UUP leader Empey reserves judgement on NI deal

The UUP will seek clarification from Prime Minister Gordon Brown about the deal reached by the DUP and Sinn Fein, party leader Sir Reg Empey has said. 

Sir Reg said his party should have been told what the agreement contained before it was made public.

He refused to give an undertaking that the UUP would take part in discussions on Monday about a new justice minister.

He said the UUP needs clarity on issues such as the Public Prosecution Service which do not feature in the agreement.

Ulster Unionist support for the agreement is seen as crucial, because the DUP has long insisted the wider unionist community needed confidence before a deal could be reached on devolving policing and justice powers.

Throughout the talks between the DUP and Sinn Fein at Hillsborough Castle, the Ulster Unionists voiced their frustration at being excluded.

It also emerged in recent weeks that the Orange Order convened secret unity talks between the DUP and UUP in early December.

The parties discussed the possibility of electoral pacts and forming a unionist bloc at Stormont.
However, the Ulster Unionists have ruled out any merger with the DUP and restated their commitment to their electoral pact with the Conservative Party, where they will field joint candidates under the banner Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force (UCUNF).

Conservative leader David Cameron said on Friday: "We welcome the fact that an agreement has been reached between the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein, and we support the determination of the British and Irish governments in helping to bring this about.

"We hope this leads to the completion of devolution and the re-establishment of political stability in Northern Ireland."

*resource: BBC news