News Letter Letters: - 'Joint authority would destroy 1998 consensus'

I was relieved to hear that joint authority was recently ruled out by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

When I first heard mention of it, I felt the political rug of a historic, foundational consensus being tugged beneath my feet.

That consensus was the one of the 1998 Belfast Agreement that my party the Ulster Unionist Party worked so hard to achieve and that I have spent all my political life as a UUP activist defending and advocating for.

My strong opposition to joint authority is not based on tribalism.

It is based on my support for the consent principle promised in the Belfast Agreement.

Joint authority would totally shatter that consensus, which would be even more outrageous as we approach its 25th anniversary next year in which plans to mark it are already being discussed.

What is interesting though is the ideological difference that has emerged between the parties.

The unionist parties share my strong opposition to joint authority.

The nationalist parties not surprisingly seem to be okay about it.

The Alliance Party on the other hand seem to be open to the idea and even more worryingly don’t see it necessarily breaching the consent principle despite strong unionist opposition to it.

So let me be clear as a unionist: joint authority in any form is absolutely unacceptable to me. It would breach the consent principle. It would destroy the 1998 consensus.

It is not even worth discussing as unionists will never accept it.

This is not about being moderate or hardline; this is about being unionist.

Our governance comes from the UK government; not from the Republic of Ireland. I am unionist.

This is the unionist position.

Michael Palmer, Newtownards, UUP Member, Ards and North Down