If the DUP, with all its power, influence, and might as King-makers in the past weren’t able to provide and bring about any positive outcomes for NEI, what on earth can we expect from the same blinkered, tired old rhetoric now. Instead of making NEI, Brexit and the NI Protocol work for everyone here (bearing in might we voted to Remain), the DUP squandered its king-maker status on snide, childish remarks such as – “We have put Boris on the naughty step” and before that, leaving Theresa May looking absolutely powerless by breaking down negotiations at the 11th hour between the UK and EU because the DUP weren’t happy with what was on the table. Think about that, 10 MPs in the context of the UK held all the power in their hands. 10 MPs were directing the UKs Brexit negotiations…and they were all from the DUP. But the DUP never learn, once the Tories realised they could get a super majority the game was up for the DUP and you can bet your last penny BoJo didn’t forget the “naughty step” remark.
However, over the past few days we have heard a very real softening of the DUP’s stance and wording around the Windsor Framework and when it will return to Stormont. Whispers are it will be after the next council election, using the momentum behind the boycott of the Executive to garner the support of the Unionist vote and most likely grabbing back the votes lost to the TUV last time round. Emma Little Pengelly has all of a sudden discovered working together is the best way forward for NEI, and will bring about a stable Executive which can only be good for NEI. Perhaps the DUP should have thought of that before walking out and collapsing the institutions in the first place leaving the North with no leadership throughout the cost-of-living crisis, at a time when the NHS is literally on its knees and our education system is falling apart. What beggar’s belief is that while the NI Protocol would have been great for NEI and Ireland in general, giving us unprecedented access to two massive markets the likes of which Scotland and may other countries would be jealous of, Unionism would rather NEI forego that opportunity…because there was an imaginary line down the Irish Sea. You can bet that once the DUP and Jim Allister and the balloon from Donaghadee start howling at the moon on an issue like this many more will follow.
An example of this howling at the moon came today in the form of Gary from Carrickfergus on the radio giving off about a lie going about that the DUP was under pressure to go back to Stormont and that there was no such pressure being exerted on it. He went on about the GFA and how while many (the smart people) were saying it was great and made peace possible, it would be “dead in the next couple of weeks”. He went on to say that the killing could start again if Unionism didn’t get its way and its constitutional rights guaranteed, something Unionism seems to consistently have a problem understanding in that the GFA does guarantee in black and white their constitutional rights and that ‘Northern Ireland’ will remain part of the UK until such times as a democratic vote is held and the good people of NEI vote otherwise. So, Gary wants the GFA gone but needs it to guarantee his constitutional place in the UK.
Make no mistake, pressure is most certainly mounting on the DUP to enter Stormont sooner than later. Even Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for this part of the world was putting pressure on the DUP…and he’s a Brexiteer – “I make no apologies for being proud of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and for wanting it to continue. Others who share that view should put the Union first, restore the devolved institutions and get on with the job of delivering for the people of Northern Ireland. Like David Trimble and David Ervine before in 1998, and Dr Paisley in 2006, real leadership is about knowing when to say yes and having the courage to do so.”
The DUP is stuck in a corner of its own making and Jeffrey Donaldson will at this moment be looking at ways to get back into Stormont without losing face while bringing the majority of NI Unionism and Loyalism with him…and that includes Loyalist paramilitaries and the Orange Order (of which Jeff is a member) who, I might remind you scuppered a deal when Sinn Fein collapsed Stormont last time round which left our institutions on the rocks for 3 years, and this is why our GFA needs reform so no one party can pull down an entire Executive.
Northern Irish Unionism and the DUP stands at a crossroads and all roads lead to Stormont. It’s not just any crossroads, but one strewn with the political fallout and debris they have left during their recent misguided, misinformed journey. Some might say the DUP have every right to drop the entirety of NEI in the proverbial brown stuff by walking out of Stormont in defiance and protest at how the British government has handled Brexit, the NI Protocol and now the Windsor Framework (NI Protocol MK2). The truth however, is far more elaborate than that. In walking out of Stormont they have misguided and misinformed their electorate (once again) into thinking the DUP can actually change anything about any of the documents, deals or Protocols mentioned. It can’t and it won’t and it never could and we’re where we are today because Unionism is so used to getting its own way that when it didn’t, it threw the strop of the decade.
If the DUP, with all its power, influence, and might as King-makers in the past weren’t able to provide and bring about any positive outcomes for NEI, what on earth can we expect from the same blinkered, tired old rhetoric now. Instead of making NEI, Brexit and the NI Protocol work for everyone here (bearing in might we voted to Remain), the DUP squandered its king-maker status on snide, childish remarks such as – “We have put Boris on the naughty step” and before that, leaving Theresa May looking absolutely powerless by breaking down negotiations at the 11th hour between the UK and EU because the DUP weren’t happy with what was on the table. Think about that, 10 MPs in the context of the UK held all the power in their hands. 10 MPs were directing the UKs Brexit negotiations…and they were all from the DUP. But the DUP never learn, once the Tories realised they could get a super majority the game was up for the DUP and you can bet your last penny BoJo didn’t forget the “naughty step” remark.
However, over the past few days we have heard a very real softening of the DUP’s stance and wording around the Windsor Framework and when it will return to Stormont. Whispers are it will be after the next council election, using the momentum behind the boycott of the Executive to garner the support of the Unionist vote and most likely grabbing back the votes lost to the TUV last time round. Emma Little Pengelly has all of a sudden discovered working together is the best way forward for NEI, and will bring about a stable Executive which can only be good for NEI. Perhaps the DUP should have thought of that before walking out and collapsing the institutions in the first place leaving the North with no leadership throughout the cost-of-living crisis, at a time when the NHS is literally on its knees and our education system is falling apart. What beggar’s belief is that while the NI Protocol would have been great for NEI and Ireland in general, giving us unprecedented access to two massive markets the likes of which Scotland and may other countries would be jealous of, Unionism would rather NEI forego that opportunity…because there was an imaginary line down the Irish Sea. You can bet that once the DUP and Jim Allister and the balloon from Donaghadee start howling at the moon on an issue like this many more will follow.
An example of this howling at the moon came today in the form of Gary from Carrickfergus on the radio giving off about a lie going about that the DUP was under pressure to go back to Stormont and that there was no such pressure being exerted on it. He went on about the GFA and how while many (the smart people) were saying it was great and made peace possible, it would be “dead in the next couple of weeks”. He went on to say that the killing could start again if Unionism didn’t get its way and its constitutional rights guaranteed, something Unionism seems to consistently have a problem understanding in that the GFA does guarantee in black and white their constitutional rights and that ‘Northern Ireland’ will remain part of the UK until such times as a democratic vote is held and the good people of NEI vote otherwise. So, Gary wants the GFA gone but needs it to guarantee his constitutional place in the UK.
Make no mistake, pressure is most certainly mounting on the DUP to enter Stormont sooner than later. Even Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for this part of the world was putting pressure on the DUP…and he’s a Brexiteer – “I make no apologies for being proud of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and for wanting it to continue. Others who share that view should put the Union first, restore the devolved institutions and get on with the job of delivering for the people of Northern Ireland. Like David Trimble and David Ervine before in 1998, and Dr Paisley in 2006, real leadership is about knowing when to say yes and having the courage to do so.”
The DUP is stuck in a corner of its own making and Jeffrey Donaldson will at this moment be looking at ways to get back into Stormont without losing face while bringing the majority of NI Unionism and Loyalism with him…and that includes Loyalist paramilitaries and the Orange Order (of which Jeff is a member) who, I might remind you scuppered a deal when Sinn Fein collapsed Stormont last time round which left our institutions on the rocks for 3 years, and this is why our GFA needs reform so no one party can pull down an entire Executive.
Comments are closed.