I condemned the attacks on Cllrs Robert and Woolsey Smith without equivocation at the outset and Robert Smith has accepted this. However, I very much regret his attempt to link me to these vile attacks.

Moreover, Cllr Smith has continually tried to associate me with the slogans daubed outside his house that stated he was a traitor. I have never said that Cllr Smith or his father were traitors and I told him this in a telephone conversation I had with him two weeks ago. Why therefore should Cllr Smith persist with his questioning of me?

On the other hand it may be that Cllr Smith is concerned about the larger issue of whether or not terms like traitor should be employed by politicians to characterise political opponents. If this is so could I ask Robert to comment on the words of his former party leader, Dr Paisley, who during the 2005 Westminster election when expressing his hope that David Simpson would defeat David Trimble said “It will maybe bring Mr Trimble to his senses and get him off his foolish road of treachery to the people of Northern Ireland,". Does Cllr Smith believe that these comments by Dr Paisley describing Mr Trimble as treacherous were inflammatory and would he now condemn them as unacceptable and dangerous? I eagerly await Cllr Smith's response to this question, the answer to which will determine whether he is genuinely opposed to the use of terms such as traitor in politics or whether he is just using the current events for party political gain.

Finally, I would like to say these attacks upon me are becoming increasingly more desperate and it would be better if Cllr Smith would utilise his time on issues that are of importance to the people of Craigavon. It is clear that Cllr Smith has personal problems with me and I would therefore ask him to do the decent thing and speak to me directly – not engage with the papers in the attempt to sully my name.