Ms Forsythe said,
“As a divided society, Northern Ireland and all in elected office have to recognise, as the Prime Minister did this week, that we will only move forward together. One side will not succeed in the long term of ‘going around’ the other side. That was one of the the flaws of the NI Protocol. Agreements on a range of matters, succeed when both unionists and nationalists have ownership.
Similarly, within unionism, division will gift seats and leadership of councils to those who want to drag Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. North Antrim stands as an example in the last election. Despite there being enough votes, a seat was lost to a non-unionist because there were too many pro-union candidates. This is not sustainable.
I have witnessed in South Down how unionist representatives are now uniting behind the DUP. They recognised that a plethora of pro-union parties was not sustainable. Unionism must move forward together.”