It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…No, strike that ‘was’. It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. That is, if the very thought of Gerry Adams or Martin McGuinness sets your teeth on edge.
It’s the best of times because…Well of course – the sight of Daithí McKay crashing and burning because of trying to teach Jamie Bryson how to talk. Not just that, but eighteen Sinn Féin members in North Antrim walking out of the party and publicly announcing their total dissatisfaction with the party and how it’s run, especially in terms of their man Daithí. I mean Yeee-haaa!
Sinn Féin under pressure, Sinn Féin losing members! There are high fives all round in the Dublin circles where Sinn Féin is seen as a bunch of northern gangsters, down here in our country codding people into voting for them. And high fives in Belfast and parts of Derry too. Military discipline my arse! It’s all coming apart at the seams! Oh joy oh rapture, that we have lived to see this day!
That’s the best of times bit. The worst of times bit…Well, that’s about Daithí too. The thing is, he hasn’t blown the whistle. But here, listen to Pat McNamee – he’ll tell you the worst of times thing properly:
“I don’t believe he should allow that [acting as a sacrificial lamb] to happen. He should consider spilling the beans. Otherwise, he will go down in history as a silly boy who consorted with a loyalist to bring down the democratic political leader that his party was in government with”.
Did I forget to mention that Pat is a former Sinn Féin MLA? How silly of me.
And here’s Davy Hyland:
“For the sake of his own credibility and personal worth, Daithí McKay should come clean with all he knows about the Nama coaching controversy. I don’t for one second entertain the idea that he decided, on his own, to school Jamie Bryson”.
Did I forget to mention that Davy is a former Sinn Féin MLA? How silly of me.
And here’s Anthony McIntyre:
“The leadership hate democracy and they hate dissent. They will be raging at these resignations. They will worry that it will also embolden others in the party to strike out”.
Did I forget to mention that Anthony is an ex-IRA man who helped set up the Boston tapes affair that interviewed anybody involved in the conflict as long as they got a headache at the thought of Sinn Féin? How silly of me.
And you could – should you so choose – have a look at the words flowing from the pen of Suzanne Breen, with article headings like “Daithí McKay urged to ‘spill beans’ on Sinn Féin role in Bryson coaching probe” and “Ex-SF man at centre of Nama storm is urged to reveal all” and “It’s likely McKay is far from happy…he may not be prepared to go quietly”.(Yes, Virginia, Suzanne has a very fertile pen.)
Did I mention that Suzanne needs to retire to a darkened room should she accidentally stumble on an image of Gerry Adams? How silly of me.
The only question for Pat and Davy and Anthony and Suzanne is, can the best of times and the worst of times be converted into the best of times and the best of times? If it can’t, the Sisyphian strain of Daithígate may cause several Shinner-loathing breasts to spontaneously combust.
Jude
It appears you are simply inviting commenters to indulge in a bit of man (and woman)-playing against the 3 iindividuals you quote.
Let’s see if they oblige you.
Gio
I am reminded of the old Carry On joke-“Infamy,Infamy,they’ve all got it in for me”.It appears that anyone who has the temerity to disagree with the Sinn Fein version of things is automatically suspect.At least no one can accuse Jude of not being faithful to the party line at all times!
Not sure someone who is not in the party can be accused of towing the party line.
What I can say, is while I get frustrated with Sinn Fein from time to time, eventually it dawns on me why they did what they did and I usually end up accepting that is was the right thing to do.
Fro example, at time unionism does my head in and I would love them to show some backbone and get stuck in to retaliate. But while unionism would be happy to see things deteriorate back into sectarian politics, where would that get us in the long run?
Sinn Fein must be seen to be working with unionism in Stormont.
1, it will take ammunition away from their enemies in the south and therefore help them grow the party there.
2, it will help them gain political allies and build working relationships with other nations around the world and God knows Ireland need leadership in this regard, look at the bridges we are going to need to rebuild with the US over facilitating Apple stealing tax revenue from the US.
3, when Sinn Fein are in control in Dublin and the DUP are working with them in Stormont and in the north south bodies, what reason can they possibly have to ignore unification?
There is always a bigger picture.
Jude is simply wiser than us hot heads who lash out at Sinn Fein too easily.
It is a slow process and requires more patience than I would have, but someone has to do it.
Ah Jude..Sisyphus!!! Indeed .Isn’t politics itself like that .The image of a man heaving that huge rock up that steep hill …only for it to roll back down again ….Taken and repeated twice daily until you die ….over and over and over…..Yes every politician faces an eventual defeat and all political life ends in failure.Now that we’ve got that out of the way , what’s left is the bit we’re all really interested in….the juice and the marrow of the story! It’s that McKay/Bryson conversation that interests me the most.I want to hear that story. Sinn Fein will probably shed a few members , I suppose …as all parties eventually do. If you join a club ,you’re obliged to wear their tie , after all.If you don’t want to wear the tie …then bye , bye. .They’ll gradually mutate, but what of the members that leave ? What kind of new party do they want to form …and where will they go with this?
Seems to me to be the sort of thing all political parties face at some time or another.
A Fine Gael member went to jail for helping an associate become a billionaire through unorthodox allocation of state licensing, who also doesn’t pay any taxes in Ireland on his immense wealth and now controls most of the media which reports on these things.
Seems Fine Gael have an unhealthy relationship with corrupt practices themselves, though all to often at considerable financial expense to the Irish people – though are less worthy of pillory in the media.
Perhaps every party needs a media tycoon in their back pocket, and at public expense too.
What a canny lot they are.
SOUND BYTES
NORTH:
In the N. province of flax and flack jacket
For Southern hacks SF’s a political racket
Hail,Daithi McKay
Flavour of the day
For squash racquet posh of no tax bracket
SOUTH:
Tim ‘Slab’ Cook’s a slim broth of a boy
A real Adam and Steve kind of a guy
Hi! Listen up yobs
Apple means Jobs
Pick up the tab ? Quick, Taxi cab !’ bye !
Sadly, as one who wishes to be fully informed politically. I have not heard from the rest of the Coven their opinions.The Sinn Fein haters, here read Adams haters, are out in full force. Richard,Davy,Pat, Anthony and Suzanne are in full swing. I am disappointed that Ruth Dudley Edwards, Eilis O`Connor and Eoghan Harris have not entered the fray.I presume Eilis is consumed over Orange Halls at this minute and the mindless vandalism thereon. How the hell does Gerry have the time to get around all these country halls causing vandalism?
I thought Eilis`s opinion in the Belfast Telegraph was a cracker. She opined that the IRA(Sinn Fein) had a policy to keep their Volunteers active, when not involved in terrorism, to violate the Orange halls wonderful Community Centres !!!! Priceless
what difference can you see.sf calling on people to report anything they know to the police,and then when somebody else makes the call to spill the beans its different.sauce for the goose and all that.
Jude,you are taking a huge risk here of incurring the rath of “DIXIE” ,he of the multiple twitter accounts and also a leading member of the “coven” mentioned by Jim.
Michael C
You seem to have an intense dislike of Dixie Elliot.Most of us only know him through his contributions to various blog sites including this one.What does seem strange is that Jude seems reluctant to engage with him when he raises questions for example on the actions of Sinn Fein during the Hunger Strike.Maybe you would explain why you are so convinced that Dixie is wrong and misguided .
I have been voting for Sinn Féin since 1982, when they first re-entered the northern political scene. I will always vote for them and it does not matter what people like Mr McIntyre or Ms Breen say, I pay no heed to what is obvious anti Sinn Féin propaganda. Anyone who can be influenced by people like that is probably not a genuine Shinner..
Sisyphus – a cyst from which pus oozes!
The Sherdy alternative dictionary.
I am no SF supporter. But I could not give a shit whether Daithí coached Jimmy or not.Neither does any one I know. Or whether the turgid SF leadership knew about it or not. Wgaf? Why, only some politicos elected or unelected, the media, so- called dissidents and some of the chattering classes. Why? Nobody suffered, nobody died. So what if there was a SF plot. So what if they schemed. That’s what politicians do. Get over it. Move on. Let me sleep.
Stormont is a bad joke.
I must assure Another Jude that the “Coven” does not influence me in any way.
I enjoy their writings as they are mostly ridiculous and Brit thinking.Anyone influenced by them are as daft as they are
who is the “Coven” Jim?
Never heard of them