How are the unionist politicians of the Executive going to make sense of their current stance and their insistence on the existence of the IRA ,when the UDA have told us all publicly today , that they, themselves, actually exist and have no plans to cease that existence at anytime soon …no matter what anyone wants. As far as the UDA are concerned , it would appear that even a political movement for a republican ideal ..or even an aspiration to be a republican, living in a republican land, as opposed to wanting to be a royalist or a “loyalist” as a political option, if you like , is a step too far .They intend to remain as an illegal paramilitary organisation to oppose even that aspiration. In other words, they feel that the politicians who vaguely represent their point of view, are not up to the job. In fact those politicians can hardly support this kind of point of view and stay on in the Assembly anyway. To support their point of view they’d have to ask the Chief Constable to get in there and sort these malcontents out. They’ll hardly do that while sharing platforms and demonstrations with them , though. They are illegal after all.Now what does that say about them or these politicians?The IRA, on the other hand, have said they no longer exist and make no bones about it.That’s hardly being illegal, is it?
The UDA seem to be saying that even if the place were to become a viable, agreed republic , they’d fight to oppose the will of the people and hope to overturn that decision…possibly by illegal , forceful and armed means, I’d imagine . That’s how we all got into this situation in the first place a hundred years ago, remember? Let’s face it, their own political aspiration fell on stony ground when their supporters refused to vote them into politics in any real way in the years following the Godd Friday Agreement.Their supporters instead opted to either not vote at all or if they did , they voted for the unionist parties we now see in power …the DUP, the UUP and a few other smaller parties all on the conservative right-wing. That is who the UDA are and what unionism is too.
The people who comprise all these groupings do not exist in a vacuum, after all.They are the same interchangeable people.
What is an aspirant nationalist or republican supposed to make of this veiled threat of violence? It has long been the case that the fight for a republic was to be a wholly political journey. A filthy span of violence and awful destruction between two opposing views ,brought us all to this point and It was agreed on by the Good Friday Agreement that it could not continue as a violent stalemate. . You can see why James Molyneux the old UUP leader was fearful of nationalism taking a completely political route.The IRA quitting was seen as the worst possible thing for unionism. It is easy to demonise your opponent if he is a bogeyman with a gun but if he has no gun and fights and wins politically , what do you do then? It is the only reason the killing stopped at that time . There is much talk about defeat of the IRA but the conclusion was much more subtle than simply that. It caused the SDLP to all but dissappear , for one thing. The result was the same for Molyneux’s UUP. The disbandonment of the IRA caused that.Giving up their weaponry may have seemed like some kind of surrender at the time for some on both sides of the conflict who perceive slaughter and killing as the main event, but the results of the action cannot be denied. The SDLP lost their voters to the SinnFein project or possibly some to the Alliance Party and the UUP lost theirs to the DUP.
Does the UDA really believe that they would be supported by a British public in Scotland , Wales and England in some future scenario should they they attempt to overturn the will of a majority of people to break away from Westminster and form a new kind of republic with the rest of Ireland ?What would they do if Scotland decided to opt for a republic? If they started a violent uprising on those kind of terms they would very quickly be abandoned to a wilderness and find themselves very much alone in possibly a couple of very small and crowded redoubts. This is not 1912 , after all.There’s really not much in it for the UK except for more grief which would probably cause them to fully disengage anyway.
When you look at our current political impasse from this perspective , it’s easy to see why even”respectable” unionist politicians , who consistently pretend to hold their loyalist supporters at arms length don’t really want any rapid political movement in Norneverland either . They see that as their real defeat. Progress doesn’t seem to spell advancement for unionism.Progress will always take something away from their conservative world view .Change is always seen as a defeat. They would prefer that the nationalist vehicle was put into reverse or at least thrown out of gear for as long as possible so that it remains motionless. That’s really what has been happening these past three or more years as Stormont goes around in circles each winter . They want rid of Sinn Fein by whatever means ,it seems. They want to believe that the IRA is the other face of the same spinning coin that the UDA inhabits. Their problem really is that there is only a phantom nemesis and the coin has now only one face . The republican political project now demands that something like violence, which obscures and confuses everything , is no longer the proper tool for the job.It was found to be a blunt chisel. We should all feel thankful that its time has passed but It will become ever clearer when the old guard of republicanism dies away and is replaced by younger faces.The UDA should be thanking their lucky stars too that the violence is over..
One deluded phone -in caller on the radio today said he was glad that the UDA was still in existence because he felt in his heart that the IRA was already sitting in government . He obviously inhabits some mad fantasy world where the UDA will be needed, fully -armed when a future armageddon arrives.Little does he know that it ‘s worse than that. The IRA is really gone long ago. Legitimate republican aspirants,the ones Molyneux feared, not the bogeymen IRA men with guns of yore , are actually sitting in those governmental seats for the first time and by the look of things ,they intend to stay there . I haven’t seen much in the way of any other competition for their vote yet.There may be many others canvassing but it is Sinn Fein which appears to have grown and are winning the majority of nationalism’s votes.They’re voting for politics , not war.
Maybe the UDA , the DUP or the UUP have some other new ideas but nobody has seen any of them either.If they don’t want republicans in politics with them , what is their ideal and rational alternative?….some kind of knock-down physical force war that will go nowhere, maybe?
This is the product of some clear thinking and analysis, Jude. What will an anti-terrorist Brit Government make of it?
Indeed, John. Do note, though – it’s Harry’s thinking…
I was asked by an American couple in the City Centre during a Flag protest what are these protesters on about? My answer was “I am 75 years old, I have lived with these people all these years and I dont understand them, so I cant answer that question”
I still cant work out why Loyalists who are being treated abominably by their politicians still vote them in. Can bigotry or is it fear that makes them tick and be so afraid of the truth.
They followed Paisley and Robinson up the hill only to be left in the wilderness.
Garvaghy,Twadell doesnt seem to make them understand we dont want to rub their noses in it but want a United Ireland for all on this Island. Cannot they listen to their United Irish Presbyterian forefathers who were the foundation of Republicanism.
If some believe the IRA has not really”gone away” they have now been told in no uncertain manner Loyalist paramilitaries are still here and the old status quo remains This they will maintain God help them.
Another ‘no-brainer’ for political unionism. The debate in Scotland about independence reflected the views of a politically sophisticated electorate with a respect for competing and conflicting views. Kevin McKenna writing in The Guardian states,
“What persuaded many of us to back the Yes side last year, however, was a dawning conviction that an independent Scotland might become a hothouse of creatively radical ideas to counter the prevailing orthodoxy of greed, entitlement and stranger suspicion that underpinned the world’s economic power structures. The arrogance and sneering unpleasantness of Alistair Darling just made it a little bit easier.
In Scotland we are currently engaged in debate as to just how radical the SNP actually is and recent social attitude surveys have shown that, on questions of immigration and refugees, your average Scot is not the enlightened savant of popular liberal imagination…”
Today, there is a much needed debate going on in Scotland in relation to the abuse of alcohol.
Yesterday, we learned that an Irish-born scientist has jointly won the 2015 Nobel Prize for medicine for work against parasitic diseases. William Campbell born in Donegal and Japanese Satoshi Omura won half of the prize for discovering a new drug, avermectin, that has helped the battle against river blindness and lymphatic philariasis, as well as showing effectiveness against other parasitic diseases. On top of such an achievement, William Campbell also played a significant role in a pharmaceutical firm’s decision to make the treatment freely available to people from 1987 and around 25 million people continue to be treated under this scheme every year.
Today in this part of the world, some have no problem about using violence against their neighbours, the orange card is still in use and some elected representatives demonstrate that they remain loyal to the half crown.
Nice post
Northern Ireland is indeed a fantasy land.
Unionists have been brought up to believe it is a country in its own right that it is part of great Britain, that their nationalist neighbours on this island are the devils offspring and it is their mortal duty to maintain this land for the crown.
Indeed it was the threat of violence that led to the denial of democracy and the partition of the country, and we have been in cycles of violence ever since.
The GFA was supposed to be a compromise to break this cycle.
So why is that so difficult for unionism to accept?
Unionists tell us that we need Britain as they are global economy and only they can afford the high price to maintain this part of the uk.
And that is indeed true. If we refuse to work together the economy will suffer and the running costs will be prohibitive for such a small place to be independent or economically viable.
But how does Britain feel about this. The real Britain,
I get that if there is republican violence, unionists can play the old never give in to terrorism spiel to justify maintaining the high cost to the British exchequer, some 10 billion pounds per year which is not to be sniffed at.
How would this work if it were only or even primarily loyalists causing the violence though
But lets say Britain wanted out to put the money to better use.
The British intelligence assessment provided to the chief constable seems to be lacking in sufficient evidence for him to charge anyone and severely undermined what trust had been building in the nationalist community. Is he an idiot or was he misinformed?
The result doesn’t seem to have done Sinn Fein any harm since the nationalist community see for themselves every day that the IRA is no longer operational and wont be fooled so easily.
It does seem to have caused some irresponsible behaviour within unionism which seems to be doing more harm to their own credibility.
Every time unionists think there is a betrayal on the cards, they react badly.
Why do I get the feeling that the worst is yet to come?
Jessica…some of our readers don’t like the idea of me calling the place a fantasy- land. In fact they get a little agitated when I call it “Norneverland” ,as if it’s only some place in a fairy story by the Brothers Grimm.There’s more to fairy stories than meets the eye , of course The hard facts are there to be seen though. It is a land peopled by many precariously insane individuals , doing many very odd things that have no place in any logical world. Some think calling it Norneverland demeans its empirical ,pompous status. Fact is …I’m deadly serious.It can never really be anything but a fantasy realm because it was hacked out of illogic in the first place …a very round peg, hammered into a very square hole by expedience and fear. It was ripped out of Ireland and sculpted to retain a false majority of unionists supporters…an imaginary border cutting through ancient townlands and provinces to make sure of that electoral imbalance.That imbalance will always be its Achilles heel …always awaiting the snap of that tendon to break it down and reimagine it. It has never been right and now it has such a poisonous and poisoned political class that it may even implode.Before it does, there are many strange and wondrous stories to be told and so long as they appear in our public , daily conciousness as blunt absurdities…i’ll have a good old stab at hammering them out.
And through towns: consider, if you will, Pettigo…
Aye Jude …mad or what, eh?… Spike’s “Puckoon” wasn’t too far off the mark
It ‘s hard to imagine anyone with more vacancy of thought than Unionism , The English ,whom they aspire to emulate , are unimpressed and uninterested….shown by the quality and intellect of the numerous “Secretary of State ” they have foisted upon us. Is it fear of equality ?,is it an inbred sectarian hatred ? Is there something in their psyche that is forcing them to self-destruct ?…..They are standing with their backs to the wall and their monolith of bigotry is crumbling all around them…..we are offering a genuine hand of friendship ,to move forward together……yet not one,not one Unionist will tentatively reciprocate .
Not completely true, Séamus…there are people like John McAllister and Basil McCrea. Even Arlene Foster has shaken my hand (although I’m not sure it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity 😉 )
I would like to hear SF, SDLP, and Alliance come out and condemn the UDA statement in no uncertain terms. A few words of rebuttal to Poots ‘stench’ comments are in order as well. By remaining silent, it only gives credence to the hypocrisy that is the 6 counties. Villers threatens direct rule. That was not part of the GFA. This looks like a well orchestrated plan to resume direct rule and as Jessica stated, why do I feel the worst is yet to come.
I see your point, paul, but personally I think condemnation/non-condemnation is a near-meaningless mantra – or maybe a weapon that can be fired at people. ‘I condemn’ – does that mean I don’t like, or I wouldn’t do, or I’d like to punch themuns, or…I’d take the word out of the English language if I could. It’s been abused so much, it can hardly stand up…
Your point is well taken. I guess instead of condemnation, maybe it could be pointed out in real time that there is a double standard and that is not helping to form a better north of Ireland for the future. I do feel remaining completely silent on this issue is wrong. With no rebuttal offered; the DUP gets another free pass. They have no interest in sharing power
“Villers threatens direct rule. That was not part of the GFA. This looks like a well orchestrated plan to resume direct rule and as Jessica stated,”
All Villiers and her party are interested in is removing the financial burden that is northern ireland.
They want direct rule like a hole in the head.
Implementing the cuts without political parties to back them will result in public sector strikes the cost of which will pale in comparison.
Lets put a figure on it. 1 billion is needed now to keep Stormont running
I am afraid they will need a few more cheque books before they can walk away from what they did here.
Brilliant Jessica, keep it coming