Opinion

Tom Kelly: John Hume's formidable legacy should be honoured in Euro vote

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly is an Irish News columnist with a background in politics and public relations. He is also a former member of the Policing Board.

John Hume waved goodbye to European politics in 2004
John Hume waved goodbye to European politics in 2004 John Hume waved goodbye to European politics in 2004

IT is 2019 not 1929 but you would be hard pressed to know it if listening to the DUP.

In 1973 the late Brian Faulkner graciously said of the SDLP: "I believe them to be men of their word... we will make a fairly formidable combination in Ulster."

John Hume was one of those men. Paisley, of course demurred, saying that the Sunningdale Agreement was "nothing less than the first instalment and downpayment on an eventual united Ireland scheme".

Sunningdale wasn't, but now the trajectory for a united Ireland is set and it's thanks to the leaders of unionism.

No armalite is required when you have the toxic vocabulary of the DUP. They are like orange navvies paving a fast-track motorway all the way to Dublin.

At the launch of the DUP manifesto the leadership basically said it was the duty of all shades of unionism to prevent the SDLP retaking the seat of John Hume in Europe.

All those shades obviously include those Luddites in the TUV, through to Ukip and those tens of thousands of liberal unionists who recently converted from the UUP to Alliance.

It would seem what counts for the DUP is quite simple - that the winner of the third EU seat shouldn't kick with the 'left foot'.

If that's not true, why was there no major attack on their bête noire, Alliance.

They even are prepared to support the thoroughly decent Ulster Unionist remainer, Danny Kennedy, despite regularly undermining the beleaguered committed unionist, Theresa May.

Even though John Hume is long-retired from politics (and the world, through dementia), his reputation and his ideas still haunt the DUP.

They are still threatened by the scope of his internationalist vision for Northern Ireland. The authors of the 'Book of No' still fear Hume.

That is why anyone who believes in any form of progressive politics here and who is truly committed to believing that we are part of something wider than this shabby piece of divided space should consider on EU election day: what is a fitting legacy to John Hume?

Targeting the political ideas of John Hume and the SDLP is a far cry from the days when DUP posters cried 'Smash Sinn Féin' and an actual sledge hammer accompanied Mr Paisley to the press conference.

Last week there was no offer to include the third of unionists who voted to remain in the referendum.

No, it was just the same old clarion call to reject any form of progressive politics in favour of good old fashioned base sectarianism. And it is as coarse as that.

Sinn Féin also launched their campaign last week. Ms Anderson, the sitting MEP, said that people should vote pro-Remain parties.

Unlike her DUP opposition she made no mention of voting in preference of nationalist candidates on the ballot.

Commendable in some ways - except for the fact that Sinn Féin are usually first out of the traps to call for electoral pacts with the SDLP and their constant electoral message has been about maximising the nationalist vote.

More recently they have been focusing on a border poll and encouraging the growth of civic nationalism.

Could it be that whilst openly unspoken and despite the platitudes to the great man, they too would also like to relegate John Hume's legacy to history books rather than the ballot box?

The recent Lucid Talk polls suggest some of them would, by preferring to transfer to Alliance over the SDLP, even though Alliance doesn't share their enthusiasm for a border poll.

This writer thinks their voters will not be so narrow or selfish in their voting preferences.

Brexit has obviously not helped relations within Northern Ireland but no-one should lose sight of the fact that Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg will celebrate with the DUP any opportunity of burying the type of European vision that John Hume brought to the Northern Ireland peace process.

Having the three stooges gloating isn't something this writer can stomach, and it is not something to be agnostic about.

The forthcoming elections reminded me of 1999 when John Hume contested his last EU election and - despite some policy differences - I volunteered to join the campaign team and in particular look after the communications side.

I designed a cartoon ad that showed a simple open guffawing mouth of an unmistakable, Ian Paisley, simply saying "Wouldn't you love to close it - just once?"

Twenty years later in 2019, ask me the same question about these hardline Brexiteers and my answer would remain Yes.