“What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than
men, and that as a result he’s certain he’ll go to heaven if he cuts your
throat?” – Voltaire
I used to doubt the existence of karma until Arlene Foster was deposed so publicly and with ruthless humiliation, as the Tory Prime Minister whose political “death warrant” her party helped to sign (Mrs May) and over the very same issue – Brexit. Although I genuinely felt sorry for Arlene on a human level and recognise the problems she faced trying to moderate her party, just as her predecessors fought the same battles in an ongoing ideological war within the Democratic Unionist Party. This is best articulated not by a 29 year old like myself, but by the former metaphorical “High Priest” of Unionism – Peter Robinson, who has warned of the risk of division this leadership contest will inevitably create.
Ultimately, it is a battle for the soul of Unionism between a more hardline Paisleyite and a more moderate, former Ulster Unionist. And while I wish both would lose, there can only be one winner in a two horse race. Mr Poots believes in creationism, as is his right, and has spoken of having to “hold his nose” in doing business with the main Nationalist party, before. I personally would feel not just woeful if he does become leader and decides who will be First Minister but a touch embarrassed by some of his utterances in this day and age. Not that Mr Donaldson is a radical progressive, but he seems a man of a more pragmatic political disposition. And of course it’s perfectly possible to lead Unionism from Westminster, after all, Ian Paisley did so for decades even when he was numerically outflanked by Ulster Unionists.
I applaud the good will and sense of positivity with which Mr Paisley approached his role as First Minister and the leader of Unionism. I wish he had gone on being leader and gone on being successful in his outreach. But let’s be honest about it – DUP leaders are often made the scapegoats when difficult compromises are needed to move things forward. Mr Paisley wasn’t brought down by Sinn Fein or Nationalism but by those who got elected on the back of his brand and the party he established then “knifed” him in the back. That is the Shakespearean tragedy that befalls most Unionist leaders – their own flock throw them to the wolves rather than their ideological adversaries.
Who wins pride and place in the current battle zone of Loyalism is a matter for a mere 36 people within the DUP. They have the potential to bring down power-sharing again, of course. However, let me address that fear among people who want to see the peace accords work and avoid Direct Rule. It was not a Sinn Fein representative who decided to put a border in the Irish Sea, it was a British government with a massive parliamentary majority to enforce it. It was not a Sinn Fein representative that imposed mandatory coalition, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the Downing Street Declaration, the abolition of the ‘B-Specials’, the civil rights legislation and more. It was a British government with a parliamentary majority to enforce those things. All of these “betrayals” of Unionism came from those sitting in London, not Belfast, Washington or Dublin. And it will be the crowd gathered in Whitehall who administer the knock out blow that is a border poll which ends the mutilation of this island once and for all because of the bureaucratic headache these six counties have created in implementing Brexit.
My point is very simple. The common ground between any Unionist leader and the representatives of Nationalism should always be a serious distrust of sovereign United Kingdom governments. There is no monopoly anymore on the judiciary, the police, commerce, the civil service, the professions and the levers of power here, as there was since the historic betrayal of (all Ireland) Irish Unionism in 1921. They are a busted flush by way of undue influence and without the material support and intelligence afforded to them during the conflict by the British, they cannot mount any kind of violent backlashes of old other than mere skirmishes with the PSNI and political rants on top of rubbish bins.
A wise leader of Nationalism will use this crisis as an opportunity to reach out further and further to the Unionist/Loyalist community, and make them aware they will suffer no such injustice in a united Irish Republic. Contrary to some of their hysteria, they will (as Pearse prophetically predicted) be better off “in an Irish government which respects them rather than on the floor of a British parliament which ignores them.” Whether it is Edwin or Jeffrey who wears the political crown is really of little impact on the process, as London will just drive it through above their heads anyway.
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