I HAVE questions. Not about why the DUP won’t do a deal (yet). We know the answers to that. We know that fear replaced courage in the DUP a long time ago.
Fear of the changing constitutional environment. Fear of the responsibility of accountable governance. Fear of the obligations of power sharing. Fear of the monsters they have colluded with in their own community. The fear of a weird blogger/loyalist representative/doorman/taxi call guy in Donaghadee. Fear of their own colleagues who have as much loyalty to each other as hyenas fighting over the last dead corpse in the Serengeti.
Take your pick. Any or all of the above, plus whatever you are having yourself.
No, I have other, other, questions. In the 25th year of the Good Friday Agreement why has Strand One become political Unionism’s baby blanket? Why is there a media paroxysm of concern for the DUP and its leader’s capabilities and his will-he-won’t-he posturing? Why are we having exclusive political analysis entirely framed by the DUP and its relationship with London? Why are the other two-thirds of the voting population expected to put up with this framing? Where is the Irish dimension in this discussion? And where in God’s name is the Irish government? And... why are so-called negotiations about our collective future happening in 'Royal' Hillsborough Castle rather than a neutral venue?
So great is the singular obsession with the DUP that the BBC went to Coalisland, heart of Michelle O’Neill’s constituency, to ask her constituents what they would say to... yes, Jeffrey Donaldson... after being in Lisburn to ask the constituents of Jeffrey Donaldson’s constituency what they would say to... yes, Jeffrey Donaldson.
In June this year the Irish government provided 10 million Euros so nursing places at colleges here could be maintained. Two million Euros was provided from Dublin so that students can re-engage with the vital Erasmus programme, lost following Brexit. 500 million Euros is being invested through the Shared Island Unit, and imaginatively by communities across the north, to fill the devastating gaps caused by British government under-investment and divestment and the economic impacts of Brexit. In November the Irish government, to date actively excluded from the necessary conversations, stated that it stands willing to go further and invest in a financial package in order to help restore Stormont.
However, that fiscal commitment stands secondary to the primary obligation of all parties to ensure that the Irish government, and by extension the interests of all Irish citizens who live here, is properly involved in the negotiations on the restoration of Stormont. Hiding behind some glib reference to Strand One being an “internal matter” is a deliberate pretence. Hosting talks in Hillsborough with a disengaged Secretary of State “Going back to London” about funding packages is pretence. Pretence that the DUP insists we believe. Pretence London cares one jot. Pretence this place has not changed irreversibly. Pretence the Good Friday Agreement can be morphed to serve the exclusive interests of political unionism. And, most of all, pretence that the future lies exclusively with London and not together on this island.
But this is one Christmas story we will not “believe” in. All of our citizens together, with both governments, will forge our future, whether in Stormont, or in Leinster House. There is no third option of pretence, no matter how much holly and ivy is used to dress it up.
Nollaig shona!
