Statement by Richard Cairns, TUV Assembly Candidate for South Antrim:
“I welcome the news that Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council will not fund any Easter Rebellion commemorations. There is no comparison between the those who fought in the Great War, and those malcontents who attempted insurrection in Dublin at Easter in 1916.
“It was with dismay that we witnessed the UUP, in some deluded sense of republican outreach, propose £10,000 of ratepayers money to the Easter Rising commemorations. This is not an equality issue at stake, but the actions of the UUP lend it credence. It was also with great irony, that Cllr David Arthurs, who was elected on a TUV ticket in 2014 before defecting to the UUP in 2015, made the £10,000 proposal.
“The voters of Ballyclare who elected Cllr Arthurs on a strong anti-Sinn Fein ticket should be aware that he has now become a cheerleader for Sinn Fein’s Easter Rising revisionism. Principles don’t change, you either have them or you don’t.
“Unionism should be standing together to tackle the historical revisionism of Sinn Fein.”