With all the fur and feathers flying over Sinn Féin’s refusal to go along with the kind of welfare cuts that the DUP seem keen to implement, let’s cut to the chase: is this going to bring down the Stormont Executive? Will we be saying bye-bye to the House on the Hill inside the next few days/weeks/months?
As I said yesterday, I don’t think so. Sinn Féin for one would be reluctant to see direct rule from London reimposed. That’d be like the Scot Nats being so unhappy with things they’d agree to close down down the Edinburgh parliament and let London decide everything for them. The DUP would not be keen on this either: does anyone think that Peter Robinson, Sammy Wilson and young (if slightly dim) Turks like Paul Givan would do anything that’d remove their status and salary as big noises up Stormont way?
But as a commenter on this blogsite noted yesterday, the collapse of Stormont wouldn’t mean simply directly rule from London: it’d involve something closer to joint rule from London and Dublin. Faced with that prospect, Rev Ian Paisley Sr swallowed decades of denunciation of republicans and went into harness with Martin McGuinness. Because that’s what drove him. Yes, a smidgin of ambition to do his final lap as top dog; but even more important, sharing power with republicans was seen as preferable to joint direct rule.
And if Paisley swallowed hard and accepted working with Sinn Féin because the alternative was so awful, can you imagine what he would have thought of being faced with a Dublin government which, when it got up close, proved to be Sinn Féin once again? Because that’s what Peter Robinson could face. It’s really a sign of the Shinners’ strength in Ireland. Turn what way they will, the DUP still face an optimistic and growing Sinn Féin. As St Lawrence is reputed to have said as he was roasted on the spit: “Turn me over: I’m done on this side”. The DUP aren’t articulating St Lawrence’s words but they must be feeling the heat, judging by their agitation.
Can you imagine the atmosphere between the doughty duo of first ministers on their flight today to New York?
I wonder will they even sit together, and if so, will they find excuses not to converse, by reading, doing crosswords or watching television.
Or will all the hours they will spend side by side encourage them to get their heads together (especially after Nolan set up Slabber Sammy this morning) to work out some solution which will collapse the first time someone shakes it?
Nolan had got his people to scour Hansard and found a speech by Mervyn Storey virtually quoting Sinn Fein’s version of the agreement. Sammy tried to dodge the import of the statement, but couldn’t refute it.
Maybe the rarified atmosphere above the Atlantic will help the functioning of our ministers’ grey matter (assuming they have a modicum of it).
Stormont collapses, Joint Rule implemented from London and Dublin perhaps?
Sinn Fein have nothing to loose here as they could very well form the next Dublin government or at very least form the main opposition and still drive policy direction in the South. The benefits here is that they can deal with the British government who are more progressive than the DUP and who are not controlled by the OO or the Caleb flat earth society.
Its becoming abundently clear that unionism is completely F#####d no matter what. They have painted themselves into the corner with trying to push through tory cuts. Even the working class unionist can see that now.
Sinn Fein have won the moral argument, even if this is a manufactured crisis and the Unionists will have to manufacture more #Gerryadamsatemyhamster or #Iwasrapedbysinnfeiniradecadesagobutwanttospeakaboutitnow stories to try and stop the tide.
I think you have a point, Dr M C. I’ve just turned down a radio request to take part in a discussion about the latest youseabusedmeandI’monlynowabletospeak case. Groundhog day.
Discord or an echo of harmony
Stormont is top heavy with people who read minutes and waste hours. Has the devolved administration brought stability and prosperity to the north of Ireland? Is there an economic rationale for spending millions of pounds to police contentious marches while negotiating loans for welfare services and private finance initiatives to build hospitals? Designated days for flying flags do not appear to create any problems in Scotland, England or Wales.
Political opponents constantly make reference to economic illiteracy and cloud cuckoo land economics. Is there an economic rationale for the annual marching season which requires riot police or bonfires which damage property and the environment? The cost of turning Stormont green or orange is a distraction when people struggle to pay electricity bills. Such gestures are superficial and intellectually undemanding.
Is there an economic rationale for elected representatives to undertake expensive junkets in order to attract inward investment only to watch it disappear in smoke over six of the counties in Ulster? We are not too far removed from burning individuals on spits given the sight of children playing around bonfires with KAT printed on their foreheads.
“Hate your next door neighbour but don’t forget to say grace…” But that is another story.
The Tories and the proconsul are not neutral players in the current stalemate. Tory policies have not created the conditions for stability and prosperity. Tory policies will create wealth for a small number of individuals and groups and plunge many people into further debt. It remains the task of the Trades Unions to challenge and confront Tory policies in all manifestations and guises.
To end on a high note, the BBC provided a thought provoking documentary film about James Galway on 9 March 2015. He stressed the fact that he was ‘given’ a gift which he felt obliged to nurture.
“…He must go to the extreme, to the edge…He goes to the edge of sanity: he hears music in the wind and brings it back to society with him…as a conduit or channel for another world. He doesn’t create but is ‘given’…but at the same time, it requires hard work … .”
To burn, to waste or to nurture, that is the question.
Hi Jude
I prefer the Laurence spelling. Lawrence is more commonly a surname identifying phoney Arabs and wtiters of pretentious and totally boring pornography masquerading as literature. Whatever, St. Larry seems to have been a tough old turkey. His – Turn me over I’m done on that side – certainly outclasses G. Gordon Liddy’s trick of holding his hand over a lighter or match until the flesh burned.
Larry – I’d forgotten you were the master of all things Laurentian…I took the W from Google and from my memories of the spelling of the St Lawrence river in Canada. I suspect both his ‘turn me over’ and Liddy’s candle trick were both con-jobs, amplified in the telling.
There was a truly memorable moment on radio today during RTE’s flagship programme, ‘Morning Ireland’.. It might even be classified as a Hawkear moment.
It came at the very end of The Woodman’s latest job of journey hackwork on a Sinn Fein spokesman, one of that peloton who obviously cause him no little pain. Just when Cathal Mac Coille (for it was he !) seemed to have blown full time on his interrogation of Martin McGuinness (for it was also he !) he suddenly bent, lifted and struck:
-Are you and Peter Robinson on speaking terms?
The reply might well be described as not quite the non-one his rhetorical question clearly begged. For it spoke of a brotherhood which was more Chuckle than Cistercian. The brotherhood has still not decided to shut their Trappists.
In stickfighting terms, the answer was ‘lovely hurling’. Which brought to mind Bubbles Dwyer’s final puck of the ball in last years’ Final which truly went down to, erm, the wire. if it had gone over the bar, would have meant triumph for Tipperary.
But, of course, Hawkeye proved otherwise and so, the cats of Kilkenny had another one of their Nines to be enjoyin’.
Just like Woodkock on the Tipperary team, the Woodman on the RTE team had failed to have his point made for him. By Hawkeye in the first instance, and by Hawkear in the second.
Now there is a deal of difference between not being on speaking terms and being barely on speaking terms just as there is between Dublin and Lublin.
Now your average soak would claim there is a brewery of difference between a tumbler of Robinson’s Barley Water and a pint glass of Guinness. As imbibations go they just don’t go together; not good mixers at all. Which is where your a. soak would be wrong.
On account of overlooking the ‘barely ‘ word here; which, of course, is pronounced ‘barley ‘ in Norneverland. Which is rather crucial to an understanding of the dynamics at play here.
Your a. soak in his habitual befuddled state clearly ignored the fact that the distinctive burnt flavour of Guinness is derived from the roasted unmalted barley.
One would have imagined that one of the sobriquet The Woodman of Morning Ireland would have appreciated the compatibility of the two different types of barley drink. There is, is there not, a popular cocktail called the Morning Wood Cocktail whose recipe contains such unlikely ingredients as vodka, peach schnapps,orange juice( !), sweet and sour mix and blackberry liqueur.
Perhaps if less time were spent on the honing on one’s axe and more on the asking of the right questions, then the Woodman might begin to be worth a fraction of the wheelbarrow full of public dosh he pushes home on a weekly basis.
Speaking of pronunciations there was nothing at all inelegant about the manner in which Peter Robinson wrapped his tongue around the word ‘Ard-Fheis’ in an inserted clip. Only a q. of time before is heard to intone: ‘Is fearrde thu Guinness’.
This was not without its own little irony.
For it coinicided on the Island of Irony with Fine Gael , the party of landed gintlemen, pointedly choosing to rebrand their ‘Ard-Fheis’ as a National Convention or something equally bland (gintlemen prefers bland).
Those of us jinxed with longish memories / sinne na gcuimhni fada will here recall a recent stalwart of the Blue Shirts and who was affectionately known on all sides as ‘The Goose’, not only for his general look and outlook but also for his peculiar style of walk.
Such was his eagerness never to offend our separated breds in Norneverland every time he stood up in Sinister House he was Blue in the Face (ah, colour co-ordination) he was to preface his every remark with: ‘Fot kind of message are we shending to the Unionists in the North of Ireland?’.
(Note: Unionists usually came out sounding like ‘Ewe-nun-ists’).
Mine’s a Morning Wood Cocktail, s’il vous plait.
Kindly mix it with a cocktail shaker half filled with ice-cubes. Maith an fear thu. Shake it well, my man, and strain it into a champagne flute,. Sink the blackberry liqueur by pouring it at the side of the glass, thus forming a layer at the bottom.
GRMA.
Bottoms up !.
Professor Collins, I will be sending you a private message to discuss your repeated use of my name, I was assured by my late mother, God rest her soul, that I was THE only Jude, I am sure we can come to some sort of arrangement, and none of your sarcasm…..
Ha haaaaa – I like it, Jude. But sure what else could you be but witty and thoughtful and you with the name that’s in it??
Unionists and especially loyalists are often told “the Union has never been stronger”. I’m not saying this because I’m a Republican but I don’t believe that for a second, regardless of what other republicans (usually anti-SF types) or unionists themselves say.
When I get into a debate about this with Unionists/Loyalists I often ask them: “in your opinion, Is the Union stronger today or back in the 1970’s or 1980’s?” and 9 out of 10 of them always reply that the Union was stronger back in the 1970’s or 1980’s compared to today. Remember the 1970’s/80’s was the heart of the troubles.
Am I saying a United Ireland will happen tomorrow? or the next day? No. But I certainly believe Irish unity is much closer to hand than most think (or like to think). That’s just my opinion, of course, I’m no political expert but I sense the feeling amongst people on the ground and when it comes to Unionism/Loyalism it is certainly not one of ease or security, while most of republicanism/nationalism is brimming with confidence and high morale.
The best thing all shades of republicanism/nationalism can do now is to continue to reach out to those protestants and small “u” unionists and convince them that there’s nothing to fear from Irish unity and there’s a place of respect in it for them. Can all of them be convinced? Maybe not but even if a minority are it will still be worth the effort.
James Molyneaux, former leader of the UUP, who died recently, campaigned against the Good Friday Agreement and said of the ceasefires in 94 “the IRA cessation is one of the most destabilising events for unionism”.
I think we are now seeing what he meant…..