DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is urging the UK to draw on the experience of the Northern Ireland peace process and encourage talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
In an exclusive interview, ahead of his party‘s conference, he also told Sky News that if the government fails to address Unionist concerns about post-Brexit trading arrangements, it will be risking 25 years of peace and political progress in Northern Ireland.
He welcomed the fact that the main party leaders in the UK have been “unequivocal in their condemnation of the acts of terrorism carried out by Hamas” but said the violence in the Middle East represented “a failure to find a path to peace”.
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He said: “We’ve learned in Northern Ireland that peace is a precious thing. It’s something you have to guard and protect. It’s something you have to work for and work at, every single day.
“I would say to our United Kingdom government and whoever might form that government after an election, we’ve a responsibility to step up here and encourage that journey to peace.”
“We might even draw upon the experience in Northern Ireland, flawed as it is, nevertheless it proves that even the most intractable of conflicts can be resolved, where there is a will and a way,” he added.
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Sir Jeffrey said the Windsor Framework, negotiated by the UK and EU, had addressed “some, but not all” Unionist concerns about the post-Brexit trading arrangements and urged the government to “properly restore” Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
He warned: “What is at stake ultimately is the Good Friday Agreement because it requires the support of both Unionists and Nationalists, and we want it to work. We want long-term peace and stability in Northern Ireland.
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“When you look across the world at what is happening, the dreadful atrocities we’re seeing in Israel for example, that is a failure of politics, a failure to secure a dialogue that could bring about peace, and it is the evil of violence being visited on innocent people.
“No one wants to go back to that in Northern Ireland, but we have to have a future that is sustainable. We need to ensure our political institutions are there for the long-term and that they have the support and confidence of both Unionists and Nationalists.”
Watch the full interview on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge at 7pm on Sky News.