Campbell condemns Newtownabbey DUP deal

Alliance Party group leader Councillor Tom Campbell condemned the DUP for doing a deal to secure former UPRG Member Tommy Kirkham’s vote at Newtownabbey Council’s AGM last night and for the third year in a row denying non unionists all senior posts on the council including those of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the chairman and vice chairmanships of all of the Council’s six standing committees.

Cllr Campbell said:

“There will be many who will view this opportunistic voting arrangement with dismay and concern. I suspect that the DUP will come to bitterly regret this association. The DUP selfishly used its majority to seek almost all positions for themselves and the remainder for other unionists. It is particularly shocking that at no time did the DUP engage in meaningful dialogue with Alliance or the SDLP in its attempt to accrue a few extra DUP senior council positions.”

Cllr Campbell concluded:

“In the interests of community harmony and good relations we need power to be shared. The exclusion of non-unionists in the council is deeply damaging to community relations in the borough and makes a mockery of the council’s “Good Relations” scheme which is to have regard to and seek to accommodate good relations between those of different races, religious beliefs, and political opinions to name but a few examples. Behaviour like this is deeply corrosive and the lessons of the past must be learnt.”

ENDS