Unionist Forum Set Up Following Flag Dispute

A unionist forum has been set up following the dispute over flags in Northern Ireland.

The forum will be chaired by First Minister Peter Robinson and UUP leader Mike Nesbitt.

In a statement the UUP said: "The purpose of the Forum will be to seek to engage with the entire unionist community and seek to address issues of concern. It will seek to channel unionist efforts through political means. While participants in the forum will be limited, working groups may be established to provide a more extensive reach across the wider unionist community.

"The forum will be a body through which unionists could meet to consider matters of interest and concern to the unionist community.

"All participants will share the core values of support for the maintenance of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means, non-sectarianism, commitment to a shared future and commitment to the successful operation of devolution in Northern Ireland.

"The forum would not be a decision-making body but would act as a body within which a consensus might be built and implementation of any actions left to individual organisations. It would seek to engage positively with representatives from all sections of the Northern Ireland community."

(CD)