The Alliance Party has “serious questions to answer about its commitment to Northern Ireland”, after its European election candidate, Anna Lo, said that she is in favour of a 32 county, all-Ireland state, according to NI Conservatives’ Euro candidate, Mark Brotherston.
“Alliance says it is ‘agnostic on the Union’, but this is a fairly definitive statement from its candidate at a very curious time, given that a united Ireland has never been further from the mainstream agenda”, Mark observed. “The most worrying aspect is that Ms Lo seems to be under the impression that Northern Ireland is a colony. That calls into question her understanding of the Belfast Agreement, because it is very clear that our place in the UK rests on the will of a majority of people in Northern Ireland.”
“The Alliance Party candidate is out of step with the vast majority of opinion, on either side of the community, which recognises that we would be substantially worse off as part of a united Ireland. I can assure Ms Lo that there is nothing ‘artificial’ about Northern Ireland, as she alleges. We are a full part of the United Kingdom, because most people here want to remain so and their view rests on a raft of very good historical, cultural and economic reasons. Certainly we should have excellent relations with the Republic, but Northern Ireland is not a ‘colony’ and her comments are misguided, ignorant and expose the lack of any coherent position on the constitution from Alliance.”