It is a privilege to offer readers an alternative unionist perspective. So let's put it out there. Given the general demeanour of extreme republicans, is it any wonder that confidence in restoring devolution is at its lowest point ever?
Unionism won the peace and unless someone starts a war again there is no peace process to protect. If the genuine desire of us Northern Irelanders is a bespoke power-sharing arrangement then let's do it and not leave a legacy full of regrets.
Bad decisions will ultimately impact on positive progress. Selling short promises is why unionism finds itself snared inside the out-of-date outworkings of the Belfast Agreement. It provided the prize of power-sharing but failed to incorporate the fail-safe of lasting terms and conditions.
The agreement should have been the means to shape the collective identity of all Northern Irelanders but it failed to achieve nationalist buy-in. As a worthy and worthwhile experiment this agreement has run its course and needs to be urgently reviewed.
The intention of the agreement was for the UUP and the SDLP to share power in perpetuity. Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, alongside the elitist great and good, rushed power-sharing with indecent haste. In truth no preparation to enter government was in place. Sinn Féin and the DUP did not support the Belfast Agreement. There were no provisions made for the potential demise of both the UUP and the SDLP.
Unionism is still in shock over the transfer of allegiance in droves from the SDLP to Sinn Féin. To those unionists who believed that constitutional nationalism should be accommodated in the governance of their country the surge in support for extreme republicanism is daunting.
The switch in unionist voting patterns was different in that the witless call to 'vote Mike and get Colm' was doomed to result in rejection by UUP voters.
Here's the rub. We have a lousy secretary of state and a prime minister with a propensity to dither, hanging onto the DUP's coat tails. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is fending off Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald's political advances. Elected MLAs are locked out of Stormont while Brexit marches ever closer. It is an intolerable kick in the teeth for democracy. Yet with imagination and lateral thinking, we don't need to remain trapped by polarised political inactivity.
A referendum on an Irish language act; on abortion; same sex marriage etc. would settle the arguments on what the people will accept or not accept. Also, we could counter the political impasse and the infantile idea of giving powers to civil servants with an alternative assembly.
Alternative in the sense that it is unconventional but better than a futile talking shop. Alternative in requiring that all local legislative measures are laid before the assembly by the British government. Alternative in that all MLAs would have sight of the legislation and give their opinions before the government makes its decisions. Alternative in bringing the secretary of state and her NIO ministerial team directly into the assembly to face open scrutiny in public.
It is not in the public's interest that we continue down a democratic blind alley. But it is in all our interests that having elected our representatives that they have an alternative mechanism to hold the government to account.
