'Snowmen melted away'

ULSTER Unionist Sam Gardiner has hit out at local DUP 'snowmen' who he claims melted over the Hillsborough agreement.

He said: “People need to realise that this is an agreement between the DUP and their partners, Sinn Fein.

"There has been no genuine attempt to involve the other parties. The first bit of paper we in the UUP saw on this was on Friday, when the deal was announced.

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“Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this is what has been done in side deals as opposed to the main agreement.

"This has always been the pattern in the past. Some of these details are beginning to leak out and from what we can see they involve increased rights for the Irish language and beefed-up north-south bodies.”

He went on: “What I want to know is what happened to the 14 “snowmen” – the DUP MLAs and MPs who were opposed to the deal and who then did a u-turn and supported it.

"Two of the Snowmen were said to come from the Upper Bann constituency. Why did the snowmen melt?”

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Mr Gardiner concluded: "We in the UUP always want what is best for the peace and stability of our province.

"We will look at this devolution deal and see what is in the best interest of the unionist people. We are all fed up with the lack of action by the DUP and Sinn Fein on the real bread and butter issues which concern people – their jobs, their families, their schools, their economic well-being.

"We have been calling for action on these fronts for over a year now. Let us see if the DUP and Sinn Fein can drop their own self-interest long enough to actually do something for the people who elected them instead of just feathering their own nests, as usual.”