September 27 1975
To exclude the Social Democratic and Labour Party from a voluntary coalition in Northern Ireland if specific conditions were met would be madness as well as unjust and dishonest, Mr William Craig, Vanguard Party leader said last night.
The conditions were that the SDLP:
Should act as a constitutional party; accept the union with Britain for as long as the majority wanted it; were prepared to accept the Parliamentary system and practice and identify with and support the institutions of state; accept majority rule; agree that the Northern Ireland parliament should be responsible for internal security; were willing to support policies for the defeat of terrorism and; were prepared to go along with the Loyalists in sinking party differences to support the policies that would deal with emergencies that existed on both the law and order and economic fronts.
“If these conditions were met it would be unjust and dishonest for us to say ‘No’. Indeed, it would be madness to say ‘No’, said Mr Craig.
Mr Craig said that the UUUC [United Ulster Unionist Council] convention members had been stampeded into declaring that that in no circumstances and under no conditions could the coalition ever envisage serving with the SDLP in a coalition government, because it was believed by some that such a coalition was contrary to the principles stated in the UUUC manifesto.
“That reason is entirely without foundation. The manifesto was committed to the British parliamentary system and indeed highlighted one of the circumstances a coalition could be formed.
That was: ‘If no party has a one party majority the leader who secures a majority through a freely negotiated coalition could be entrusted with the task of forming a government’.
I cannot believe that the UUUC really intended that in every circumstance the SDLP were to be excluded from this one aspect of British parliamentary practice regardless of conditions”, said Mr Craig.
Patience in NI needed, says Irish minister Garret FitzGerald
Irish Foreign Minister, Dr Garret FitzGerald, said yesterday at the United Nations that endless patience was needed to solve the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.
He told the General Assembly his government had tried to promote peace and rejected violence in any form.
Dr FitzGerald blamed “small groups of violent men on either side” for the impasse and added: “Endless patience is needed in seeking a solution that will resolve fears and appease hatreds. But we believe elected political leaders of the two sections of the community can yet reach an agreement that will provide a solution”.
As Garret FitzGerald was calling for patience to reach a political solution to the North, the Vanguard leader William Craig spelled out his reasons for supporting the SDLP being involved in a power-sharing arrangement that was ultimately rejected by most unionists.