THE PHONY CAMPAIGN OF "LOVE ULSTER"

The following is just in to me from sources in Northern Ireland...

'Love Ulster' welcoming of loyalist paramilitaries must be condemned by DUP if they are serious about tackling North Antrim sectarianism

For Immediate Release:10/10/2005

Ballymena Sinn Féin Councillor Monica Digney has said that she is appalled at remarks from ‘Love Ulster’ spokesperson Willie Frazer about welcoming loyalist paramilitaries to the ‘Love Ulster’ campaign. Cllr Digney’s comments come after Mr Frazer addressed Ballymena Borough Council at the invitation of Unionist Councillors.

Cllr Digney said:

“Willie Frazer has said that loyalist paramilitaries are welcome in his campaign as individuals - in other words those involved in the pipe-bombing of Catholics in Ahoghill and the attacks on Catholic businesses throughout the Ballymena area are welcome to attend any future rallies and meetings of this group. Mr Frazer, in no shape or form, asks these people to stop their anti-Catholic attacks before they will be accepted into this campaign. They are quite clearly acceptable to the ‘Love Ulster’ campaign in their present form.

“These comments have again shown the ‘Love Ulster’ campaign up as having strong links with the UDA, UVF and other loyalist paramilitaries. From Day 1 we saw UDA men unloading the campaign’s newspaper at its Larne launch, which was also fronted, by local DUP man Willie Wilkinson.

“This campaign is more about sectarian hatred than ‘Love’ and I would hope that no Unionist party endorses the campaign in the wake of Mr Frazer’s words of welcome for UDA and UVF members. If the DUP is serious about opposing those who are attacking Catholic homes and property in this borough then they should not be standing shoulder to shoulder with loyalist paramilitaries at this group’s march in Belfast at the end of the month. This will be a litmus test of their commitment to tackle the loyalist paramilitaries within their community.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following are the stated goals of "Love Ulster" as noted on their web site:

LoveUlster is a campaign for Unionist unity.

LoveUlster calls for the democratic rights of the Unionist community to be recognised and respected by government.

LoveUlster calls for an end to government concessions to Irish nationalism/republicanism

LoveUlster gives people a voice and encourages them to have their say.

LoveUlster is a peaceful and democratic initiative by a range of organisations across the Province, including the Shankill Mirror, victims support groups and the Orange Institution.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The following is taken from the International Relations and Security Network which is run by the Center for Security Studies based in Zurich:

'Love Ulster’ campaign sparks criticism

ISN SECURITY WATCH (30/08/05) - A new grassroots campaign dubbed “Love Ulster”, on Monday began disseminating newsletters across Northern Ireland aimed at denouncing nationalist dominance over the political process.

The Love Ulster campaign will disseminate 200,000 free newsletters across Northern Ireland, highlighting unionist concerns at political concessions granted to Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) since the latter’s statement that it was ending its nearly four-decade campaign of violence against British rule.

In the days after the statement, the British government announced radical plans for demilitarization in Northern Ireland - a move unionists view as premature at best and a betrayal at worst. They see the disbandment of the British army’s Royal Irish Regiment as a move that will harm unionist culture.

William Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Love Ulster campaign, told ISN Security Watch that unionists were “shocked at the speed of the [British] concessions [after the IRA statement]”.

Wilkinson, who works for a support group for victims of IRA violence, said he believed there was a reason for unionists to distrust the British government, which he accused of “negotiating aspects of the current process behind our backs and over our heads”.

The head of the exclusively Protestant Orange Order has backed the campaign, which says Northern Ireland is at a crisis point, with a clear need for a movement to oppose the creation of a unified all-Ireland state.

Wilkinson feels that the Irish government is being given an increasing role in Northern Ireland, and notes that the British government, as far back as 1991, had said it had no “strategic or economic interest” in remaining in Ireland.

Now unionist activists are taking matters into their own hands, without confronting or criticizing mainstream unionist politicians. “We are not pointing the finger at our politicians, but seek to complement them,” Wilkinson said, adding that “both parties [the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party] have voiced their opposition to the current process of appeasement”.

The Love Ulster pamphlets were landed at the port town of Larne in a symbolic re-enactment of the 1914 landing of guns at the port, intended for use by the old Ulster Volunteer Force to resist pre-World War I plans for devolved government or “Home Rule” for Ireland.

Wilkinson insists the re-enactment is merely symbolic. However, the reported participation of loyalist paramilitaries in distributing the pamphlets may cause nationalists to see differently.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vice-president Alasdair McDonnell said the involvement of loyalist paramilitaries in a “phony campaign against a united Ireland” was “utterly disgraceful”.

The SDLP said the campaign was a disgraceful attempt to spread fear and a sense of crisis.