DUP set for its first leadership race as Queen praises gains of peace process
THE DUP will have its first leadership contest after Sir Jeffrey Donaldson announced he would join the race to replace Arlene Foster.
The longstanding MP said he believed Northern Ireland’s ‘best days are ahead’ as he pledged to strengthen the Union and reform controversial post-Brexit trading arrangements.
his announcement came on the same day as the country’s centenary, marking 100 years since Northern Ireland’s creation. In a statement, the Queen praised ‘reconciliation, equality and mutual understanding’ in the country but warned that these qualities should not be ‘taken for granted’.
She added: ‘Across generations, the people of Northern Ireland are choosing to build an inclusive, prosperous and hopeful society, strengthened by the gains of the peace process.
‘May this be our guiding thread in the coming years.’
Boris Johnson also issued a message to mark the centenary but acknowledged there were ‘differing perspectives’ on it.
The Prime Minister said: ‘While this is a moment of shared reflection, it is also an important opportunity to come together to celebrate Northern Ireland and build towards a better and even brighter future for all its people.’
Sir Jeffrey, who is the DUP’s Westminster leader and chief whip, will be taking on Stormont’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots in the race to take over from Mrs Foster. It will be the first leadership contest in the party’s 50-year history.
A CENTURY ago yesterday, Ireland came into being against a backdrop of bitterness and bloodshed.
A vicious civil war was still raging. IRA guerrillas, incensed by partition, launched a campaign of murder and intimidation against Protestants in the North.
In brutal reprisal, Loyalist militias killed many innocent Catholics. From this unquiet beginning, there would be many more years of pain and suffering before the Good Friday agreement eventually brought peace.
But as the Queen wisely warned yesterday, peace cannot be taken for granted. It requires ‘sustained fortitude and commitment’.
That’s why the Government and the European Commission must not underestimate the rising anger and indignation of the Unionist community over the botched Northern Ireland protocol. The creation of a virtual border down the Irish Sea has effectively separated the Province from the rest of the UK for trade purposes. Loyalists fear this is the prelude to a wider sell-out.
Compounded by over-fussy EU checks and inflexible bureaucracy, the arrangement has already sparked rioting and low-level violence. This must be addressed before it gets out of hand.
Both sides in the Brexit negotiations claimed that maintaining peace in Ireland was their top priority. Let them prove it by calmly and amicably rethinking this deeply flawed protocol.