The Doom and Gloom of NI Unionism by Michael Lagan

The British Government has all but stopped listening to the doom and gloom voices of the DUP.  The likes of Sammy Wilson who was happy to congratulate the UDA openly in early January 1994, when it released a document calling for repartition combined with ethnic cleansing or even genocide of Catholics, with the goal of making Northern Ireland wholly Protestant. The plan was to be implemented should the British Army withdraw from Northern Ireland (we’ll see soon enough), or Arlene Foster’s crocodile quip in that if Sinn Fein (surely not the Irish language community?) gained an Irish Language Act, they would keep coming back for more.

The reason the DUP and indeed NI Unionism as a whole, from grassroots to political are being pushed to the bottom of the pile is that they refused and continue to refuse to talk to nationalists and republicans properly in a bid to run the institutions.  British King Charles’ meeting with the Stormont leaders left a sour taste in the mouth of Unionism when it was clear Charles was more interested in those willing to make peace and get Stormont working than those willing to hold it down.  Today, Gavin Robinson of the DUP urged Joe Biden, President of a little-known country called America, to steer clear of promoting increased Dublin involvement in the affairs of NEI.  In an Ireland knitted together as one country, why would the Northern Executive and the Dail not want to work more closely?  Because that would mean progress, friendship and would be a positive step in the right direction, something the likes of Sammy Wilson cringes at when thought about.  The way Unionists were acting one would almost think Biden was of British heritage rather than Irish.

Casement Park…One Unionist, when asked about Northern Ireland football fans calling for parity of funding if the GAA gets an additional £50 million of taxpayer’s money to rebuild Casement Park said – “How can a sport with direct links to Irish Republican terrorism receive a single penny.”  Will we mention Northern Ireland flags with UDA and UVF crests on them? Or flags with Linfield crests in the middle flanked by UDA and UVF crests? It’s always negative, always dividing, and always anti-Irish or anti-nationalist.  Northern Irish Unionism’s entire point of being, is to keep Irish and Catholics down.  It was their raison d’être in 1921 and it continues to be their raison d’être today in 2023.  It’s sad, old, and doesn’t work anymore.

Past Unionist leaders have urged current leaders to reach out to nationalism to build a stronger ‘Northern Ireland’, something which should have happened long ago, but to no avail.  Not only is little effort made to react to this call but it seems to be largely ignored with all but the most idiotic Loyalist bloggers grabbing hold of the request and running with it…in a negative manner.  

Northern Irish Unionism has a problem that it needs to grapple with.  Does it carry on its tired old rhetoric of ‘Never, Never, Never’ or does it stand up and say ‘Yes, let’s make it happen’.  Even if that ‘yes’ was only the quietest of whispers, it would still be a defining moment in NEI history (that’s how bad it is) and would show, at least for now that they’re willing to work with everyone else in a positive way rather than holding an entire people back by constantly saying ‘No’.

“The DUP from the latter stages of Ian Paisley’s leadership broadened its base and with it the party’s appeal. This necessitates leading the party from the centre of unionism and not its extremes.  Move to the edges and you lop off an important portion of people at the other end of the party spectrum. This is the route to minority status. It’s not rocket science.” 

– Peter Robinson.