THE Alliance Party leader, Dr John Alderdice, has welcomed this Thursday's Anglo Irish meeting arranged for Belfast. The British government at last seemed to be acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, he said last night.
He again criticised the main unionist leaders hips for their role in the Drumcree standoff. "By their actions, the Orangemen and the unionist leadership have hitched their wagon to dangerous and criminal forces," he said.
"I would call on ordinary decent people in Northern Ireland to make their voices heard to these irresponsible leaders before their voices are drowned out again by the sound of bombs and gunfire."
While the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP have insisted the Drumcree standoff was a legitimate protest designed to protect unionist civil liberties Dr Alderdice was insistent that unionist leaders were "intimately involved with this whole debacle".
He said the protests throughout Northern Ireland did not happen spontaneously. "These events were planned, this confrontation with the security forces was planned in detail over many months, in fact 12 months since the Drumcree marches last year, and the unionist leadership must take full responsibility for all that has happened," Dr Alderdice added.
Dr Alderdice said the Enniskillen bombing was calculated not only to wreak havoc, but also to destroy any hope of peace.
