PROMINENT loyalist Jamie Bryson has warned that the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) will provide an opportunity for loyalists to "explode the myth" that the peace deal has worked.
He made the comments at a Uniting the Union event in Newtownards, Co Down, last night, which included unionists from various backgrounds.
He was speaking in his capacity as NI Director of Policy for the Centre for the Union ahead of a Supreme Court ruling, expected today, on a legal challenge brought against the Northern Ireland Protocol by political figures including TUV leader Jim Allister, Ben Habib and Kate Hoey.
The event was held amid speculation US president Joe Biden could visit the north in April to mark the signing of the 1998 accord.
In an address Mr Bryson referenced President Biden and the GFA anniversary later this year.
“There will be no celebrations on the part of any unionist, I would imagine,” he said.
“And I hope they do bring Biden and all the great and good.
“I hope the world’s media is trained on Northern Ireland, as that will provide a unique opportunity to explode the myth that the agreement has worked."
He added: "It will offer a platform - whether it be via protest or political contributions to the discussion from unionism/loyalism - to tell the world that this agreement did not do what they think it did, and rather it has always been, and continues to be, fundamentally one sided.”
Mr Bryson added that the GFA is “rooted in the ethos that unionism must give, and nationalism must get”.
