Statement by TUV Foyle candidate Elizabeth Neely:
“The claim by Gerry Adams that no one perviously “had the chance to peacefully bring about Irish unity” is a lie.
“Under the 1973 Act there was the availability for a referendum to deliver an all-Ireland through the ballot box if the majority of people in Northern Ireland chose to opt for it.
“What was the response of the IRA? Two days before the referendum they shot a solider who was engaged in searches for weapons and explosives designed to disrupt democracy. On the day of the poll Republicans not only boycotted the vote but exploded car bombs in London which injured over 200 people.
“Adams also ignores the fact that throughout the history of Northern Ireland no one was prevented from voting for parties advocating an all-Ireland state.
“The truth is that those who chose to take up the gun and the bomb did so not because a democratic path was closed to them but because they didn’t like the result of elections.
“The shameless revisionism of Adams cannot be allowed to pass without challenge.
“Northern Ireland came into being and remains 100 years on because that is the will of its people – a people who resisted 30 years of violence designed to subvert that democratic will.”