t engaged with the people concerned.”