Former Alliance party leader and current Liberal Democrat peer Lord Alderdice believes the Alliance party should adopt a position on the constitutional question in any border poll. As John Manley writes in this article in ‘The Irish News’ which is covering Lord Alderdice’s new book ‘The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland – Beyond Unionism and Nationalism’…
“Former Alliance leader Lord John Alderdice believes it is “not politically realistic” for the party to sit on the fence in a forthcoming border poll.
In an intervention that is likely to rile the current leadership, the ex-Stormont assembly speaker argues that his erstwhile colleagues’ agnostic stance on the constitutional issue is not sustainable in the event of a referendum and that a “key question” for the current Alliance leadership is: ‘How am I going to handle a border poll/referendum?’.
John Manley notes that in response…
A spokesperson for Alliance said the party was a “broad church, made up of members with many differing views and none on the constitutional question”.
“It is not a defining issue for the majority of our members and if a border poll is called, it will be up to the public to decide the outcome, not politicians,” the spokesperson said.
“We don’t believe the conditions have been met for a border poll at present and it is not something we are pursuing actively. However, we respect that people have differing constitutional aspirations and we take part in discussions on a case-by-case basis, and on a non-prejudicial basis.”
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