Some people have been shocked that DUP MP Sammy Wilson has referred to newly-elected US President Joe Biden as “that ignoramus.”
No one should be shocked – Wilson has previous. When the world was young and the Troubles here were raging, Wilson was a vocal presence. And if we heed Wilson’s words down the years, we can learn a lot, particularly about Wilson. With forensic accuracy, he has laid bare his mental world. It’s not compulsory, but I suggest you take thirty seconds after reading each of the statements below, to allow their full import to seep into your brain.
OK, here we go.
- “Are they gay buses?” – Wilson’s question when Belfast buses moved from red to pink.
- “But since this nutcase Varadkar has taken over things have all changed.”
- “Old leadbelly” – his comment on Alex Maskey, after Maskey was shot by loyalist paramilitaries.
- “Taigs don’t pay rates”.
- “Five thousand sub-human animals” – Wilson’s judgement on those voters who re-elected Sinn Féin’s Joe Austin.
- “Irish is a leprechaun language”
- “They are poofs. I don’t care if they are ratepayers. As far as I am concerned they are perverts” – Wilson’s comment when gay rights activists asked to use Belfast City Hall.
- “I have no regret that someone openly identified with terrorist organisations and activities meets his death the same way” – Wilson on the killing of Gerard Slane by loyalist paramilitaries.
- “Would this council be prepared to congratulate all those who have done a good job on two sides of the border” – Wilson’s comment following the shooting dead of Sinn Féin Donegal county councillor Eddie Fullerton by loyalist paramilitaries.
- “The GAA is the sporting wing of the IRA”.
Finally, Joe Brolly’s judgement on the stateen which Wilson champions:
“ It is a deeply dysfunctional, non-viable entity, triumphalist, institutionally racist, sectarian, homophobic and almost completely segregated. Brexit is an unfolding disaster for us, but that middle finger to the Fenians was worth it.”
Well done, Wilson. You’ve hastened the day.
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