As far as I am concerned the reason for the breakdown in talks and the problem we all face is the arrogance of the DUP who feel they are the top dog and that they can over-rule everybody else and every other party. They think that because they are unionists, aligned now with the Tory party in government, that they can ignore the wishes and legitimate rights of the other half of the electorate. They ignored the result of the Brexit referendum in the 6 counties. That is how unionists have behaved in Stormont since it was established in 1921 and that is how they continue to misbehave. It is very difficult to make a deal with or share power with a party which is so arrogant and which appears to have learned no lessons from history.
They have been getting away with their arrogance for years in the media and in the halls of power. Look at the behaviour of Nigel Dodds on TV or Gregory Campbell in the Assembly or the remarks of Sammy Wilson and Paul Girvan about Brexit and the Irish language. There will be no settlement till this arrogant attitude is abandoned. Arrogance breeds mistrust. Arrogance needs to be replaced by respect and acceptance of other legitimate view-points.
This arrogance of the DUP has now been accepted by the Tory government and reinforced with a promise of money to bolster their fortunes. The DUP feel no pressure to concede on any demands from Sinn Fein or the Irish language community or Dublin or anybody. They resent any interference from Dublin which is a co-guarantor with London of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. They have shown nothing but contempt for the Belfast Agreement and subsequent agreements.
A few days ago, Sinn Féin MLA and National Chairperson Declan Kearney said that the DUP have not yet moved on the basic rights which collapsed the Executive. “They haven’t moved on ending the denial of rights to Irish speakers. They haven’t moved on ending the denial of rights to the LGBT community. They haven’t moved on honouring the commitment to a Bill of Rights. Those are the issues, compounded by the RHI scandal, which caused the collapse of power-sharing.”
So the DUP negotiators by their refusal to accept basic rights and entitlements as outlined in previous Agreements has made it impossible for Sinn Fein to form an executive. In the words of one DUP member they would prefer Direct Rule from Westminster than having to make any concession on an Irish language Act. So long as the 10 DUP members are needed to prop up the Tory government I do not see much chance of their being a deal where the DUP accept equal responsibility and the equal rights of republicans/nationalists.
However, this cosy relationship with the Tories will not last forever. A new day is coming and a new government will insist on the DUP treating other parties here with respect and on an equal basis. Even there is no deal things have changed. The DUP, the British and the Irish governments have to learn that there is no going back to the days of unionist domination and bullyboy tactics in this part of Ireland.
Let’s hope SF stand strong. They will come under pressure this weekend to accept a hybrid culture act. An act which will get bogged down with marches and bands until ultimately it is abandoned.
I know of 19 votes in my wee loose group is south Belfast, we meet socially different numbers on different nights at the weekend to talk and have a pint or two. Then we all meet for a meal once a year, now one thing we are all agreed on is that we will not vote for anyone else but we will not give our vote to Sinn Feinn if they cave in, in any way. Its over the DUP walked all over us at Storment and keep on meeting with the UDA and the orangemen, they will be marching and urinating and dropping piles of feces up our avenues in a few weeks lovely god fearing decent people my arse. I have five grandchildren and another on the way be patient take over the councils Green the north east and stop rotating mayors and playing nice. And when a united Ireland comes they can have the same rights as the protestants orangemen and Hindus and Chinese and others already in the republic they are nothing special. Send their MLAS all home with no wages lol boy oh boy getting paid to stick it to Catholics what a laugh. No more send them home watch them cry. Sorry bit ranty but they just annoy me and tens of thousands of other nationalists.
Why negotiate with the DUP..negotiate with the Tories and because of their agreement with the DUP the Ulster boys will have to support the vote..simples
Yes Joe, The DUP have learned nothing from
history. Their future lies with a Southern government . They just don’t get it yet!
Quote”
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the
the truth, they can be depended upon to meet
any national crisis. The great point is bring them the real facts.
Beidh ar lá linn
It will be electoral suicide if SF renege on their legitimate demands as promised and are set out in previous agreements. This is a Rubicon moment for them and they must stand united and firm in the face of Unionist arrogance and smugness, and not capitulate in the face of political, media and social pressures. Certain events have happened, very fortuitously, resulting in things falling into place for the DUP, namely (1) Tories losing their overall majority due to Labour surge thus giving the DUP their parliamentary influence now and (2) the dreadful fire in the London tower block which deflected concentrated media attention away from DUP social policies and their many long associations with unionist paramilitary terrorism in its many guises during the troubles. I personally would not sign up to any new agreement about anything until past commitments in previous agreements are honoured.
Watching their antics and buffoonery I’m not sure they, collectively , haven’t been afflicted by some mental aberration…they leave Downing St, grinning like a toothpaste ad , seemingly oblivious at the universal contempt in which they’re held and the precarious state of government they’re lending a crutch to…..they’ve an uncanny , almost supernatural , ability to alienate everyone they brush against and have taken their inspiration from apartheid states like the former South Africa and present day Israel. Here , annually , the place they were elected to help govern is forced by their intolerance and sectarianism to live in their version of a 17th century nightmare….. for five solid months , half the population are corralled in their homes , forced to endure a hatefest of tribal marching , bonfires , drunken orgies and naked racist outpourings……..sorry KKKulture. Simply , they and their bitterness , have no future here , no future in the real world…no future anywhere !
Eolach
That’s right,
“. for five solid months , half the population are corralled in their homes , forced to endure a hatefest of tribal marching , bonfires , drunken orgies and naked racist outpourings”.
Or to put it more accurately most of us will experience some inconvenience and irritation for a day here and there and a small percentage will be subject to nasty and thuggish displays for varying periods or for a few actual criminal damage or assault.
Let’s not get hysterical.
Ugh well , if the burning of three young children to death in Rasharkin , the millions of pounds worth of criminal damage ,the naked sectarian intimidation , the flying of illegal flags ,the burning of effigies and religious statues , the illegal blocking of roads , the attempted murder of policemen etc etc ad infinitum , is ” experiencing some inconvenience ” so be it ……silly me …..I was unaware this was normal behaviour in a civilized society.
Eolach
Half the population corralled in their homes for 5 months you said.
It is almost July now, so how long have you been unable to leave your home for?
I managed to slip out late last night to get some supplies, but it was risky alright.
You’re just being facetious Gio…. In a normal society, I should be able to go where I please when I please…end of….. I find your attitude very insensitive …. you seem to nonchalantly condone murder and rampant lawlessness in a vain attempt to excuse the inexcusable . It’s immaterial to me where your political allegiances lie but recently you’ve let your mask slip….. I’ll debate with anyone but if you believe the OO are a benign society of Gentlemen just enjoying an annual trip out you need a visit to a psychiatrist….. and soon
Eolach
Strawman arguement!
I do not condone murder nonchalantly or otherwise, nor rampant lawlessness.
I do not believe the OO to be a benign society of gentlemen, nor did I say as much.
I addressed the actual words you used, so maybe you could do the same with me.
When you use hyperbole it only weakens your argument in my view.
We should be able to go where we please is right.
And for a few days in the summer some of us are obstructed in that
There are many problems I have with the OO but exaggeration is not helpful in looking at them.
I will accept “corralled in their homes ” as slight exaggeration , artistic license to highlight a point…. the rest I restate as before.
Eolach
Let’s rewind in the spirit of proper debate.
Yes I was overly facetious and I apologise. I am a sarky git.
When I see overly exaggerated clams it is hard to resist.
The OO is a blight on our society and I would like to see them gone in all honesty.
Most of their parades are small inconsequential affairs which cause little or no bother.
But the ones that cause problems are causing serious problems and the organisation has been completely useless in dealing with the troublesome stuff.
You might believe that the organisation is actually active in causing the problems but I would suspect that they are really just inept and don’t know how to control their members.
Either way it is not good.
I do not believe the majority of Orangemen are hate filled bigots intent on murdering their neighbours and they are not the KKK .
Yes they are a problem, but we should view them honestly and avoid hyperbole.
I hope that is a better reply.
Dear Eolach i have come across this gentleman on other threads and to be honest he has made me really appreciate the scroll button. Take my advice ignore don’t engage. As they say don’t feed the troll he is having a ball with you. I found a troll will try to sound reasonable then attack then back of come back all the time sucking you in wasting your time. And anyway he will never change you just annoy you and his wee victory is to get you to maybe agree you were a little harsh when you know in your heart you were not.
Stephen
So you are also corralled in your home for 5 months every year are you?
Nationalists must stand 100% firm now at this juncture – implement the GFA in full before going back into the Executive.
The Irish Government has made it clear that it supports the stand-alone Irish Language Act and the GFA.
Period.
Joe, let us call it what it is ..!!
***** ******** that shows itself as ********* for all things Irish and Catholic ..!!
BOE – Don’t just call names. If you think the names are merited, at least support them with some sort of argument/facts…
Jude
Why leave ‘inbred’?
Would that be ok if used as a blanket description of the nationalist population?
Slip of fingertip, I assure you, gio. Not all cock-ups are conspiracies..
Andy Polack – Irish Times
“Anti-Catholic bigotry of many in DUP still significant
‘I wonder how many Northern unionists still hold appalling, near-racist views’
How much did continuing religious bigotry have to do with the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive last month? It was clear from Martin McGuinness’s resignation statement that the row which led to that collapse was not only – or even mainly – about the Renewable Heat Initiative fiasco.
McGuinness accused First Minister Arlene Foster of “deep-seated arrogance” and the DUP of rejecting his attempts to reach out to unionists, of “shameful disrespect” to women, gay people and ethnic minorities, and “crude and crass bigotry” to Irish language speakers.
In a follow-up RTÉ interview, McGuinness said there were many people in the DUP who “hate anything to do with Irish nationalism and Irish republicanism.”
As somebody who began studying the DUP more than 30 years ago (in the course of researching a biography of the late Ian Paisley), I recognise the truth in all these charges. I had hoped that their antiquated prejudices would have begun to diminish as a realisation that they had to share their divided little society with their nationalist neighbours started to dawn on unionists in a new century.
“It is disappointing that the deep and overlapping anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry of so many DUP-supporting unionists appears to still play a significant role in Northern life and politics.”
Full article :https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/anti-catholic-bigotry-of-many-in-dup-still-significant-1.2982216
I repeat – Let us call it what it is – Inbred sectarian bigotry which shows itself as hatred of all things Irish and Catholic
Apology to the scholarly and erudite Mr Pollak for misspelling his name ..!!
Can I suggest you made a bollocks of Pollocks name?
As I did. Sorry Mr Pollak!
This is what people said would happen if and when the Tories bought the DUP as props for their minority government. It would damage the balance within the executive and here we are, the damage had been done and the DUP sit in Stormont Castle emboldened by the fact they can pretty much refuse everything and anything Sinn Fein demand in regard to equality. Right now I see the DUP sitting in the negotiating room acting like spoiled brats while the people of the North look on wondering why these people are even in that room when they have no intention of negotiating.
It’s 2017 not 1690, come on in to the 21st century with the rest of us!
It just goes to show, some parties will go to any lengths just to stay in power!
But once again time and patience are the weapons of the wise, Harold Wilson succinctly summed it up….. a week in politics etc….try and fast forward your logic and not your sentiments a couple of months…. Will the Tories be in government…… will the DUP grins have subsided and the usual dour countenance returned…..will a wise and honourable man be steering Britain …..time and patience….