Government of 'personal loathing and tunnel vision'
DOES anyone know what happened to the fairer deal, or the better deal, or even the anything-is-better-than-the-UUP deal which was promised as long ago as November 2003? I only ask, because we haven't had any decisions made on a whole raft of issues since May last year and the Executive Committee hasn't met since this June.
The problem, of course, is that neither the DUP nor Sinn Fein has any interest in collective government or genuine cooperation. Each seeks to govern exclusively in the interests of its own community.
And this is what they wanted; for had they wanted something different they would have negotiated it at St Andrews. Instead, they agreed on a mutual veto (which would be to Sinn Fein's advantage) and a change in the legislation which determined which party leader could designate himself as First Minister (which would be to the DUP's advantage).
But since Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are actually co-equals the political equivalent of the two-headed pushmipullu and since neither can function without the knowledge and approval of the other, we now have government based on personal loathing and tunnel vision.
Neither can give a concession to the other, because both sold the St Andrews Agreement on the basis that they, individually, "ran the show". The DUP is now hampered by the TUV on the right, while Sinn Fein is getting increasing stick from those republican diehards who wonder what part of "A Nation Once Again" is represented by Stormont, ministerial cars and support for the police.
Even the grassroots supporters of both parties are probably growing a little weary of the "we really are in control" mantra tumbling unconvincingly from the respective leaderships. Yes, the DUP can put the brakes on Sinn Fein ambitions and vice versa; but since neither can deliver an alternative, it simply means that no decision gets made. And the inability to thwart your opponent makes you look both weak and incompetent.
So, how does the stalemate get broken? Well, as Sir Reg Empey said on Saturday, it seems inevitable that the British and Irish Prime Ministers will have to host an inter-party get-together in early September: which means that Peter and Gerry will trot off to some fancy-pants mansion with their shopping lists, and, in what amounts to car-boot diplomacy, will hand over some valuables in exchange for some tat, while blaming Gordon and Biffo for bullying them into compromise.
And both will then issue identically worded statements insisting, that "we took these risks and decisions in the name of peace and progress". Let's be honest, a blind, one-legged monkey could now orchestrate these regular farragoes.
There is talk already of a vat of fudge being boiled in preparation for some movement on Policing and Justice. Now, I think the Alliance Party would be remarkably stupid to bail out the DUP and Sinn Fein on this one; but since they have a long and consistent record of remarkable stupidity in these matters, I'm sure they can be relied upon to step up to the plate on this occasion, too.
Yet I really would urge them to resist the lure of office or any other blandishment. More fudge is the last thing we need. The DUP and Sinn Fein got themselves, the Executive Committee and the Assembly itself into this mess and they must be forced to sort it out for themselves.
Let's face it, the DUP and Sinn Fein will not allow the structures and institutions to collapse. For that's all that either of them has to show for 30 years of whingeing about the weakness and serial surrender of others, and anyway, it would probably take an exorcism or a stake through the heart to shift them from office at this stage.
The truth is that both are stuck in a time warp; believing that they can deliver their own separate and mutually contradictory agenda, even though the mechanisms they require don't actually exist. Northern Ireland has changed, but the DUP and Sinn Fein are clinging firmly to the wreckage of their old ideologies and pretending that a retreat from the present realities is a possibility for them. It isn't.
That's the real problem with the fundamentalism which forms the core of both parties; for it either inclines towards totalitarian ambition (which neither can pull off, fortunately) or, in its minimalist form, balkanizes society into mutually hostile and incommunicative camps, threatening the very social and political peace and civility without which democracy cannot survive.
Since neither party seems capable of cooperation based on genuine trust and a willingness to share a vision of government, it seems likely that the process between now and the Assembly election due in 2011 will be mean spirited, begrudging and hobbling. If the UUP (with or without a relationship with the Conservatives – and I hope it will be with) and SDLP can get their acts together by then and offer opportunities based on a common approach to governing, then there may yet be a major surprise when the votes are counted in three years' time.
The DUP/Sinn Fein carve-up of office has been horrendously bad in terms of devolution being seen to make a real and positive difference here. Indeed, there is little, if any, hard evidence, that what we have now is either better than, or preferable to the once despised Direct Rule. The novelty of Paisley/McGuinness has gone. The deal-we-never-thought-we-would-see story has become threadbare, too. Unless Sinn Fein and the DUP can prove that they are serious about this process, then it seems likely that the electorate will give up on them – if not the process.
There is every reason, therefore (indeed, it is essential), for the UUP and SDLP to rebuild, reach out and consider other ways of meeting the needs of a modern Northern Ireland. If the DUP and Sinn Fein continue the way they have been going – and I see no reason for thinking otherwise – then there will have to be a credible, viable and available alternative for 2011. As Gerry and Peter have now discovered, the problem with stealing other people's clothes, is that they usually don't fit you.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 3 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
