Statement by TUV vice-chairman Keith Harbinson:

“The statement by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny that he would not share power with Sinn Fein because of the continued existence of the IRA’s Army Council is revealing on a number of levels.

“Firstly, Mr Kenny needs to explain to us if he supports Sinn Fein/IRA holding government office in Northern Ireland. I suspect his answer would be yes, given his commitment to working the North/South Institutions. If so he is guilty of the grossest hypocrisy. How can it be right for Republicans to be in government in Northern Ireland – where people bore the brunt of the IRA’s murderous onslaught – but wrong for Sinn Fein/IRA to hold ministerial office in the South?

“Secondly, it is remarkable that a Southern Nationalist can see the immorality and iniquity of Sinn Fein/IRA being in government while Unionist leaders meekly accept them as co-equal partners and argue that there is no alterative to the undemocratic system that placed them there.

“TUV alone articulates a better way forward for Northern Ireland where there will be a genuinely democratic sharing of power between Unionists and Nationalists. TUV alone stands against a system which ensures those accused of involvement in massive counterfeiting and who continue to deny their involvement in terrorism during periods such as Bloody Sunday are granted a place in government for ever.”