DUP seeks talks with Blair on North elections

The Democratic Unionist Party is seeking a meeting with Mr Tony Blair to demand elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in…

The Democratic Unionist Party is seeking a meeting with Mr Tony Blair to demand elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the autumn.

The party insisted it now represented the majority voice of unionism in rejecting the Belfast Agreement and the Governments' Joint Declaration on the way forward.

In a statement issued after a meeting of senior officers, the party said it had set in place a detailed strategy to oppose moves to implement the Agreement.

"The actions of the prime minister in cancelling the elections for fear ofits result are more indicative of his realisation that the Belfast Agreementdoes not command majority unionist support," it declared.

READ MORE

"It is also our intention to draw to the attention of the unionist community the dangers contained within the Joint Declaration agreed at Hillsborough," it continued.

The DUP insisted that it was now the largest party in Northern Ireland following the decision of three rebel Ulster Unionist MPs to resign the party whip at Westminster.

It said the British government could no longer ignore the reality that most unionistsnow rejected the Agreement.

PA