SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA has welcomed an apology from the Alliance Party following insulting comments from a senior MLA suggesting that nationalists and unionists are sectarian.
The Foyle MLA said that it is not the first time senior Alliance Party figures have sought to denigrate and insult those who hold a position on the future of this island but it should be the last.
He said: “I wasn’t shocked but I was incredibly disappointed this morning to see senior Alliance Party representatives question the anti-sectarian credentials of all nationalists and unionists.
“This has been a long running, deeply patronising theme but to see it laid out so clearly is very revealing.
“I welcome the apology but it is important to state very clearly that taking a position on the constitutional future of this island is not sectarian.
“I am a nationalist. I have worked my entire life to unite our communities and bring an end to the evil of sectarianism in our society.
“And so have thousands of people, many of whom would consider themselves a nationalist or a unionist.
“It is deeply insulting to suggest that having a view on the future of these islands excludes you from believing in a united community.
“The Good Friday Agreement itself is an accommodation based on the principle of consent that recognises the rights of nationalists and unionists to aspire and work toward their own constitutional vision while operating institutions for the common good of all people.
“The suggestion that those who forged our peace, like John Hume, are sectarian for believing in a united shared island carries no weight.
“Divisive, insulting and ignorant statements demonstrate a basic failure to understand the complexity of our past and the work required to build a shared future.
“Difference doesn’t need to be whitewashed, it should be respected, accommodated and treated equally.”
