Alliance leader Naomi Long pulls out of United Ireland event - but DUP say she's 'fooling no-one'

Alliance say Naomi Long has pulled out of a "civic nationalist" Ireland's Future event due to general election commitments - but rivals are not convinced. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker:-

She had been due to address an Ireland's Future event in Belfast next Saturday. The ‘civic nationalist’ group campaigns for a united Ireland.

Alliance says Mrs Long now won’t have time to attend the event due to other pressing commitments.

However, DUP MLA Gordon Lyons said Mrs Long “should explain why she ever agreed to attend the Ireland’s Future anti-unionist event. Ireland’s Future exists to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom.

“Alliance clearly thought it was ok to attend the event when there was no election but now won’t attend and don’t want people to see them attending and partaking in Pro-Republican platforms and propaganda.

“The Alliance Party makes great play of its supposed constitutional neutrality, yet their actions tell a story of being Sinn Fein’s wee helpers. This was confirmed when Sinn Fein withdrew from constituencies to help Alliance candidates.

“Naomi Long says she has time to be a candidate and Justice Minister but no time to do this anti-unionist event. Unionists throughout Northern Ireland know exactly why the Alliance Party has pulled out of this event. They shouldn’t be played for fools.”

Nationalists were also unhappy with the decision. The SDLP’s Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole said: “The Alliance Party is entitled to have no position on whether we rejoin the EU via a new Ireland, but voters deserve better than the wink/nudge opportunism its leader is indulging. At times Alliance representatives are keen to associate themselves with the conversation on our future, at other times they seem to tactically run from it and on other occasions they revert to implying that anyone with any constitutional aspiration is sectarian and tribal”.

Ms Long is currently campaigning ahead of her General Election battle with DUP leader Gavin Robinson in East Belfast which is expected to be one of the tightest contests in NI.