So – is Bernadette McAliskey right? She’s suggested that they should bulldoze Stormont: “We are on a hiding to nothing changing racism and sectarianism”.
I have always liked Bernadette. She’s a fearless Tyrone woman who has never hesitated to say what she believes or even do what she thinks needs doing, like slapping Reginald Maudling about in the House of Commons when he claimed that Bloody Sunday soldiers had fired on civilians in self-defence. She’s paid for her courage, too: both she and her husband were the subject of a murderous attack which left her with fourteen bullets in her body. While I know she has done heroic work with immigrants in the Dungannon area, I’ve always felt she was a terrible loss to Irish politics in general. I don’t agree with all her views but I admire her.
There’s just one thing I don’t like about her: she makes me feel stupid. When she makes a statement, I instinctively want to applaud it; then I tell myself to hold on, because I don’t really understand what I’m about to applaud.
Take that statement “We are on a hiding to nothing changing racism and sectarianism”. I think she means we’re making no progress in those two areas, but I’m not quite sure. If that is what she means, I think she’s partly right: racism and sectarianism haven’t gone away from here. But I think, contrary to the views of many, that sectarianism has lessened. Protestant clergy meet with Catholic clergy and exchange views on a regular basis; so do Protestant and Catholic laity. Former unionist leaders like Peter Robinson and Mike Nesbitt have said they’d look at proposals for a united Ireland, even if they didn’t plan to agree to them. The Eleventh Night bonfires still display Irish flags and Catholic icons, but some progress has been made in persuading the pyromaniacs to restrain their actions if only in the interest of not igniting their neighbour’s house. But Bernadette is right regarding sectarianism and housing – over 90% of us live in areas where our own kind are in the majority, and we like it like that.
But to come back to Bernie – should we bulldoze Stormont? Well, it depends on what is on offer to replace it. Direct rule from Westminster? Thanks but no thanks. Joint government from London and Dublin? Better, but no cigar. Westminster is run at present by budget-slashing Tories; the south is run by people who came through the Celtic Tiger years and still didn’t put a decent health service together. I’d trust neither of them.
I believe we need a new Stormont, if only because when people who aren’t that friendly work on a joint project, they learn to know each other and often to like each other. But it must be a joint project: one that both parties sincerely want to work, and work which is worth working for. Dismissive comments such as “The two main parties can’t agree” are dumb stuff. Examine what the two parties can’t agree about and you’ll see that republicans and nationalists want – yes, and it’s incredible to say it – they want civil rights. They want the same level of provision for the Irish language that Scotland and Wales have for their language. They want the truth about the past, even if it does put a few stains on the white hats worn by law-and-order. They want delivery on stuff like a Bill of Rights that was promised, in a signed agreement, years ago. By? By Britain.
It’s not really a big ask. But denial of same tells us depressing things about those who deny. If that really is the permanent position of the DUP, I’ll echo Bernie: bring on the bull-dozers.
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