LET’S see if I’ve got this right…
The DUP is still firmly of the belief that the IRA army council continues to exist. The DUP is firmly of the belief despite an absence of evidence that Sinn Féin is inextricably linked to the IRA. And yet the DUP is upset that First Minister Michelle O’Neill didn’t attend two cabinet briefings to discuss the US and Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran and the plight of UK and Irish passport holders in the Middle East.
We’re not sure what form the briefings took and I’d be very surprised if deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly – who got a permission slip from Ms O’Neill to attend the briefings – was given chapter and verse on the war-readiness of the British military in the relevant theatre. Nevertheless, the briefings of necessity contained sensitive information that Jo and Joe Soap aren’t privy to, as Ms Little-Pengelly acknowledged in expressing her disappointment at the non-presence of Ms O’Neill. “These briefings will give us an overview of what is happening in a military sense in the region to inform us about the impact of this conflict on the UK,” she said.
Now I’m no Jason Bourne, but I’d say that the Iranians would be very interested in what was being said at those briefings. And it is only a short leap from that inarguable fact to the equally obvious assertion that the UK don’t particularly want Iran to know what was said about “what’s happening in a military sense in the region”. And they certainly don’t want Iran to know the UK’s Gulf evacuation plans if the ball ends up on the slates.
Now let’s take a look at what DUP leader Gavin Robinson said just this week about the IRA and Iran. Telling us he would not “argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not”, Mr Robinson added that Iran “has had very strong connections with terrorists who tried to destroy Northern Ireland”. And in case you’re wondering who Mr Robinson was talking about, Mrs Little-Pengelly said during Executive Office questions: “I am absolutely baffled as to why some in this chamber support, or appear to support that regime,” adding, “When I looked up why that possibly could be, it was very clear that, for example, Sinn Féin have had a long-running relationship with the Iranian regime going back many, many decades.”
PERMISSION SLIP: Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly got the go-ahead to attend from First Minister Michelle O’Neill
So let’s see if we can bundle this up...
The DUP at the very highest level believes that Sinn Féin has been close to the Islamic Republic of Iran since the 1979 revolution (I’m assuming that the DUP will concede that the Chucks weren’t close to the Shah). The DUP thinks the IRA army council exists and is still in control of Sinn Féin. And yet the deputy First Minister says it’s “genuinely disappointing” that Sinn Féin have refused to attending a briefing to hear select information on “what’s happening in a military sense in the region” and to figure out what’s going to happen to people from the North – Irish and British passport-holders alike.
Let’s imagine for a moment that the DUP is right. Let’s for a second suspend our critical faculties and imagine the IRA are still knocking about (although nobody’s seen them). And let’s further imagine that this armed but invisible and inactive group are still in charge of Sinn Féin. Does the DUP then think it’s right that a security briefing by His Majesty’s Government on what’s happening militarily in the Gulf should be attended by an insurgent political party allied to a blood-soaked terrorist gang? If they do then this peace process is a hell of a lot more successful than I every thought it would be.
It had occurred to me that perhaps the DUP now thinks the IRA is gone and that Sinn Féin is no longer connected in any way to it. But I had a chance to put that very question to failed DUP Lagan Valley parachutist Jonathan Buckley when we were on the radio together on Tuesday and he said nothing to suggest that the DUP think the Sinn Féin-Ra axis has even soured, much less disappeared.
Now let’s bend the matrix and ask ourselves what would have happened had Michelle O’Neill attended the briefing (which in my opinion she should have, given it was a Zoom call and the First Minister wouldn’t have had to stand and snap a salute when the blokes in green jumpers with patches on the elbows and sleeves entered the room). How do we think the DUP would have reacted to a story in the News letter along the following lines?
Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill today attended a briefing by senior UK government and army figures on the military situation in the Gulf.
Just as it occurred to them that there was a bit of political mischief to be made from Michelle O’Neill not attending the briefing, so it would have occurred that there’s a lot more political mischief to be made from Michelle O’Neill being briefed on UK military secrets.
The Duke of Wellington said of war that a battle won is almost as sad as a battle lost, and who won the battle of the briefings is not clear.
But we know nobody lost.
