Clearing up the Mess
Clearing up the Mess
It has been an appalling few weeks for politicians, political parties, indeed the entire political process in Northern Ireland.
Now that a deal appears to have been done the true extent of the damage will start to be revealed. All four parties are either in crisis or face serious problems.
For the DUP questions remain over the leadership of the party: how much damage has the Iris affair done to Peter Robinson? That issue has effectively been in suspension during the talks. Salacious rumours continue to be circulated about some party figures. Doubtless these are groundless but they are so widely spread that damage is inevitable. And if that wasn’t enough a rift has opened up within the DUP which threatens to exacerbate the threat already posed by an increasingly emboldened Jim Allister.
The UUP has made a complete mess of its new alliance with the Tory Party. One day we were told that the two parties were going to fight the next election together and were working towards establishing a non sectarian conservative unionism. The next we hear that the unionists were in secret talks convened by the Orange Order with the DUP. They are now back with the Tories, but the net result is confusion and muddle.
Tomorrow the SDLP will elect a new leader. It is hard to imagine a more difficult task in Irish politics – whoever wins faces a desperate battle to save the party from the brink of oblivion.
That doesn’t mean that Sinn Fein has anything to be smug about: the conduct of Gerry Adams in relation to the alleged paedophilia of his brother Liam has damaged him, but even more disturbing for the party has been its failure to make serious inroads into building support in the Republic – the dream of a strong all-Ireland party is in tatters.
But the problems lie deeper still – all these parties have collectively failed to provide good governance. They know that, the electorate knows that and they are going to have to up their game if they are to regain the trust and respect of the people who put them in office.
They should not underestimate the outrage they provoked by taking so long to stitch up a deal over Policing and Justice that should have been done months ago. And, even more damaging, their collective failure to explain the issues that divided them caused an impression that they were indulging in some arcane private game.It has been an appalling few weeks for politicians, political parties, indeed the entire political process in Northern Ireland.Now that a deal appears to have been done the true extent of the damage will start to be revealed. All four parties are either in crisis or face serious problems.
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