Newly appointed DUP Leader Arlene Foster with party members from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, including Lord Morrow RMG38
IT WAS an historic evening for Fermanagh as Arlene Foster became the first female leader of the DUP.
On Thursday night Ms Foster was officially elected at Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast after she was endorsed unanimously by the party’s MPs, MLAs, MEP and by the party’s ruling Executive.
Arlene Foster was welcomed to make her first speech as leader of the party to the delegates and party supporters, by her colleague within the constituency Lord Morrow.
After thanking the party for their support in electing her as leader, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA laid out strongly her vision for the party, “From tomorrow it will be my job to repay the faith you have shown in me.
“The style of leadership may change but the fundamental values of this party will not.
“I want to take our cause and our case to every part of the province. I want to make the case for the Union to every class and creed. I want us to help make the lives of our people better. I want us to make Northern Ireland a more harmonious society.
“And I want us to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of our people.”
The tone of the speech was overtly positive in seeing a peaceful Northern Ireland in which everyone can work together for the betterment of the country and its inhabitants.
“The Troubles have scarred Northern Ireland’s history but we must not let them shape our future.
“We have an opportunity to build the best legacy possible to those who lost their lives during the Troubles – a prosperous Northern Ireland, confident, outward looking and at peace with
itself.”
She finished by adding, “Our job in the weeks and months and years ahead will be to instil that same belief that better days are yet to come in the people of Northern Ireland.
“That we are the ones who will help this country be the best that it can be. That the DUP – and the DUP alone – leads the way to better days.”
The DUP delegates gave a standing ovation for their new party leader as she took to the platform and finished with a sing song to herald a new chapter for the party.
Outgoing leader Rt Hon Peter Robinson MLA chaired the election process.
Speaking afterwards he said, “Tonight marks a new chapter for the Democratic Unionist party and I am delighted that the DUP, unionism and Northern Ireland as a whole can move forward with someone like Arlene Foster in a position of leadership.”
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