By this stage I’m sure you will all have seen Jim Allister speaking to a crowd of angry Loyalists from a 40 foot trailer in Newtownards, bedecked with Union and Ulster flags and joined by people like Kate Hoey, Ben Habib and the one and only, Jamie ‘Bin Lid’ Bryson with his now iconic tacky Union flag tie. Quite the company. With all Jim’s bluster and shouting, he is positioning himself as the next Rev. Ian Paisley – something Peter Robinson, Arlene Foster and the short-lived but explosive Edwin Poots could not achieve. I have no doubt that those who were present at that protest in Newtownards will all vote for the TUV in the next election for no other reason than the DUP have now been seen to have given in to Sinn Fein and somehow, through a language act have handed the North to the EU.
What no Unionist politician has pointed out, or will ever point out to these people, is that an Irish Language Act will never remove the North from the UK, that is a fact! The only vehicle that can do this is a border poll and no Unionist politician will ever promote that due to the fact that there is a high possibility they will lose that vote, something that wasn’t an issue even five years ago and something Loyalism may be kicking itself over at this very minute due to the fact the tide of demographics is catching up with them.
What struck me was the difference between the average protest with a band and a few bedraggled protestors and what emerged in Newtownards. Jim Allister would have been invited to that protest, not surprisingly the DUP weren’t. Those behind that protest, the organisers, clearly have a lot of influence to gather up so many protestors, bands and high-profile speakers, one of whom,not surprisingly is the man sapping the life out of the DUP support and votes – Jim Allister. I personally have heard from quite a few within the Loyalist community and from Loyalist work colleagues that people are being ‘directed’ to vote for the TUV in the next election by not so friendly people represented by the LCC…whether Jim likes it or not, because apparently, he doesn’t like the LCC.
One thing I didn’t hear Jim Allister say was that we share this little stateen (to borrow a term from Jude). Nowhere in Jim’s speech did he mention anything about parity of esteem for Nationalists, Republicans or anyone else for that matter. Nowhere did he mention the fact that language rights are afforded to their respective communities in all other parts of these islands. What was seen in Jim Allister’s speech was Unionism personified, Unionism in its purest unadulterated form. A dangerous speech, bolstered by cheers of “No Surrender” and shouts of “Never” when the ‘Irish Republic’ was mentioned. What we see in Jim Allister now, is what the DUP was in 1971, with a sole intention of suppressing Nationalism, killing off the NI Protocol which has seen trade between the North and South of Ireland sky rocket by 61% and withholding rights. That might work but for a few small problems – Unionism is a minority, it is 2021, Stormont is shared and the EU brought us more prosperity than a direct link to ‘GB’ ever did.
On the point of the Irish Language Act and the deal Edwin Poots did with Sinn Fein and Brandon Lewis, Jim shouted – “Yesterday was a victory for ransom politics yet again. Another victory for an insatiable (cue crocodile tears) Sinn Fein. A victory for those who said, ‘Unless we get our way over Irish language then there’ll be no Stormont.” I have a problem with this. At some point society and the media have to begin challenging this falsehood that every right afforded is a concession to Sinn Fein. To conflate the right of an Irish Language Act with a concession to Sinn Fein is downright disingenuous and is political Unionism playing a very dangerous game with its own people. It is literally connecting the rights of the Irish Language community to Sinn Fein alone and using it to rile up Loyalism against an entire community, let’s not forget, all other parties in the Executive except for the Unionist parties signed a letter calling for Westminster to legislate for an ILA. For decades Unionist politicians have used any talk of an ILA to drive opposition against almost everything. It has been used to bolster opposition against Irish language schools, against sharing power and I’ve even heard it used against the Parades Commission.
One thing I did hear Jim Allister say was that the “Dublin’s choice – peace or protocol” banner was “wholly inappropriate” and “reckless.” The placard also had a picture of the UVF gun running ship, the SS Clyde Valley which was obviously a clear threat of violence if Loyalism doesn’t get its way.
I mentioned earlier that Jim Allister is positioning himself as the next Rev. Ian Paisley. However, Jim doesn’t possess the same charisma that Ian Paisley flaunted so readily…but he doesn’t need it. Unionism and Loyalism are looking for, nay begging for a leader to cling to, a leader who will shout and bawl and say the right things which will dig heels deeper into ‘Loyalist’ Ulster’s green sod. People have said to me “Agh, it’s just the TUV”, but a word of caution, the TUV are the DUP on Red, White and Blue steroids at this point. Jim Allister has been patiently waiting for his moment to strike a blow to the DUP and through Edwin Poots and the splintering within the ranks they have handed Jim his coup de grâce moment…and he’s about to take it.
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