As the St Andrews Agreement reaches its 20th anniversary today, former Ulster Unionist Leader Lord Empey has said 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗨𝗣 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 “𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽” 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹, arguing that it is the reason Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill holds the office of First Minister today. Lord Empey said: “In October 2006 a deal was done at St Andrews which the Ulster Unionists strongly opposed. It was a stitch-up between Sinn Féin, the DUP and both Governments, done behind the backs of the UUP and the SDLP. While it contained a significant number of changes to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the most far-reaching change was to the mechanism to be used to identify who would fill the office of First Minister. “The original mechanism, negotiated by the Ulster Unionist Party in 1998 and subsequently approved by 71.1% of those who voted in the referendum of 22nd May 1998, stipulated that the First Minister would be drawn from the largest party in the largest designation and ratified alongside the deputy First Minister in a joint resolution of the Assembly, with a cross-community vote. “The designations were Unionist, Nationalist and Other, and under the Assembly process it was clear that the First and deputy First Ministers drew their power from the Assembly and were answerable to it. That process was destroyed in 2006 in favour of the mechanism we have now “I hear DUP politicians calling for their party to remove the First Minister from office by forcing Emma Little-Pengelly to quit, thus removing Michelle O’Neill, as it is a joint position. “How ironic. It is the deal at St Andrews that has resulted in Michelle O’Neill being able to hold the office of First Minister! This was done to prevent Ian Paisley from having to appear before the Assembly and be appointed to office in a joint resolution with Martin McGuinness, which would have required the DUP to vote with Sinn Féin! Ironically, they subsequently became the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ and the best of buddies “The rules were changed so that the First Minister would be drawn from the largest party and not the largest designation, and the Assembly no longer had to pass a joint resolution to appoint them to office. The DUP and SF saw this as their big chance. Paisley campaigned in elections on the basis that ‘if you don’t vote for me, you get Martin McGuinness as First Minister’, and SF campaigned on the basis that ‘if you vote for McGuinness, we can put Paisley out’ “Well, this has come back to bite not only the DUP but all of unionism. At the last Assembly election, the unionist designation was larger than the nationalist designation, and if the rules that the UUP negotiated in 1998 had been left alone, a DUP Assembly Member would have been First Minister and not Michelle O’Neill. “It’s time for the DUP to take ownership of yet another strategic blunder, as it was they who created the conditions whereby Sinn Féin can hold the top post in the current Assembly. It was all about serving their own interests and not those of wider unionism.”