NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland, has said he is “disappointed, but not surprised” that the executive parties have failed to reach agreement in talks chaired by US diplomat, Richard Haass.
“These set-piece talks were only necessary because the parties have repeatedly failed to build a shared society of their own volition, so another disappointment is hardly surprising”, Trevor emphasised. “The people of Northern Ireland have every right to feel let down, yet again, by the executive parties today. There were sensible ways forward on most of the main issues, particularly with flags and parades, and it is a sorry situation that flags, in particular, seem to have been the main sticking point.”
“Voters here are getting absolutely fed up with political parties that don’t deliver. The failure of these talks illustrates once again how sorely Northern Ireland is crying out for real politics, which focus on creating jobs, deliver good, efficient public services and address social issues. The current parties at Stormont aren’t delivering on any of those areas and they certainly haven’t managed to make progress on building a shared and stable society.”