THE combined actions and inactions of the DUP and the Orange Order this week tell of a unique local psychosis of being at once deeply insecure and at the same time incredible arrogant. How lovely to have a home-grown disorder. It is almost as if they don’t want the place to work at all.
The Orange Order privately wrote to King Charles Windsor about their concerns about him praying with Pope Leo XIV. In said loyal letter, they told Charles that he had broken his bond, watered down his oath, appeased Islam and bent the knee to a church of heretical priests. They also bandied about victimhood for good measure. One wonders how it did not bring Buck House to a standstill!
But evidently the Palace didn’t give them enough attention, or rather the attention they felt they deserved, so in their wisdom they made the private correspondence public within the week. No 70-year secret files there! And clearly zero diplomats. But there you go – the Reformation was protected by the Orange. The next time the Orange Order wants to present itself as an embracing cultural organisation seeking a wing of pounds, bear this week in mind.
In parallel, the DUP once more confirmed our certainty that the DUP is not interested in governance but rather in power. Very few ever thought that the DUP would attend the inauguration of Catherine Connolly, and the will they/won’t they was incredibly tedious. At this stage we all know where we stand. There is zero respect for Irishness from the DUP. They don’t respect our citizenry, our traditions, our culture or our heads of state. And they do not respect Irish citizens living North of the border, our rights, or our interests. Sending out a tweet giving an excuse and wishing Catherine Connolly well “recognising that this is undoubtedly a significant personal honour for her” was the most gritted-teeth non-acknowledgement statement possible. That it surprised absolutely no one was possibly the saddest part of it.
DUP offices in Stormont should be employing physiotherapists at this stage for the creaks in their brass necks looking over their shoulders at the TUV and Jim Allister. The weakness and the smallness of current positions, including the dismissal of Casement Park in recent days, remind us all of the last days of Stormont in 2017. They aren’t even trying to make powersharing work. It reminds the DUP of it too and one can’t help but wonder is it a ploy to get Sinn Féin to pull it down so they might gain a little traction in the Ballymena hinterlands.
All of which reconfirms the urgency to find an alternative to this passive, cold-war aggression. Just like a psychosis, it is unhealthy and needs urgent attention before more harm is caused. The answer is not blowing in the wind, it is, despite Hilary Benn’s denials, being spoken of every day in every place of congregation. This week is even further evidence that the questions of how we find a pathway of inclusion, participation and consent towards Irish unity cannot be delayed any longer.
Unionism, especially the incalcitrant, know this too, despite their tactics speeding it up. Our citizenry can no longer be held hostage to terminal decline and Political unionism’s prolonged nervous breakdown. This matter must appear on the agenda of the Intergovernmental Conference and progress must begin.
