EMPEY SPEECH:Extracts from speech by party leader Sir Reg Empey to the Ulster Unionist Party conference on Saturday
"David Cameron says he is passionate about the union. So am I. So, too, is the Ulster Unionist Party. David says he wants to be prime minister of the entire United Kingdom. And that's what we want, too.
A Conservative leader and prime minister who is not neutral on the union. A Conservative Party and government which is not a neutral observer of events here.
An Ulster Unionist- Conservative relationship which shifts Northern Ireland from the "ledge of the union" to the very heart of the United Kingdom. That's what the Conservative Party believes in and that's what the Ulster Unionist Party believes in. Ulster Unionism was forged . . . from the Home Rule crisis in the late 1880s. The geographical and political shape of the United Kingdom as we know it today is partly the handiwork of the Ulster Unionist Party.
Our party has taken the significant step of restoring unionism's historic relationship with the Conservative Party. It is a relationship that is about much more than mere party politics. It is a constitutional statement.
It declares and demonstrates that Northern Ireland is not a place apart - not an internal colony. It is an outward and visible sign of Northern Ireland's rightful place within the United Kingdom.
So at a time when the constitutional integrity of that union and United Kingdom is being challenged by a variety of regional nationalisms, how fitting that the Ulster Unionists and Conservatives - the two oldest parties in the United Kingdom as it happens - should again come together to forge a common identity and shared values.
And that constitutional integrity isn't just under threat from regional nationalisms. It is also under threat from the empire builders within the European Union. This party is not anti-Europe or anti-EU. We value Europe's cultural identity and diversity and welcome the economic opportunities that membership of the EU brings. We support a vision of Europe that respects the rights and role of nation-states: Which is why the UUP, along with the Conservatives, will continue to demand a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Democracy is about choice.
Yes, Northern Ireland is a distinct part of the United Kingdom: but it must never be a stand-alone part in which a "Little Ulster" mentality is allowed to diminish the cause of real unionism.
The Ulster Unionist Party wants to offer the electorate of Northern Ireland something more than a continuation of "us-and-them" politics. Something more than a Balkanisation process which will condemn another generation to elections based on sectarian headcounts and pure self-interest.
But unionism must appeal to as wide an audience as possible in Northern Ireland.
My own view is that republicans in Northern Ireland proffer an agenda which they cannot deliver.
Opinion polls indicate that a majority of people in the Republic don't actually want a United Ireland.
And the Irish Government, by endorsing the Belfast Agreement, proved that it could not enforce a United Ireland, and that the union would continue.
I also happen to believe that there are tens of thousands of electors out there who may not be by traditional unionist voters, but who have no desire to be incorporated into a united Ireland: and I am determined to promote a vision and version of unionism with which they, along with our traditional voters, are comfortable.
I am proud of what the Ulster Unionist Party has done. I think we have a legacy about which we can and should boast. This party has made a difference to Northern Ireland: A difference for the better. What we did in 1998 was the right thing to do. We took a lead and we took a stand.
We believed that Sinn Féin could be negotiated into accepting an internal settlement.
We believed that the IRA could be negotiated into the inevitability of disarmament.
We believed that the Irish Government could be negotiated into removing Articles 2 and 3.
We believed that we could create a machinery of devolved government which would allow us to share power and solve problems.
Well, we were right to have those beliefs. And we delivered on those beliefs.
People ask: "What's the difference between the UUP and the DUP?" Let me tell you.
The UUP will always put the interests of Northern Ireland above and beyond selfish, short-term self-interest.
The UUP believes in a unionism which embraces rather than excludes.
The UUP is not prepared to sit back while others take the risks and face the flak.
The UUP is prepared to take the unionist cause to any place and any audience.
The UUP believes in a big union rather than a little Ulster.
And where the UUP leads, you can be certain that the DUP will follow! This party was written off three years ago.
Yet today, the Ulster Unionist Party has a new spring in its step and a new sense of purpose.
So today, I ask the people of Northern Ireland - all of them - to join the Ulster Unionist Party's campaign to build a Northern Ireland which can become the place we know it can be, the place we want it to be; the place it should be.
"A place for all of us."