Alliance blasts UUP/SDLP 'hypocrisy' on Scottish anti-sectarian trips

10.45.46am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 5th Oct 2006

Alliance Party Chief Whip, Kieran McCarthy

Alliance Party Chief Whip Kieran McCarthy has slammed the hypocrisy of Ulster Unionists and the SDLP going on a trip to Scotland to discuss a "Shared Future" - having opposed a shared future in the Assembly.

The Strangford MLA stated: "Not for the first time we hear Ulster Unionists saying one thing and doing another. Not content with merging with the representatives of gangsterism, their MLA in the Assembly Committee actually opposed a 'Shared Future'. That is the true Ulster Unionist position - in the Assembly Report for people to see.

"The SDLP is hardly any better. Having left the whole 'Shared Future' issue on the shelf throughout the lifetime of the last Assembly while in government with the Ulster Unionists, they also opposed the very notion of a 'Shared Educational Future'. Again their true position appears in the Assembly Report.

"Defeating division and overcoming segregation take a lot more than nice words. You cannot say one thing and do another. What is required is a commitment to implementing tough policies to change our society for the better. The Ulster Unionists and the SDLP have had their chance - and failed spectacularly.

"Northern Ireland needs to break segregation at every level, from the Assembly to the grassroots of society. The sectarian designation system in the Assembly has to be scrapped, and more integrated schools must be created to give young people the best start in life, a shared future.

"Contrary to what they say, the truth is that Ulster Unionists and the SDLP lack the leadership and courage to break the sectarian consensus on which they have built their power base."

ENDS