SDLP’s Mallon accuses Sinn Fein of only caring about the rights of its own community
Peer slams Alliance over stance on EU special status
A FORMER SDLP deputy leader has launched a blistering attack on Sinn Fein’s constant emphasis on “rights”.
Seamus Mallon insisted the only rights Sinn Fein had looked after in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement belonged to republicans.
“Look at what they got. All they got was early release for their own members, the concessions for ‘on-the-runs’ and other prisoners’ issues,” the SDLP grandee said.
Now aged 80, the former Deputy First Minister said he had often been told over the years that the Civil Rights movement would not have achieved much “without the violence of the IRA”.
But, he said: “What in fact did the IRA get through violence that wasn’t obtained through the civil rights movement and by the SDLP?
“Measure what they got for their members against the creation of the Housing Executive, the fair employment legislation and the Policing Bill, for example.”
Mr Mallon, who has been out on the general election campaign trail with SDLP South Down candidate Margaret Ritchie, also asked why Sinn Fein had not been “screaming about rights” during the Nama revelations, the Red Sky allegations and the early part of the Renewable Incentive Heating scheme scandal.
Mr Mallon, who left full-time politics to become a carer for his late wife Gertrude, said Sinn Fein had its own definition of ‘rights’ which the republican party has insisted must be established before it will return to power-shar- DUP leader Arlene Foster has said her party fundamentally rejects the endorsement of anyone involved in paramilitarism.
Mrs Foster’s comments came amid growing calls for the DUP to clarify its response to the backing of a body representing loyalist paramilitaries.
Sinn Fein and the Alliance Party had demanded that Mrs Foster distance herself from the public support of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an umbrella group linked to the three main loyalist paramilitary groups — the UDA, UVF and Red ing government with the DUP. “They look after their version of rights and absolutely nothing in terms of the community they are elected to serve,” he added.
“In fact the minister who has started the shutdown of the accident Hand Commando.
The LCC issued a statement on Monday urging voters to back DUP and Ulster Unionist candidates in four battleground constituencies.
The council also heavily criticised the Alliance, and warned unionists not to vote for it, claiming that would drive a “nail into the coffin of the Union”.
“Many unionists think they can retain their unionism yet vote for Alliance candidates. They are sorely mistaken in that belief,” the LCC said.
In response, UUP leader Robin Swann said he did not want the backing of organisations still involved in paramilitarism. and emergency at Daisy Hill hospital in Newry is the Sinn Fein leader in the Assembly (Michelle O’Neill, who had been Health Minister).
“And in the last few weeks we have had the closure of two
The call for clarity from the DUP came after two senior members gave somewhat different answers when pressed on whether they rejected the LCC backing.
While Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he rejected the endorsement, Simon Hamilton stopped short of specifically rebuffing the council’s statement, insisting the body had done good work to move paramilitaries away from violence.
Last night, Mrs Foster (right) said: “I am aware, of course, of the LCC statement. We did not seek that statement, we did not seek endorsement from any paramilitary organisation and schools in this constituency — a decision by civil servants.”
Mr Mallon, who joined the civil rights movement after a local councillor told him that ‘No Catholic papist litter’ would get a house in Markethill as long as he was alive, juxtaposed his early experiences in the 1960s with the contemporary emphasis on rights.
“We knew we couldn’t get rid of any of the ills in Northern Ireland by marching up and down the street,” he said.
“There were only two ways to go. There was the political process and there was the violence process.
“We took the stand from day one that we were not going to be involved in violence in any way or validate it in any way.”
The veteran politician who served with First Minister David, now Lord, Trimble also renewed his criticism of Sinn Fein’s abstentionist policy — and told how his personal intervention had helped save the Policing Bill under former Secretary of State Peter Mandelson.
“I went to Chequers on a Sunday and said I wanted to see the indeed I fundamentally reject an endorsement from anyone that’s involved with paramilitarism or criminality.”
Mrs Foster said there were people in the LCC “trying their best” to move loyalists away from their past. She said she would support those efforts.
“I am certainly not going to walk away from loyalist communities in Northern Ireland,” she told UTV.
Last week, a UDAlinked paramilitary feud claimed its latest victim when Carrickfergus man Colin Horner (35), was shot dead in a supermarket Prime Minister. I was told he was busy. The cheek of me,” he said.
“But finally Tony (Blair) arrived smiling with the teeth glistening and before long there was a guillotine motion down which also meant we had to start from scratch to get the Bill right. There is where the presence in Westminster counts.”
The former Newry & Armagh MP, said he hoped people would vote “with their heads rather than their hearts” and support Mrs Ritchie in the election.
Hitting back last night, Sinn Fein said: “Seamus Mallon and the SDLP built a career claiming victories won by the people protesting on the streets for civil rights.
“The SDLP have failed to achieve anything sitting on the green benches of Westminster.
“They failed to stop Brexit, they failed to stop Tory cuts and they failed to stop women having to prove they were raped in order to access tax credits.
“The SDLP are also the party of abstention from the Executive, from the north-south ministerial council and all-Ireland implementation bodies.” car park in Bangor, Co Down.
Prior to the LCC statement, last week a newspaper produced by the Ulster Political Research Group, which is politically aligned with the UDA, publicly endorsed the DUP’s candidate in south Belfast, Emma Pengelly.
Sinn Fein and Alliance had urged the DUP to distance itself from the public support of the LCC.
Earlier, Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said he did not want the backing of organisations still involved in paramilitarism.
Mr Hamilton branded Sinn Fein’s criticism “ironic”, given the party’s links with the IRA. A FORMER Ulster Unionist MEP has criticised Alliance’s support for a special Brexit deal for Northern Ireland that differs from the rest of the UK.
Lord Kilclooney, who was in the European Parliament for more than a decade, argued it was “a very dangerous policy”.
“As a former MEP, I am very concerned that the Alliance Party has joined with Sinn Fein and the SDLP to campaign for a special status for Northern Ireland following Brexit,” he said.
“This means that Alliance no longer want Northern Ireland to be treated as part of the United Kingdom, and so every vote for Alliance will be assumed by commentators to be added to those of the SDLP and Sinn Fein demanding a new relationship with Dublin.
“This is a very dangerous policy which could damage our economy and the incomes of every person in Northern Ireland.”
But Alliance South Belfast candidate Paula Bradshaw said: “Brexit is the biggest threat facing Northern Ireland in decades, not only to our economy, but the political stability of this region.
“Northern Ireland only works on the basis of sharing and interdependence, whereas Brexit is all about erecting new divisions and barriers.
“Alliance believes we need a pragmatic response to the challenges posed by Brexit. A special deal for Northern Ireland is fundamental to stabilising this society, given all the uncertainties we face. It is incumbent our community unites around that response, given those challenges.”