Sinn Fein/IRA = "Racist bigots"

I’m sure you have all heard by now of the statement made yesterday by Sinn Fein/IRA MLA Martina Anderson in which she called for immigrant workers to be dropped from employment statistics in Northern Ireland because they are the “wrong type of Catholics”. It is reassuring to see Sinn Fein/IRA living up to their slogan of “An Ireland of equals”, and is certainly a reminder that the racialist Republican ideology of De Valera’s day “hasn’t gone away you know”.

Her statement has a relation to the area of policing (she is on the Policing board after all), as well as employment generally, and she would appear to be suggesting that the numbers of Catholics in the PSNI shown by the statistics are inaccurate because they do not distinguish between Irish Catholics and Catholics who have emigrated here more recently. She would seem to be suggesting that political ideology should also play a role in police recruitment (something which surely Sinn Fein/IRA of all people would cite as a reason why Nationalists had low confidence in the Police in the past!!).

It is unsurprising that there has been much adverse reaction to her statement, including accusations of “stunning undisguised bigotry” and the labelling of Sinn Fein/IRA as a “bunch of racists and fascists”. It’s hard to disagree with either of those.

According to Martina, if you’re not a White Republican then you’re not a REAL Catholic.

The Price of Devolution

You would be forgiven for thinking that the grass has never been greener in Northern Ireland; we have the American billionaire Donald Trump interested in investing in our economy; we have had the First and Deputy First Ministers jetting off promoting their new found friendship to the world and declaring Northern Ireland ‘open for business’; and the football team have demonstrated their ability to the world (lets not talk about the rugby).

It is with regret that some within this country are not content with relative peace and have resorted to what they know best; hate crime and a deluded sense of justice. We have had another Orange Hall attacked in Crumlin with the Grand Secretary, Drew Nelson, calling it part of an ‘organised campaign’. Gerry Adams, MP for West Belfast, has summed up what these attacks are:

"Such attacks are motivated by sectarianism and have no place in this society,"

Thanks Gerry. I think you will find that attacks on Orange Halls throughout this country and at all times in its history have been motivated by sectarianism. It was not too long ago that this incident happened. The problem is if this type of behaviour has been justified and legitimised in the past then it is difficult to suddenly change the record and expect it to be, in the eyes of the perpetrator, criminal and sectarian now.

Then we have the brutal murder of Paul Quinn which has disturbing echoes of the Robert McCartney murder; a grieving family and a wall of silence by Sinn Fein. These types of events do not happen in a society based on the rule of law where each human life should be valued.

During the coming months when the government will be judged on competency in office, criminal behaviour, murder and hate crime must not be brushed under the carpet to avoid unsettling those now working together. Justice is required by society to show that devolution is working and that the bona fides of those in government are the real deal.

A Questionable Ally

Whilst waiting in an Airport in Scotland yesterday I bought a newspaper to pass the time. I chose the Telegraph and was very interested in this.

To use his own words, the Union has now become Mr Cameron’s “top priority”. Whilst on the mainland they might be asking exactly how many top priorities a Leader of the Opposition can have ( the NHS, Environment?) I will focus on the Union aspect of the speech.

It would be something of a formality for me as a unionist to welcome the statement, as unionism needs all the allies it can get, but my gut instinct is one of suspicion. I ask, exactly why is The Union a priority at all? I am worried that it needs to be, and the sooner the public gets back to believing the Union is an assumed fact of everyday life, the better.

But that’s not going to happen anytime soon is it? With nationalists, who seek to destroy our country, in all niches of government the Union is, sadly, a matter for dispute. In addition to this, some Englishmen feel injusticed that they have the lowest spending per head, whilst public services aren’t a shadow of those in Scotland or Wales.

English nationalism is, most probably, the greatest threat to the Union at the moment. I am relieved that the Conservatives, broadly speaking a very English based party has not succumbed to the easy option here. Matters are not made any better by our own first minister flirting with the nationalist Alex Salmond MP MSP in some sort of attempt to extract more money from the treasury and fuel further resentment.

Now David Cameron is not the only well known national politician to try the patriotic line. The Prime Minister has spoken of ‘Britishness’ quite often of late.Yet this variety is of the England/Scotland/Wales variety, and quite often, we in Northern Ireland aren’t given a second thought. Mr Cameron neither mentions Northern Ireland specifically, but the Telegraph reports that “His feelings to England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster are particularly warm” and his party are trying to organise here, so on the whole, Unionism has something of an ally on the other side of the Irish Sea, which must be developed.

Whilst my initial reaction to Unionism being an issue was hostile, I now believe that whilst the entire population of the UK are now interested in it, there is an opportunity available to Northern Ireland Unionists. Make a positive case for the union – people are interested, so don’t the chance slip by before it’s too late

"Traditional Unionist voice"

I would like to give a cautious welcome to the announcement by Jim Allister on Friday that a new Unionist movement has been created.

The charge has been levelled at Mr Allister that the only outcome of any new movement would be the fracturing of the Unionist vote, precipitating an over-representation of Republicans in any future election. However, while this may be a valid reason for concern, I would put forward that a far greater concern for Unionism is that a worryingly large number of Unionists at the last Assembly didn’t even vote at all. Perhaps Jim is correct when he said in his statement on Friday that “many feel they now have no one to vote for”. I would suggest that failing to engage with that problem is what most risks allowing nationalists to gain an upper-hand. If “Traditional Unionist Voice” can succeed in motivating those disillusioned Unionists into re-engaging with politics, then I believe it can only be a good thing. We should not forget either that the disillusionment of which I speak is not only refined to the “lunatic fringe”, but also plagues those who would wish to see politics in this country be based on real issues of policy and good governance, and I await with interest to see if this new movement can successfully embrace those people, who are as equally under-represented by the current arrangement.

Re-enfranchising the disillusioned is something that everyone should be trying to achieve, and in the year ahead, the first in a long time where there isn’t a prospect of an election, it seems the perfect opportunity for politicians to pursue that aim under slightly less pressured conditions. It will no-doubt ensure an interesting new year for Unionism.