Letter: I fear we are building an inherent weakness into the unionist position and a time frame must now be set
A letter from R G McDowell:
Many of those unionists who advocated a return to the Stormont Executive without having first secured a restoration of Northern Ireland’s place within the UK did so on the basis that they need to win over middle ground voters and you can see the logic of that position if we had a level playing field.
The Irish Sea border, however, removes such a level playing field. The Irish Sea border exists because NI has not been recognised as a proper part of the UK.
This in effect means those in NI who consider themselves to be British have been deemed to be second class citizens.
By returning to the Stormont Executive we have removed any meaningful non-violent pressure to highlight this injustice and demand its correction.
While I don’t doubt the sincerity of fellow unionists in their belief, I fear we are building an inherent weakness into the unionist position.
Why would anyone who didn’t already feel a pretty strong sense of Britishness want to remain a second class citizen in the UK when they could be a first class citizen in a united Ireland?
Surely in the long term this will promote inclinations to Irish unification amongst middle ground voters and those who are new to the country.
You can even see evidence of some longstanding unionists engaging in the New Ireland debate.
Even amongst those who are firmly British won’t the next generation of unionists start to question the point of a Union that treats NI so badly if our leaders are telling us this is the best we can do.
I believe those unionists who advocated a return to Stormont must now set out a time frame by which they believe they will see further progress, and if that progress is not forthcoming the unionist family should review collectively if the return was the right thing to do.
R G McDowell, Belfast BT5