SINN FÉIN Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has accused Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey and his party of a “dismal failure of political leadership” in refusing to make a commitment to support Tuesday’s Assembly vote on devolving policing and justice.
Mr McGuinness, speaking at the Sinn Féin ardfheis at the RDS in Dublin last night, was highly critical of the SDLP and the UUP over their sceptical stance on the Hillsborough Castle Agreement which he described as “a good deal for every citizen on this island”.
He deplored the UUP’s holding position announced yesterday not to support the Hillsborough agreement at this stage.
“This is a dismal failure of political leadership. Playing party politics with the future of the institutions is unacceptable,” Mr McGuinness added.
He said that the UUP had previously presented Sinn Féin with a document that would have undermined important elements of the Belfast Agreement, including the safeguards that guaranteed powersharing.
“However disguised, they attempt to bring us back to unionist majority rule. It was either written by a party seeking an exit strategy or it was written by someone completely detached from the political realities of this process,” he said.
“The electorate will reject any party seeking to dash the hopes generated by the Hillsborough agreement for narrow ends,” Mr McGuinness added.
“Let me say to the UUP, it is impossible to sit round the powersharing table by day and court rejectionist transfers by night,” he said.
The Deputy First Minister said the new SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie could have won an “Oscar for a brass neck” in stating on radio after the Hillsborough deal that she was travelling to Dublin to tell the Taoiseach of the “undemocratic nature” of the agreement when Brian Cowen was at Hillsborough endorsing the deal.
“Communities can see that political opportunism and cynicism is at the heart of these theatrics. When our people are seeking leadership and hope they offer nothing but meaningless soundbites and posturing,” he added.
Mr McGuinness said that Tuesday’s Assembly vote on policing and justice was important.
“Our MLAs will vote yes. In doing so, we continue to progress a peace process that has overwhelming support amongst our people,” he added. “Our vision of a united Ireland is inclusive, it is real and it is achievable.”
Sinn Féin chairman Declan Kearney from Belfast said that the actions of the dissident republicans were totally unacceptable to Sinn Féin. They could only serve to bring British soldiers back on the streets of Northern Ireland.
“That needs to be called for what it is: it is a securocrat agenda.” Mr Kearney said “constitutional nationalists” and the “militarists” in the dissidents could not deliver a united Ireland and that Sinn Féin was the “only united Ireland party in town”.