ECONOMY:THE UUP conference unanimously passed a motion that claimed that Northern Ireland's best economic prospects lay within the United Kingdom.
Delegates supported the motion which read: “This conference believes that sustaining and promoting the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom is in the best economic and social interest of all its citizens, especially against the background of the rise of Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Ulster nationalism.”
Speakers in the debate, the only time they were drawn from the floor during the conference, dismissed “regional nationalism” of the constituent parts of the UK with particular criticism marked for Scottish first minister Alex Salmond.
The Scottish National Party leader was dismissed by several speakers for his call to create a wealthy, independent Scotland linked “in an arc of prosperity” comprising the Scandinavian countries including Iceland.
The DUP was criticised as having a narrow Ulster outlook which stood apart from a genuine United Kingdom and represented a threat to it.
Danny Kennedy, the party deputy leader, referred to the local effects of the global downturn, especially on agriculture and construction.
The Celtic Tiger in the Republic had now been tamed, he said, adding that the party took no pleasure in admitting that.
The strength of the union was Northern Ireland’s best hope in times of economic trouble, he insisted. He promised that the influence of the Ulster Unionists would be employed to assist in the plight of the troubled Presbyterian Mutual Society.