Everything Ulster - Election 2005

SOUTH Antrim Ulster Unionist David Burnside MP has said unionists should only consider voting for the SDLP in an effort to keep Sinn Fein from winning seats in a multi-seat PR election. He went on to say that in a Westminster election, it is vital that unionists vote for a unionists candidate.

He also called for the SDLP to publicly state that they will form a voluntary assembly coalition with the DUP, UUP and Alliance at Stormont, going on to say that "Without that condition... unionist voters should not vote for the SDLP because they would be endorsing a pan-nationalist agenda to put Sinn Fein in government. ... No Republican criminals must ever again be put in the government of Northern Ireland."

The SDLP's Dominic Bradley, MLA for Newry-Armagh, ruled out this arrangement claiming his party was sticking to the Good Friday Agreement's commitment to inclusion and claimed that "That doesnt mean we tolerate wrongdoing from any paramilitary group, but excluding Sinn Fein would achieve nothing."

One has to question what the SDLP's position on wrongdoing from a paramilitary group is. They say they won't tolerate it, while at the same time refusing to punish it.

This article was reported in today's Newsletter, but is not, at the time of publishing, available online.