This newspaper has been examining where we are six months after the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) document was published in January.
The answer is not much farther on at all, and not only because of the impact of Covid-19. Of course many aspects have been delayed by the pandemic, but other important aspects have been blocked by the British government.
People forget that the NDNA document was a proposal the UK and Irish governments presented to the Stormont parties on a take it or leave it basis. There were sound reasons for that, not least the fact that if the proposals had been given to the parties to discuss we’d still be going round in circles. Both governments also made separate commitments as well as the joint ones in NDNA. These separate commitments also state, “no agreement is asked or required from the parties for those commitments.”
None of the commitments, separate or collective, which the two governments made has been honoured. It’s true that there are almost no dates in NDNA for completion of any commitments either by governments or the parties, and precious little specific about money either. However, there is one important dated commitment which already the British government has ratted on. The British government promised to publish “within 100 days” legislation to implement the 2014 Stormont House Agreement (SHA) dealing with the past. The Irish government, party to the SHA, also promised in their Annexe to the NDNA to act “with urgency” to introduce similar legislation in the Dáil.
Far from it. Within 100 days, our proconsul, without any consultation or reference to his co-signatory, the Irish government, reneged on the Stormont House Agreement, never mind legislation to implement it. Furthermore he did so at the very peak of the deaths from Covid-19, on April 7. Historically it’s quite usual for British governments to behave dishonourably when it comes to treaties and agreements, but usually it takes them a few years to sneak out of commitments. However, given the record of the past four years, it’s part of a pattern begun by Theresa May’s dreadful government brazenly to repudiate an agreement within days, forty-eight hours in December 2017.
Naturally there was a predictably furious reaction from Sinn Féin to the proconsul, but unusually all the northern Catholic bishops issued a powerful joint statement on April 8 expressing “deep concern, disappointment and alarm at the new position of the British government.” They also deplored the timing in the middle of the pandemic and at Easter. They objected strongly that the British had departed from the “fundamental principle that justice should be pursued…regardless of the identity of the perpetrator.” In other words the British have decided to overthrow years of work in order to prevent soldiers’ ending up in court for criminal actions. Of course the DUP supported the proconsul because they don’t want former RUC and UDR investigated. From the Irish government, supposedly joint authors of the NDNA document, not a word.
It should be said in mitigation that the hapless proconsul did not welsh on the NDNA of his own volition, but is only carrying out orders. Anyone in Johnson’s cabinet is there not because of political skill, expertise or competence but because they are compliant. Johnson has surrounded himself with sycophants and nodding dogs having purged all sensible Conservatives from the party last October. Any dissent is instantly punished a la Trump.
Now, while most of the NDNA provisions that require action by Stormont have not been dealt with because of Covid-19 exigencies, there was no great disagreement about them before our proconsul’s disgraceful action. It’s a different story as a result. There’s been a surly truce on NDNA since April’s announcement. Acrimony will break out again trying to implement the rest of the deal that was.
The proconsul’s act of bad faith has planted a worm at the core of the apple.
