TUV in the Northern Ireland Assembly
 
Speech by TUV press officer and Jim Allister's personal Assistant Sammy Morrison.
 

Well conference much to the relief of those who believe in British democracy for British Ulster and to the great annoyance of those who prop up and sustain Stormont’s scandalously undemocratic system - we’re still here! Not only that but for the first time in a Traditional Unionist conference I am able to report on the work of TUV inside the Northern Ireland Assembly.

But the task I face is somewhat daunting. When I saw the topic I had been assigned this afternoon my first thought was how on earth do I cover that in five minutes? But that was quickly followed by the realisation that if someone working with any other MLA at Stormont was asked to speak on what their employer was doing up on the hill they would struggle to fill 5 minutes. And I suppose it’s better having too much to cover than nothing to cover at all.

Since coming to Stormont TUV has begun the process of bringing accountability. And don’t they know it. Fairly early on in the Assembly term Sammy Wilson evoked what both Jim and I thought to be a rather strange Biblical image to describe our party leader. He called him the Elijah of the Assembly.

Now there used to be a time when members of the DUP would regard being likened to Elijah as quite a compliment. Apart from anything else the thing about Old Testament prophets was that they tended to be right. But you see, friends, the DUP has changed and now when someone comes along championing the very policies which they a short time ago were so vocal in advocating the response is a very angry, “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?”

Delegates, I’m very happy to say that yes, we have been able to find them out on a whole range of important issues, many of which never make the press.

Look at funding to sport. Did you know that GAA clubs got almost £18 million while clubs affiliated with the Irish Football Association have received under £8.5m in the last five years in government funding?

And for the vast majority of that time there was a DUP Minister in charge. It’s hardly going to improve on Minister Cullen’s watch but it couldn’t get much worse.

What about the underrepresentation of Protestants in our universities? Again it was left to the Traditional Unionist Voice in the Assembly to highlight the issue and press for the situation to be addressed.

What’s more, our MLA had the guts to vote against discriminating against students from other parts of the UK when it comes to fees.

Friends, I’m proud to be a Unionist, not an Ulster nationalist!

We have also been exploring the very disturbing issues surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland which you heard dealt with earlier today. 394 abortions carried out in our Province over the last five years and no one can say why a single one of them was performed. Why is Jim the only MLA prepared to raise the issue?

What about InvestNI? An organisation lauded to the skies on an almost daily basis by the Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster. Why? Because over the last five years it has promoted 24,612 jobs. The Programme for Government sets it a target of promoting 25,000 more jobs by 2014. Sounds good doesn’t it? But you know the amazing thing is when Jim asked the Minister how many of those 24,612 jobs actually came into existence and how many of them still exist the answer came back that she didn’t know. In essence, Mr Chairman, the only people Arlene Foster can prove she keeps in employment are photographers!

Then there are cross border bodies. Like the Food Safety Promotion Board. An organisation which you – the Northern Ireland tax payer – have funded to the tune of £19 million since 2001. But it doesn’t employ a single person in Northern Ireland. Why? Because they all work in Co Cork!

Conference I have only begun to touch upon some of the issues which we have explored in Stormont. There are many more. I haven’t even mentioned Jim’s private members bill or prison reform. All matters which need to be challenged. Not just for the sake of it but because - as any democrat knows - an opposition is needed to ensure that the executive is held to account, that public money isn’t squandered and that a better way forward is found.

We have only made a start and perhaps not as good a start in terms of electoral success as we would have wished but as the American founding father Samuel Adams said, “It does not take a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”