Empey to meet Orange Order

Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey will meet the head of the Orange Order today to explore how the pair can work together – four months after the organisation severed its links with the party.

Sir Reg will hold talks with Robert Saulters at the Order’s Belfast headquarters.

A UUP spokesman said the purpose of the Schomberg House meeting, which will also feature a delegation of senior officials from both bodies, was two-fold.

He said: “We want to brief the Orange Order on the new leadership and also have a get-to-know-you session to see how the party can continue to work with the Orange Order.”

In March, the Orange Order formally cut its links with the UUP, ending 100 years of historical ties.

Sir Reg’s predecessor David Trimble broke new ground by signing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement before going into government at Stormont with Sinn Féin one year later.

But he paid a heavy price at the polls, with the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists overtaking the party in the 2003 Assembly Election and then capturing three of the UUP’s five Westminster seats in May’s General Election.

One of Sir Reg’s biggest challenges, following his election last month, will be to reconnect the party with voters who feel the DUP best embodies their values and offers a strong counterpoint to Sinn Féin in negotiations.