DUP SAYS "GOD DID IT"

For Immediate Release:19/11/2005

Note: The Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. As of 2005 it is the largest unionist party.

Sinn Féin Councillor Monica Digney has given her support to the calls from human rights activists and relief workers for DUP Councillor Maurice Mills to apologise for his outrageous claim that Asia bore brunt of tsunami because it is ‘not a Christian continent’ and Hurricane Katrina was sent to stop a gay pride festival. Councillor Mills said: “Everything he (God) does is perfect, including the tsunami.”

Cllr Digney said:

“Cllr Mills’ comments on the disasters that claimed more than 250,000 lives have caused fury among relief organisations that worked directly with those affected by the devastation of last year’s tsunami, and to suggest that this was an ‘act of God’ is sickening.

“These remarks are, as one commentator put it, ‘depressingly typical of DUP discourse’ and the DUP must take disciplinary measures against Cllr Mills if the party does not agree with these comments.

“In recent months there was a small tornado which caused damage to people’s homes outside Rasharkin. Is Cllr Mills then saying that this is an act of God and that the damage to these people’s homes are somehow justified?!

“At a time when we are struggling to tackle the scourge of racist attacks in Ballymena it doesn’t help when local public representatives are speaking in favour of disasters inflicted on Asia because they are ‘not Christian’. Its about time the DUP moved out of the Dark Ages and stopped leading their followers down a path of sectarianism, racism and homophobia.”