I didn’t catch the political leaders’ debate on UTV last night (relax, Virginia – I have it recorded) but I did watch Arlene Foster being interviewed by Mark Carruthers on The View (BBC).
It was a tedious if significant interview. Arlene’s handlers appear to have surgically inserted the word “Soft” into her brain. And she was soft.
Soft in terms of her make-up:she rarely has looked so well on TV – and yes, looks on TV do matter for a politician, and if you think to comment on Arlene’s looks is sexist, run the Nixon-Kennedy debate and then kick yourself for ten minutes. She was soft in terms of her tone – OK, not soft, but softer than she often is. Her eyes for the most part were wide and frank, only occasionally slipping into that narrow-eyed glare. There were no angry outbursts – accusations and questions were met with a smile, an appearance of mild bemusement, a chuckle. If the job of an interviewer is to get a politician angry, Mark Carruthers failed completely.
That said, there was little soft about what she said. She still maintains Sinn Féin are to blame for this election, she is completely innocent of all charges relating to RHI, she doesn’t believe in an Irish Language Act because it’d cost too much, she refuses to tell how much the DUP got for pushing the Brexit line in our north-east nest, she saw no reason to attend, like Martin McGuinness, both the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland games in the Euros, she thought Mike Nesbitt was totally wrong to “recommend” (he didn’t) that his followers give their second preference vote to the SDLP), she believes the “glorification” of IRA dead by Michelle O’Neill, in attending a commemoration of four IRA shot dead by the SAS is wrong and disrespectful of real victims. In summary, she pressed all the right buttons to appeal to the hard core of DUP unionism.
The two commentators Mark comes to after his interviews were as one: the DUP leader had been clueless, arrogant, lacking in understanding and lacking even s a hint of generosity. It was a disaster of an interview, they reckoned.
I don’t agree. My guess is that Arlene presented herself as a relaxed, friendly leader, but one who would be unswerving in the cause of right-wing unionism. She was speaking to her unionist electorate, in the belief that they too take the not-an-inch line and will reward her for representing their views.
Has she got it right? We’ll have to wait until they start counting the votes. But here’s a truly depressing thought: her assessment of the unionist electorate may well be accurate.
Watched UTV Debate and Arleen was anything but soft. She fell at every major hurdle and retreated into her hard unionit speak.
Michelle iO’Neill is a very capable leader and will not be intimidated by an alligator. Stood on the high moral ground and made her points with precision. She really needs to slow the delivery of her speech and allow pause foe emphasis.
Mick Nesbitt came across very well in the debate. Mature and balanced with centre ground appeal. As for the other two ….. ah!! well
# leaders #..lol…if that outfit last night is anything to go by its more of the same and what ever your having yourself.pathetic.
It was definitely car-crash TV as far as Arlene was concerned. Most people watching were confused as she kept mentioning Gerry Adams who is not even standing in this election. She limped from one disaster to another. It got even worse for those who turned onto watch the view.
Its clear this woman has no sense of perspective or general awareness of the damage she does. its almost like she suffers from ‘Political Asperger’s’
Mike Nesbitt and Colum Eastwood stood out for me as well as Naomi Long for their positivity and eagerness to do business. I wish all three success in the election.
You could take all three out for an Indian if they win.
I’d love that fiosrach though I’d prefer an Italian
I listened. To Nolan this morning. He was supposed to be asking Conor Murphy about SF manifesto. We had half an hour of IRA past misdeeds, RHI for 15minutes, 10 minutes about new election and executive, I guess I must have dozed off when he asked about the manifesto.
And no, he didn’t mention AFs car crash debate
Was thinking the same myself but Nolan likes that drama. One of his faults
Yes …it makes you wonder , given that it was Nolan who really dug into the RHI scandal in the first place and it was down to him that the public really became interested and agitated by the detail of it … He played it daily as a drama with new episodic twists each morning . He seemed to easily forget the actual linear thrust and the slow march to that off-switch which Marty was forced, in the end to press. Arlene was given plenty of time to make a fool of herself and she proceeded to do that very thing .No mention of Arlene’s solo run when everyone was forced to walk away from her dictatorial and near-mad stance.No mention of the DUP Speaker siding with her when he should have done the right thing and pulled the plug on her himself.Joint Office …? Fah!!! Not at that moment .Arlene thought she was running the show on her own.
It so happens that Nolan went offside as the pot came to the boil and he was away in America when the steam popped the lid.Has he such a short memory or is he just a drama queen .?
Harry, the unease felt by Sinn Féin voters goes a lot further back than the biggest show in the kingdom. Mutterings could be heard three or four years ago but they held their collective nose and kept their heads down and wore their sackcloth with pride. I think that they would have carried on in Stormont only the pressure from their own voters became intolerable. It had come to the point when the faithful couldn’t look you in the eye and were reluctant to talk about politics at all.
Ach I know that fiosrach, but there so many other scandals to contend with that the RHI one wouldn’t get a look-in until late in the day.Had it all be known in detail sooner , even Red Sky and NAMA wuld have been kicked into second place.It’s retrospective scandal we’re getting.Like I said there have been so many that had to be swallowed down….not just financial ones either …cultural, racial and even various sexual ones…What gets me is this idea of political equivalence as if Sinn Fein didn’t give it a damned long shot.It’s not as if the DUP even believed in the agreements that put them into power in the first place and they dragged their heels at every turn as if to prove the point. The pundits talk about it being unworkable and TVMike tells us the “chemistry “was wrong..Arlene talks as if Sinn fein didn’t want it to work and instead did everything to pull it down when in fact it was herself and her party members made making it work an impossibility.It doesn’t change the political positions of either party if it works or doesn’t work. It doesn’t matter either whether Arlene or Michelle is nominate dFirst Minister because one can’t work without the other and the positions could easily be interchangeable as the years go by so why this obsession with beating Sinn Fein anyway? They are entirely different political parties with separate agendas, supported by different kinds of people and the nominal position will not change that one little bit. With that in mind what social reciprocation have they attempted in ten years?
Who is Arlene conniving with in England is what I would like to know to the detriment of people here and the integrity of the institutions we all voted for. Is that the real source of her unbelievable arrogance?
PK – Arlene thought she was running the show on her own.
Maybe she got that impression from Marty, who allowed her to trash every agreement from the GFA.
Every time she issued one of her diktats he was standing meekly by her side and hadn’t a word of criticism or opposition.
It made me cringe with embarrassment every time I witnessed these occasions!
“Enough rope….”… springs to mind , Sherdy.Marty could have hanged her out to dry at any time .He knew that the DUP can never have power on their own narrow terms but that had to be pointed out to everyone , including, Arlene, Poots, Nelson and the whole sorry gang.They know now , of course when it might just be a little too late….remember they didn’t sign any agreements either….
funny how jim allister schooled him the other day.then again sunny jim would be one of the rare species in stormont with a brain.
Americans vote for Trump;English voted for Brexit. If this is the direction thst the world is heading then Foster will get votes – plenty of them.
FERMANAGH’S own FOUCAULT PENDULUM
Verily, is Arl the Fermanagh Pendulum
A snarly pol and a warmhearted Mum
Re. admitting fault
She knows Foucault
Earth Mother rotates from hate to opprobrium.
“Her assessment of the unionist electorate may well be accurate.” Unionism as an ideology has since its inception and still to this day relied on the politics of fear perpetrated from its leadership. Unionism as an ideology is insular. It’s inward looking. It looks backwards and not forward. It’s regressive, not progressive. This type of thinking permeates throughout Unionist communities and is followed by actions for example in voting for Arlene Foster and her Ike. Over the past century or move, we look at how political unionism have treated their electorate – with absolute contempt, leading them down the garden party and in essence creating that hatred and divide it has towards Nationalism. And how do the Unionist electorate respond – they play follow the leader – the Unionist electorate have been treated like lapdogs and as such has acted as same. I genuinely hope the antics of Foster and members of her party in recent debates and speeches sends a clear signal to the Unionist community – these are not the people to drive this place forward – but something tells me, that is wishful thinking and Foster will be returned in the Assembly Election as the leader of the biggest party.
I watched the leaders debate last night and Arlene Foster’s performance was nothing short of abysmal. Embarrassing. Pathetic. Mike Nesbitt, in my view, even performed better and Mike is dreadful. Everything she spouted from her mouth was fear mongering. Continually making reference to “Gerry Adams’ Sinn Fein” (makes a change from Sinn Fein / IRA) and the “Radical Republican agenda” (whatever that is). This is Foster in her comfort zone, reaching out to to armchair unionist voters who thrive on this type of language. Who thrive on having a pop at the other side. Gerry Adams became the buzz word of the debate, sadly – perhaps in an attempt to undermine Michelle O’Neill but seemingly orientated to try and stigma Sinn Fein as a party linked to allegations of Adams’ “pass associates.” As they say, desperate times require desperate measures and Foster was really clutching at straws last night. Even on the View, I don’t do “gesturing politics” – is that the new word for progressive politics? For reconciliation? For respect? For equality? Because she doesn’t do these either!!!!!
The first pertinent question you have asked Dominic !… and one, I myself ,would like answered/investigated ….the plot thickens and we don’t have the caliber of journalism here,whether through lack of experience or that inevitable ,not rocking the boat, so my career may progress, syndrome .
Maybe we should join Tony Blair in Open Britain then?
Possibly that donation to the DUP by the mysterious English Brexiteers, the purpose of which seems to have been to pay for advertising in England may have legal implications in that country, rather than in NI.
It would be interesting to know if the move to circumvent English donation regulations has been reported to the relevant authorities there!
A statement released tonight from a Mr Oswald Moseley denies that the British Union of Fascists were the origin of the massive pro Leave donation to the DUP and adds that we have our country back.
I agree the DUP will do well in the next election because most unionists like their brand of right wing not an inch unionism.
My problem is increasingly I’ve no idea why SF would want to participate in a government with them.
The truth is SF will get nothing from the DUP and should instead permanently mothball Stormont and deal directly with both governments.
A vote for SF is increasingly a vote for Foster as FM.
Sinn Fein have said quite clearly that they will not go back into power sharing with Arlene Foster before she is cleared in the public inquiry.
I think that is quite unequivocal Cal.
It would be absolutely intolerable in my view, I could not countenance it in the slightest and I am sure they know there would be repercussions if they dared try allow Foster as FM.
In fact the same would apply to any party, if Collum and SDLP had stood enough candidates to make it even a remote possibility that they might be the largest nationalist block, they simply could not allow this to happen.
The DUP have burned their bridges and it will take considerable rebuilding of which there is no time for.
Equality quite simply broke them.
I care nothing about Stormont.
What is important to me is that the national security block needs to be lifted and both state and security forces made accountable in court for their actions.
This needs to be backed by Dublin.
Legacy funding should then be released
The repartition of Ireland should be opposed both by the people and all political parties in Ireland and if necessary there must be street protests against the return of any legal or physical border that may impact negatively on Irish people.
The agreement to have an Irish language act has to be honoured.
Failure on any one of these should prevent any possibility of the return of devolved british rule in Ireland.
Instead, we need to work with the next Dublin government which will be replaced in the summer and will include Sinn Fein as part of a Fianna Fail / Sinn Fein coalition.
The current Fine Gael / Fianna Fail backed coalition will not survive the economic report due un June even if Fianna Fail keep propping it up until then.
I would imagine there will be a southern election as early as May.
That is what I am voting for Cal.
There is too much anger for a return to Stormont.
Unless people vote for change we will be living in a backwater for a generation. Young people will not accept such politics and will leave. SF/DUP are the politics of failure and the people in the south will not allow SF to prioritise the north because most of them don’t care enough about it. Sinn Fein will then be found out.
It isn’t politics which make young people leave but opportunities or lack of them.
Partition has been the politics of failure and it must be ended.
Brexit has changed the circumstances on this island utterly, now that the border is having negative economic and social impact, businesses are calling for the hard conversations and the ending of partition and the people simply will not accept it. You need to keep up Dominic.
Businesses are already calling for thee talks on both sides of the border, if you believe that wont reflect positively on the only party who has been supporting the ending of partition, the party who has the most experience in negotiating with the enemy as will be required in the coming months, then you are entitled to your opinion but I just don’t see your blind capitulation coming to pass.
People want strong leadership and achievers not political beggars and pleaders.
I would like to think your view of things is right but I don’t see it. I know money will be the priority in any negotiations, it invariably is. I know you don’t listen to pleaders and beggars, not even if it is the Pope.
The Pope has done nothing to help Ireland.
It was a Pope who signed off on the cover up of clerical abuse in Ireland.
Personally, I would like to see church of Ireland replace Catholicism as the primary religion in Ireland and I believe this is the direction we are heading in.
As I keep saying, money comes from the people to the state not from the state to the people.
If a hard border is returned, I wont be paying any more british taxes and I will physically be on the ground to oppose the border posts which work has already begun in identifying where these customs posts are to be installed.
Expect it to get messy. Dublin will no longer be able to sit on the fence.
” Unless people vote for change we will be living in a backwater for a generation ” Dominic ,are you for real ?….we are living in a bloody backwater and have been since the partition of our country. The OUP ( now the UUP , different name but same sow’s litter ) racially ruled this sectarian cesspit for 50 inglorious years….their junta being the envy of many including apartheid South Africa.You would now propose letting them back into power with the assistance of that other wanabee Unionist party,the SDLP. Do you really believe that people are that daft ?The SDLP are in terminal decline , not because someone allegedly stole their clothes , but because they have nothing of substance or value to offer the electorate.
The GFA was supposed to be the turn on the road but Unionism has proved a difficult fish to play. Mike Nesbitt has made a particularly courageous move that could bring change if people want it. It will be very much on the job training for both UUP and SDLP but does anyone seriously see an alternative given that the only way forward is powersharing. Brexit will sort itself out because there’s money and big business involved.
Unionism was not being played Dominic, they were given every opportunity to make a difference and failed to share power over their inbred bigotry and hate.
Its over, finito.
“Brexit will sort itself out because there’s money and big business involved.”
So lets get this straight, neither SDLP or UUP stood enough candidates to have a snowballs chance in hell of getting across the line first mote a last ditch effort to delay their demise a while longer, and this along with not to worry, brexit will sort itself out is what you expect will resolve all of our issues.
No harm Dominic, but we are heading into a real and difficult time ahead and Ireland as in the whole island is going to have to unite and stand as one with whatever the fallout of brexit is.
We need strong leadership more than ever before and big business looks after only its own interests and is not to be trusted.
This is not a political preference any more, it is going to effect every single one of us.
It is not only the physical border but the paperwork alone will make the cost of living hit out pockets hard and cost tens of thousands of jobs.
Over the coming months, many many people will be receiving official written notice that their jobs are at risk.
This is a legal requirement and employers will have no choice over the uncertainty and need to keep within HR legislation.
This is going to happen, you need to wake up. Stormont is powerless to prevent this never mind the SDLP.
It is a tale of two cities, London and Dublin.
I think there is too much to loose with regard to a hard border and the GFA that a deal will be sorted out. It might not be called special status but that is what it will be
“they were given every opportunity to make a difference and failed to share power over their inbred bigotry and hate.”
That’s it in a nutshell Jessica and SF should realise there is nothing to be gained a lot to lose from ‘sharing power’ with and giving legitimacy to the gang of sectarian bigots that is the DUP ..!!