Michael McDowell, who incidentally played no part in forging the Good Friday Agreement nor has had his life changed by that Agreement, has a column in today’s Irish Times: ‘Renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement Looks Inevitable.’
In it he makes several claims. One is that the dissident republican display in Derry at the weekend represents “a vein of hatred” and is there “to be mined and exploited for political purposes, especially in the run-up to the Assembly elections on May 5th.”
He goes on to condemn Mary Lou McDonald for her call to unionists to join in planning a new Ireland. This makes no more sense than if unionists “called on Sinn Féin or the SDLP to commence a journey of dialogue on how the Union could be made permanent.”
He expects Sinn Fein to be the largest party after the election in early May, but believes the DUP will refuse to return to Stormont, and so there will be long renegotiations of how Stormont should work – in other words, the Good Friday Agreement will be altered.
“So, yes, a dialogue is in the offing. But it’s not the dialogue that Mary Lou had in mind. It will be about a re-design of power-sharing – not about Irish unity.”
I sometimes wonder if Michael wouldn’t have made a very good used-car salesman – he is capable of presenting the non-existent as very real.
Take that bit about political parties “mining” the Derry violence of recent days. Of course all parties will try to comment on it in a way that might win them votes. It’s so long since Michael was in a position to look for votes he’s maybe forgotten that. It’s what politicians do.
As to the bit about calling on unionists to join with Sinn Fein in planning for a new Ireland, that’s not quite paralleled by talk of the DUP calling on nationalists and republicans to talk about the benefits of being in the UK. As it happens, a number of nationalists and republicans have wondered aloud why the DUP doesn’t tell us of the benefits of being part of a UK which is presently living out a fantasy of total sovereignty, even as the economy creaks and groans, and people scramble to keep up with rampant inflation. In addition, of course, a reunited Ireland is on its way – even Michael concedes that, though his is safely forty or fifty years away. It’ll be much sooner than that, Michael, I promise you; and involving unionists in planning for it is both practical and praiseworthy.
As for power-sharing being renegotiated after the election – I think not, Michael. The DUP are gambling in the Last Chance Saloon. If they lose and stalk away to do a bit of sulking, they’ll find when they return that the place they designed and love, Stormont, has a big sign saying “For Sale”.
Time to get out of the cul-de-sac on the hill, Michael, and get down to realising that the north-east of the island is planning to join you in something better than either of us has at present.
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