Ulster Union leader Doug Petty says the DUP is “escalating hysteria” over the prospect of a united Ireland to scare people into voting for them.
In an attack on his union rivals ahead of next month’s general assembly election in Stormont, Petty said there was a “smell of despair” about the DUP’s tactics.
In an interview with the Palestinian News Agency, Beatty also reiterated his position on Northern Ireland’s protocol on not participating in the protests, saying he had no control over the rising tensions during the meetings.
The leader of the Union of Sons also said his party might win the elections, but said he wanted intense negotiations on the government’s agenda rather than joining the executive branch.
During the election campaign, the DUP repeatedly stated that Sinn Fein plans to hold a cross-border vote if it gains the most seats after May 5.
“I think it would be absolutely ridiculous for anyone to say that Sinn Fein is going to be working on border voting after this election, when Sinn Fein has been working on border voting since 1998,” Petty said.
Sinn Féin has always called for a united Ireland.
“It makes no sense.
“There will be no vote on the border and no united Ireland in my life or in the lives of my children.
“I sincerely believe in him.
“People have to stop.
“It’s not that people can’t aspire, of course they can, but in the 20 years since 1998 we haven’t taken a single step towards achieving a border or a united Ireland.
“What the DUP is actually doing is creating fear,” he added.
“They are hysterical.
They say we must vote, or else they will invite you to vote at the border. It’s a lie.
They are trying to take the people on their heels, they are trying to bring trade unionists and loyalists to the polls with lies.
They are trying to intimidate people at the polls because she was working with them before.
“There is despair at what they are doing and I hope people will see it.
This is the only DUP policy since 2007.
“People will say I got my nose and voted for DUP because I didn’t want to lose Sinn Fein and that’s terrible.”
A series of demonstrations are taking place in Northern Ireland, highlighting union and pro-union opposition to a post-Brexit protocol, which provides for additional control over goods entering the UK from Northern Ireland.
Mr Petty announced he would not attend the event after a security alert disrupted a peacekeeping operation in North Belfast, which Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coen addressed last month.
His county office in Portadown was later attacked when a brick front window was destroyed.
On Friday night, Mr Petty’s poster was left hanging around his neck on a chair in front of a demonstration in Lorgan, in the heart of Pani’s Upper Circle.
Even Mr. Petty, an Army Cross Award veteran, was called a “traitor” by a speaker at the event.
Mr Petty said: “I think we have to look at what happened. Some said people should be angry, while they say people in Northern Ireland might have a different connotation.
“Then we have UVF who hijacked the car, took the young man by his arms and handed him over. [hoax] Bomb at a peacebuilding event. Then it was announced that soldiers loyal to the paramilitary forces would send Irish politicians home with body bags.
“Then he knew it.
If I invested in these people, I would not allow any of them to break the law.
He added, “If we’re talking about people doing shit, or a brick in my window or a poster like that that makes me hate it, it increases tension.
“If I went to the gathering and instead of my picture, there was a picture of Leo Varadkari with a ring on Edo’s neck. I could not accept it and would not allow it.
“I have no control over what these people do because of the tensions around protocol.
This fully reflects the reason for my decision not to attend these gatherings.
“I have no control over some of the people who frequent it or some of the languages used.”
Northern Ireland was left without a fully functioning government after the DUP demolished power-sharing institutions earlier this year in protest of the protocol, which Beatty opposed.
However, he repeatedly denied whether he was ready for the position of first deputy minister in the executive branch, where Sinn Fein was the largest party.
He said a period of intense negotiations was needed before institutions could be restored.
“It has to be practical.
“Who will support the transition to government when you don’t know what the consequences of government will be?”
We must carry forward the government’s agenda through intense negotiations, and very quickly.
It can be done in 10-12 days.
“Be diligent in the beginning, get the approval of all parties, and then you will have a coherent, collegiate CEO, where we all go and work in the same direction.
If people say they disagree with the government’s programme, they can join the opposition.
“You should work like this.
We all know the biggest party is going to be the PM, if it’s Sinn Fein, then it is.
“I think it would be the unionist party in Ulster.”
Source: Belfastlive
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