I have heard many callers on phone-in shows telling us all that they are not going to vote this year. The common theme seems to be the disillusionment with politics here in the North. The green and orange politics of old are alive and well and this turns many of us off. They complain that until there is a political shift away from the old rhetoric, they will shun the ballot box.
To them I ask, how exactly will the political landscape shift if the voices of those who want change are not given the chance to be heard? I do not expect every naysayer to stand as an independent in the next election, but for those who are so strongly opposed to the current status quo, why not be the alternative voice? Why not offer solutions instead of sniping from the sidelines? Our current executive is far from perfect but it is in its infancy. We are still finding our feet when it comes to managing our affairs much like a student who has flown the maternal nest. We will make mistakes along the way and the going will be tough but we should stick by the politicians we vote for (or don’t for as is the case for many).
Without a credible alternative, there is one radical solution to kick start politics here and put the orange and green situation to bed once and for all. The assembly and British government must legislate for a border poll to be held in the North immediately and every 10 – 20 years thereafter. This will remove one obstacle from the minds of our politicians and maybe, just maybe free up some space so that the day to day issues that affect us all can be dealt with. Of course, this solution will go down quicker than the southern Labour Party vote share in some camps. What I would stress though is that this step should not be seen as giving ground to the other side but more an affirmation of what we are led to believe is the case, that the union is safer than ever.
Ironically, a border poll would quite possibly please parties on both sides of the community should we ever have one, unionists may indeed find that the union is safe and republicans/nationalist will have their long awaited border poll and a basis to form the foundations of their political strategy for the coming years. In the year in which many have campaigned for a referendum on EU membership, mainly because they are of a generation which has never had the choice, perhaps our politicians should trust in the electorate to decide the of fate of this small state-let and progress our politics forward faster than any other gesture ever could.
we are still finding our feet when it comes to managing our affairs……….
in case you hadnt noticed its been 20yrs,the gfa isnt working for the ordinary people [the voters]you can only pish on somebodys back and tell them its raining for so long.
20 years since the GFA yes but let’s not forget that a settled government wasn’t formed until 2007 previously we went from suspension to Westminster rule. This is going to take time.
The problem as I see it stems from the GFA. It was sold, with the help of massive world wide PR as an end to all the troubles here. We all got what we wanted and peace was in our grasp. But twenty years on, we can see that nothing has changed. Neither side got what they wanted. Neither side was beaten into submission. The best that could be said was that there was an intermission during which the colonial power would try to instil a sense of tolerance (and victory) into the colonists and a sense of tolerance (and victory) into the natives. An attempt to wean both sides from the gun. The 26 county electorate got a chance to distance themselves from the bloodthirsty remnants of their nation which they were only too happy to grasp. Our betters hope that if they can keep the lid on the pot until the ‘civil rights generation’ dies off then all will be ok – a neutered region like the Isle of Man. It’s often pointed out that all the combatants in WW2 now get along- why can’t we? The difference is that there were winners and losers. The powers that be craftily conspired to make both sides believe that they had won but the only winners were those whose status quo continues as before. In the 70’s Father Faul used to say that in Whitehall, in a drawer somewhere, the British had a plan. This is their plan. Get everybody to the dining table and make it hard for any of the ‘democratic’ parties to be the first to break ranks. Long spoons were soon dispensed with. Billy may be more pithy and to the point but what has changed. The pikes are still in the thatch.