Peter Robinson: Sinn Fein holds an airbrush in one hand and a halo in the other

Even after all these years there are moments when remarks are made that can only be met with jaw-dropping disbelief.
Peter Robinson, a former first minister and DUP leader, writes a bi weekly column for the News Letter on alternate FridaysPeter Robinson, a former first minister and DUP leader, writes a bi weekly column for the News Letter on alternate Fridays
Peter Robinson, a former first minister and DUP leader, writes a bi weekly column for the News Letter on alternate Fridays

Sometimes it is just so two-faced and full of dark humour you cannot avoid doubling up in laughter at the sheer unvarnished visceral hypocrisy needed for someone to say it out loud.

At the last First Minister’s Question Time, Sinn Fein representative John O’Dowd took to his feet to scold Arlene Foster for meeting the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC).

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Adopting a Saint-like posture, reserved for the squeaky clean, he pronounced judgement upon unionism for meeting and seeking common cause “with armed loyalist groups”.

Adopting a Saint-like posture, reserved for the squeaky clean, John O’Dowd pronounced judgement on unionism for meeting “armed loyalist groups,” writes Peter RobinsonAdopting a Saint-like posture, reserved for the squeaky clean, John O’Dowd pronounced judgement on unionism for meeting “armed loyalist groups,” writes Peter Robinson
Adopting a Saint-like posture, reserved for the squeaky clean, John O’Dowd pronounced judgement on unionism for meeting “armed loyalist groups,” writes Peter Robinson

With an air of supercilious incorruptibility and a holier than thou assertiveness he pronounced the first minister’s actions to be mistaken and contrary to Executive policy.

A policy he clearly does not understand.

Yes, this is a leading member of the republican movement, in which Sinn Fein was welded to the Provisional IRA, and who seemed to be comfortable in his membership of Sinn Fein while the Provos engaged in mass murders, gruesome attacks, bank robberies and other major crimes.

The two-facedness of this position is so transparent that even the most brainwashed republican could not miss the glaring double standard.

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According to a 2015 report submitted to a former secretary of state by the PSNI and MI5 not only is the PIRA Army Council still in existence but “it exercises influence” over Mr O’Dowd’s party and “oversees both PIRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy”.

Last year the Garda Commissioner agreed with this view and more recently a review by MI5 and the PSNI assessed that the position was unchanged.

What is it they say people who live in glass houses shouldn’t do?

This, of course, in not the first time Sinn Fein has been openly critical of others for the very same activities in which the IRA had long been the prime participants. Nor indeed is it the first time I have alluded to this trait; nor, I suspect will it be the last.

So, why do they do it?

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This is not Sinn Fein simply attempting to re-write history.

This is Sinn Fein seeking to sketch and mould its identity for the future without taking ownership of its past. But Sinn Fein is not only trying to reinvent itself; this is Sinn Fein with an airbrush in one hand and a halo in the other, seeking to bury the bloody and barbaric activities of the republican movement as if they had never happened and cloaking itself in virtuous robes as the only true defenders of peaceful and democratic politics.

There can be no surprise that republican spin doctors would fabricate such a fake narrative but what baffles many within the unionist community is the compliance of so many in the press and media who never seek to call them out or question their spokesmen and women on the contrast between their present words and the republican movement’s former approach.

The media, with a few exceptions, by its unquestioning silence is contributing to the unwarranted gentrification of Sinn Fein and by its collective failure to hold up republican turpitudes to scrutiny are underwriting Sinn Fein’s factual revision.

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This trait was explained by Slugger O’Toole Editor, Mick Fealty, to the News Letter last year when he said, “We have accommodated ourselves to profoundly undemocratic norms and one of the ways this shows itself is a general unwillingness to subject certain groups to the norms of accountability ... and the idea that some people can be excused from that accountability on the basis that it is too political to subject them to accountability is a perfect example of that departure from democratic norms.”

Sinn Fein should not be protected from criticism and accountability because of its past. It is a party in government and its past is part of who it is and must be addressed if its leaders make pronouncements which are at odds with the organisations past behaviour.

Surely it is in the public interest to hear an explanation for the metamorphism of Sinn Fein.

This is not to force or encourage Sinn Fein to remain linked to its past. Far from it.

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This provides an opportunity for Sinn Fein to take responsibility for its past, apologise for it and set a new course.

If any unionist was to act with such dexterity and reverse his or her position they would be pilloried or at least unmercifully exposed — repeatedly.

If the acquiescence of the media is difficult to justify, then the SDLP echoing the Sinn Fein narrative is as puzzling as it is self-incriminating.

The SDLP seems to have forgotten its role in opening up a pan-nationalist front with republicans in the midst of the Provo terror campaign.

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How is it possible to criticise Arlene for meeting the LCC — an organisation that is not proscribed — when they engaged in a series of meeting to facilitate an active terrorist group.

This is an indefensible double standard.

Let’s have a level playing field.

No more polite velvet glove treatment of Sinn Fein whilst dishing out rage and fury upon unionists.

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