Unionists angry over Drumcree fallout but must think 'long term' – Robinson
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has urged unionism to think long term and make its voice heard at the ballot box following a bruising week for his party.
He said many are “angered and disgusted” at the actions of Sinn Fein and First Minister Michelle O’Neill for backing an allegedly illegal protest on the Garvaghy Road which has prevented the Drumcree Orange Order parade.
In a letter to party members, Mr Robinson cautioned that collapsing the Assembly will strengthen Sinn Fein.
He said the actions the DUP will take in the weeks to come will be “guided by hard-headed decisions designed to strengthen, not weaken, unionism at this critical point”.
Meanwhile, Ms O’Neill, along with Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald, and other party members, have attended voluntary police interviews in the probe into alleged breaches of the Parades Commission ruling to allow the parade along the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.
Mr Robinson said the outcome of that police investigation “will be key”.
“Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done,” he wrote in his weekly message to party members.
“No person can be immune from prosecution because of their politics or position.”
However he said pulling down the Executive without a budget and without a plan would leave unionism and Northern Ireland “weakened in the longer term”.
“No one claims Stormont is perfect and whilst being in a mandatory Executive with Sinn Fein is very difficult we cannot wish away the mandate they have been given by the people who vote for them,” he said.
“Sinn Fein has fundamentally undermined confidence in the fairness and running of the institutions. That will not be allowed to go unchallenged.”
He called on the UK government to bring forward workable sanctions which would preclude any party from deciding whether or not it should be sanctioned.
He also told party members that next year’s Assembly election is an “opportunity for unionists to give their answer to the arrogance of Michelle O’Neill”.
The MP called for unionism to “put aside petty personal attacks and unite”.