UUP rift can be healed, says former deputy leader

A SENIOR Ulster Unionist Party peer yesterday appealed to rival sections of the party to sit down and heal the rift which is threatening its future.

As party leader David Trimble prepared to face a motion of no confidence last night in his constituency association, former deputy leader Lord Kilcloney said he believed divisions between pro- and anti-Good Friday Agreement members could be healed.

“We are in a situation where both sides need to sit down and talk to each other,” Lord Kilcloney said.