Statement by TUV North Antrim Assembly candidate councillor Matthew Armstrong:
“Mrs O’Neill’s lectures on language deployed around the Protocol are offensive. This is the leader of movement which not only threatened but deployed violence to further its political objectives. I come from a town, Ballymena, where a 27 year old mother of 3, Yvonne Dunlop was murdered in a firebomb attack on her shop. The deputy First Minister felt it was appropriate to tweet a tribute to the man convicted of that dastardly deed, Thomas McElwee, back in August. So no one will take any lessons on “incendiary language” from Mrs O’Neill. Rather they will treat them with the contempt they deserve.
“The problem with the Protocol is not language but the very real issues which the Sea Border is creating for business and consumers. That is not something, of course, which concerns Republicans but it does harm many ordinary people.
“The Protocol has caused shortages in our shops, disruption to consumers, wreaked havoc in the haulage industry and caused businesses to lose money hand over fist, leaving many to wonder if they will have a future as a viable business at all.
“Economically and constitutionally it has forced Northern Ireland to the window ledge of the Union and I for one will not be put off by Mrs O’Neill from speaking out against it.”