Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
COME ON, ARLENE
In a staggering example of rewriting the past, the DUP leader forgets the checkpoints, turmoil and upheaval and tells the world there’s NEVER been a hard border...
ARLENE Foster was ridiculed yesterday after she claimed there was “never a hard border in Ireland”.
The DUP leader said: “There were 20,000 soldiers and they couldn’t seal it. It is nonsense.”
But Sinn Fein’s Francie Molloy added: “She was on cloud
FROM PAGE ONE cuckoo land during the Troubles. It was a very dangerous border and an unsafe border and families went through hardship crossing for years.”
At the height of the conflict, the 310-mile frontier was peppered with military sangars, watch towers and heavily-armed troops.
But speaking in London yesterday, Mrs Foster added: “The borders of the past were there for a completely different reason.
“They were there to stop terrorists, they were there to stop the flow of Semtex as opposed to the flow of powdered milk.”
Mr Molloy’s party colleague,
South Armagh MLA Megan Fearon added: “I’m gobsmacked. It’s bizarre the DUP is peddling these myths.”
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long also hit out at the “brazen misrepresentation”.
She said: “These remarks are completely disingenuous and at odds with reality.
DISINGENUOUS
“It is not only wrong, but bizarre to deny a border with watch towers, security checks – static and mobile, cratered minor roads, removed bridges, razor wire fencing and armed forces deployed to try to secure it throughout the Troubles was not a hard border.
“Instead of attempting to deny the past, it would suit the DUP better to focus on the reality here and now.
“The instability and uncertainty which their Brexit stance is causing is palpable and they have yet to offer a single practical solution to mitigate against it.”
Newry and Armagh SDLP Assembly Member Justin Mcnulty added: “We all know Arlene admitted to the RHI inquiry that she could not be expected to be over ‘every single jot and tittle’.
“However, at a time like this how can she get her facts so wrong and be comfortable making divisive inaccurate comments.”
Mrs Foster’s comment came as she argued against the need for the inclusion of a backstop for the border in Brexit negotiations.
The Mirror last night contacted the DUP for comment but a spokesman was not available.