Northern Irish party – whose founder Ian Paisley called alcohol the 'devil's buttermilk' – says it does not condone behaviour

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The normally sober and abstemious Democratic Unionist party has been rocked by an alcopop scandal.

An investigation has been launched by the party that once promised to "save Ulster from sodomy" into why one of its councillors brought a bottle of Bacardi Breezer into a council meeting in Northern Ireland.

The DUP councillor Robert Hill has confirmed he took a bottle of Bacardi Breezer from a fridge during a sitting of Newtownabbey borough council's environment committee on Monday night.

Hill told the local weekly the Newtownabbey Times this week that because of the heat in the building he had taken a "sip" of the drink as he had already drunk water and "wanted something different".

Defending his decision to drink alcohol in the meeting, he said he was "sure there is more alcohol in a wine gum or a brandy ball".

Responding to the incident, a DUP spokesperson said the party did not condone the councillor's behaviour.

"The DUP demands the highest standards from all elected representatives," the spokesperson said.

"Anyone representing the public must act in a professional manner at all times. When councillors attend council meetings they are in a place of work, acting on behalf of their constituents. They should behave in a manner in keeping with this."

The DUP has said it is now holding an investigation into the incident.

Ian Paisley Sr, the party's founder and former first minister of Northern Ireland, has described alcohol as the "devil's buttermilk". Many of the DUP's senior representatives are teetotal and regard wine, beer and spirits as corrupting influences on society.

Where it has held power in local councils the DUP has sought to restrict pub opening times and refused drinks licences to clubs and bars. Its opponents have labelled the DUP the "spoilsports party" which also tried to close parks and playgrounds on Sundays in keeping with its Sabbatarian-Free-Presbyterian beliefs.

But the party's hardline stance against sex, drugs and rock 'n roll as well as drink famously backfired during the 1990s in its North Antrim heartland. The DUP on Ballymena borough council banned a comeback concert by the English prog-rockers the Electric Light Orchestra because it was being staged in a council-controlled leisure centre on a Sunday. Following a protest campaign against the decision the DUP lost overall control of Ballymena – Paisley's home town – in the next local government election.