How do you like your British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC)? Maybe East-West; that’s how UUP leader Robin Swann sees it. “Given the structure of the BIIGC, which must focus on non-devolved issues within the three-stranded approach, it is hard to see how it will move us any closer to restoring devolution.”
That’s pretty much how Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds see it. Nigel has made that clear, at the same time giving his leader a pat on the back: “The BIIGC has no power to take decisions. Arlene Foster understandably described it as a ‘talking shop’.”
If it’s a ‘talking shop’ and has no power to take a decision, why does it exist? It hasn’t met for years and we’ve managed fine without ….No, wait, hold it, we actually haven’t managed fine, we’ve been stuck in Stormont Limbo for the last eighteen months. So this body that gets the British and Irish governments together is no bad thing. After all, the British and Irish governments are what created this tormented little NEN, so it make sense they should meet and talk about whether a rethink is necessary.
Two groups are in favour of the BIIC meeting: Sinn Féin and Fine Gael. Michelle O’Neill notes that Sinn Féin have been saying for months that the BIIC should be called:
“The Good Friday Agreement is clear that, in the absence of the powersharing institutions, this conference is the only vehicle for both governments under their joint stewardship to resolve the issues at the heart of the crisis.”
Leo Varadkar goes further still. He sees it as a vehicle for keeping in closer touch with Britain, not just about Stormont but things in general.
“ Potentially it is a body that could be expanded to provide for structured cooperation between the British Government and the Irish Government after Brexit.
“Because while we see each other all the time, ministers meet their counterparts, I meet the Prime Minister four or five times a year here in Brussels, after the UK leaves the EU those interactions may not necessarily happen any more.
“So we need an alternative mechanism to do that and I think the BIIGC could potentially be the mechanism by which we continue to cooperate and stay close as countries and Governments.”
He’s right, you know. The EU has provided a meeting place for the southern government and the British government. Now that the Brits appear hell-bent on getting out, there’s a need for an alternative vehicle, and the BIIGC seems made to measure.
So why don’t the UUP and the DUP see the possibilities for the BIIC in the future? The answer is a five-letter word: Irish. The Irish government is far, far too involved in the north’s affairs, the way unionist politicians see it. Next you know, they’ll be inviting you to dinner and encouraging you to set up residence in the spare bedroom. And the very thought of getting that intimate with the Irish is something that, to quote Ian Óg Paisley in a different context, they must find “repulsive.”
I mean, why can’t they stay in their own country and mind their own business?
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