I read in the Belfast Telegraph that a property developer is pursuing Daithi McKay for damages, relating to the former MLA’s alleged actions concerning Jamie Bryson and the questioning of Peter Robinson over the NAMA scandal. Whether or not any of that is true is really none of my business. What I am concerned about however is the difference in both standards and treatment which exists among our policy-makers.
Iris Robinson was involved in a scandal immeasurably worse than what Mr. McKay is being accused of, which called into question how exactly she knew how to acquire money from property developers the way she did and get away with it. Is there a user’s guide for that sort of conduct or do you just stumble across such knowledge and practices? Additionally, her lecturing on the evils of homosexuality and the need for the highest standards of sexual propriety proved farcical given her own sordid love life.
Such precedents do exist within Unionism – Lord Molyneaux was a member of the right wing Conservative Monday Club, yet now the media are detailing his “friendships” with known gay men and gay circles when he had one of the most homophobic records of any MP. There seems to exist a state of sexual repression within the mindset and psyche of unionists/fascists, where they utterly detest any open showings of something they recognise in themselves. Just look, at by far the most sordid example, at Kincora Boy’s Home and how David Irvine and others tried to expose those in positions of power who were involved in that – we are talking about the rape and the torture of children.
Likewise, the fiasco over Red Sky and the treatment of Jenny Palmer saw the Special Adviser involved being elevated to even higher office within Unionist circles – subsidised fully by the public payroll to the tune of almost £100,000 per year. This isn’t exactly new – Belfast City Council was ran for decades like a right wing syndicate of Loyalist favours, apartheid iniquity and yet none of these people were ever held to account.
Now I’m not going to get into the issue of Daithi resigning, but I do think that if someone has to exit politics over something they are accused of, which even if they did do it is immensely more trivial than what the Unionists persistently do and largely get away with, then we’re going to end up with a two-tier system of ethics.
Jim Wells made disgusting comments at a public function and was still allowed to remain an MLA. When Iris Robinson was exposed for doing what she was doing, nobody called for her head on a plate politically, she resigned in disgrace. They respected that the woman was battling with psychological turmoil from the episode and showed some discretion accordingly. Ian Paisley Junior is still an MP after being involved in a scandal with Seymour Sweeney some years ago.
The point I’m making is a grossly unfair higher standard is expected off of Nationalist representatives, for even the most minor alleged things, and Unionists are allowed to relax with their noses firmly in the troth time and time again. While I feel for the McKay family and regret his political career has ended prematurely, I think a debate needs to be opened up before the public on what exactly is and what is not acceptable from our elected representatives, to end all reasonable doubts – with a more comprehensive and enhanced code of conduct enforced upon all of them. I don’t think it’s fair that he had to exit the political stage while Steven Brimstone got a pay-rise. People should be able to make use of the public petition to have a politician considered for suspension or expelled from office when misconduct arises, and when that precedent is established there will be a lot of new faces on the Unionist benches.
It makes me feel grateful to have been born at the start of the 90’s, in an era when these people did not have a gerrymandered, semi-sovereign government, with which to administer a really rather peculiar form of governance. They have gotten away with segregation, localised apartheid, discrimination, intimidation, collusion, mass murder, mass imprisonment without trial, torture and hate speech, time and time again. All of which has conjured up an “untouchables” phenomenon within their own minds and within the perceptions of some of the public. But if we’re going to learn from any of this, it has to be a collective and universal lesson on standards in public life and something like the ‘McBride Principals’ will have to be imposed on the political sector.
just a point of accuracy – are you sure you do not want to amend your reference to Jim Wells? I do believe he was completely exonerated from your assertion
When you consider how unionists look after their own, I was disgusted at the reaction of Sinn Fein to the problems of Daithi McKay – he should have been protected!
Sinn Fein will pay for this behaviour in future elections.
What Daithi did was wrong, but he is a decent guy and he did the decent thing. Compare and contrast to Unionism and you can see a stark difference, this will only do good for SF in the long run, no point in defending something that was wrong, we can leave that up to Arleen.