A new unionist movement designed to campaign against the current Stormont
regime will be officially launched this Friday.
A pamphlet to be contained within Friday evening's editions of the Belfast
Telegraph will spell out details of the organisation - including its title.
The new grouping will not amount to a new political party, at least at this
stage, but aims to attract unionists opposed to the power-sharing deal
between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Former DUP MEP Jim Allister is expected to be confirmed as chairman of the
organisation, following a series of invitation-only meetings over recent
months.
A further series of public gatherings, to gauge support in the wider
unionist community, is likely in the New Year.
As the Telegraph reported last month, organisers claim around a dozen
branches of the movement have already been formed across the province.
Friday's launch is specifically aimed at diminishing the impact of the
ground-breaking Washington meeting between First Minister Ian Paisley,
Deputy FM Martin McGuinness and President George Bush in the White House.
But the DUP has already insisted Mr Allister will not be raining on their
parade, dismissing the group as a 'motley crew' and arguing it has no
alternative strategy to offer unionists. Mr Paisley said the platform
offered by dissident unionists had been rejected by the electorate.
Mr Allister intends, however, that the pamphlet will address many of the key
issues within the unionist community, including Mr Paisley's warning that
so-called Plan B, an enhanced role for the Irish government, would have been
implemented without a devolution deal.
It will also spell out opposition to the current mandatory coalition at
Stormont and argue that, without a more acceptable form of devolution,
Northern Ireland should be governed as an integral part of the United
Kingdom.
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