THE commentator, former Labour Party minister and writer, Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien, has confirmed he will stand in the May 30th elections. He hopes to be part of the UK Unionist Party representation in the June 10th negotiations.
Confirming yesterday that he is willing to allow his name to go forward for the party led by the North Down MP, Mr Robert McCartney QC, Dr Cruise O'Brien said he will not be campaigning on the ground in the run up to polling day.
He also intends to take a seat in the proposed 110 strong Forum which has been the focus of strong nationalist criticism. There is no requirement that candidates to this body should reside in Northern Ireland.
Under the British government proposals, the 10 top polling parties will be permitted to send an extra two delegates to the negotiations, and he will be one of those if he has not already been directly elected.
Asked what agenda they would pursue in the all party talks, he said that he had yet to discuss the issues with Mr McCartney.
Dr Cruise O'Brien, who canvassed in North Down for Mr McCartney in his successful bid to take a Westminster seat, said he was attracted to the party because it is unionist and anti sectarian".
Although the party has only one MP, he expressed optimism that it will poll well in the May 30th elections.
"I'm pursuing a unionist agenda insofar as I want to help moderate, nonsectarian unionists resisting the pressure that is forcing them to go in a direction in which they do not want to go. This pernicious pressure is all coming from nationalists," Dr Cruise O'Brien said.
The "peace process" was an ambiguous term and, as used by the media and commentators here, "there is an assumption that preserving the momentum means getting more increment on the nationalist agenda".
Responding to a statement by the Fianna Fail TD, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, yesterday that he welcomer his decision to "finally nail his colours to the mast Dr Cruise O'Brien said he had never hidden his support for unionism.
He had also advised Mr David Trimble when he became leader of the Ulster Unionist Par "about things that could be said that would have a good impact on the nationalist community".
In the past, also, he had addressed the Friends of the Union, a group within the British Conservative Party, and had even distributed the text of his speech to the Orange Orders Any suggestion that he ever attempted to conceal his utmost sympathies was clearly falsely based.
Mr O'Keeffe said his decision to represent the "hard line integrationist UK Unionist Party" would certainly open the eyes of any readers of Independent Newspapers who still thought they might be getting an objective political commentary on the North or Irish politics from "the Cruiser".
But Dr Cruise O'Brien said he was brought up with Irish nationalism and did not begin to seriously question it until 1971 with the rise of the IRA. He had not stopped questioning it since, he added.
Asked if he thought the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, was involved in putting any pressure on unionists, he said that while he was the moderate nationalist around and showed a certain amount to respect for unionist sensibilities insofar as a nationalist can", he was pursuing the nationalist agenda.
Adding that he was not attacking" Mr Bruton, he said the Taoiseach wanted to bring the Framework Document back on board, with cross Border bodies with executive powers. "That is a stage in the direction of joint administration which, in turn, is towards a united Ireland," he added.