Opinion

Sinn Féin has taken backward step in returning to corpse of Stormont

At a time in the national politics of Ireland, when the issue of Irish unity and national sovereignty are to the fore in providing a viable solution to the  social and economic wellbeing of all the Irish people in a post-Brexit environment, a humiliated Provisional Sinn Féin ignored the dynamic of that narrative and took the retrogressive step of returning to the corpse of Stormont which represents the most potent symbol of the failure and injustice of partition.

Having feigned a principled stand on both the Irish language and the suitability of Arlene Foster to hold office they were ushered into that political tomb like scolded school children by their British paymasters. Not content with their political myopia they also chose to denigrate the Irish language by placing that ancient vernacular on a par with so-called Ulster-Scots which is nothing more than the poor pronunciation of English.

Inherent in the New Decade, New Approach initiative both governments explicitly acknowledge that further failure at Stormont is all but inevitable and have drafted measures to ensure the bureaucracy will continue to function after the political process has collapsed. The grotesque spectacle of well-paid assembly members and ministers lining their pockets without a day’s work done in over three years, whilst the unemployed and the indebted struggled daily, will be glossed over with a veneer of ‘let’s make Northern Ireland work’ semantics.

And to further compound this abject failure of political acumen the upcoming 26-county elections will ensure that all talk of Irish unity will be denounced as premature and injurious to reconciliation between the traditions on the island. The prevailing mindset, tactically denied for electoral purposes, is to revise history to subtlety make the case that the struggle for Irish freedom lacked total legitimacy.

And now it emerges what the real intent of the British government and establishment is where it concerns polls and referenda on constitutional matters within the UK. Scotland is to be denied a second referendum on independence despite the landslide victory of the SNP in the recent Westminster elections. A new bill is being proposed, entitled the Referendums Criteria Bill, which will ensure a weighted favouring of the unionist position in any future poll on the British imposed border in Ireland.

And this we were told was the great strategy that would lead us to the Republic.

FRANCIS MACKEY


Omagh, Co Tyrone

Definition of insanity pretty much sums up DUP’s education strategy

Einstein’s definition of insanity was to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect to get a different result.

That definition pretty much sums up the DUP’s strategy when it comes to education. Yet again the Education Minister Peter Weir is about to set up another group to examine the under performance of working-class Protestant boys.

In the last 10 years we’ve had at least seven reports and mountains of rigorous research. The DUP have by and large failed to implement any of the recommendations that have been made in these reports.

Most of the reports have recommended an end to the current system of academic selection and that’s not what the DUP wants to hear.

In an excellent analysis  – ‘It’s like deja vu all over again’ (January 20) – education correspondent Simon Doyle comments: “It has been speculated that it could be that the DUP minister, a supporter of academic selection, wants a review that does not link disadvantage to the 11-plus.”

We don’t need any more reports. Since the publication of the Coleman Report, ‘Equality of Educational Opportunity’ more than 50 years ago, we’ve known that the most powerful predictor of academic achievement is the socio-economic status of a child’s family and the second most important predictor is the socio-economic status of the child’s classmates. In other words being born poor imposes a disadvantage  but attending a school with large numbers of low income classmates presents a second independent challenge.

The transfer test fails 60 per cent of the children who sit it and excludes them from the school of their choice. It is more a test of social selection than academic selection and pushes disadvantaged children into schools with high concentrations of poverty.

The setting up of yet another group by the Education Minister only indicates the refusal within the unionist political classes to begin to tackle the problem of underachievement among Protestant working-class boys. You could be forgiven for thinking that the DUP like things just the way they are.

JIM CURRAN


Downpatrick, Co Down

RTÉ’s silencing of Sinn Féin is an attack on democracy

Since her election to the Oireachtas and subsequent elevation to president of Sinn Féin, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald has raised considerably the reputation and standing of Dáil Éireann as evidenced by her presence and performance on the Public Accounts Committee and in the Dáil, yet some party leaders in that institution, by their constant vilification of Ms McDonald and her party for political expediency cheapens and brings into disrepute Ireland’s national parliament. Now it appears that Ireland’s national broadcaster is following suit.

RTÉ is set to broadcast two live debates in the run-up to the general election, one of which will feature just the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. As Sinn Féin is by far the third largest party in the Dáil, it is outrageous that RTÉ should arbitrarily exclude them from the party leaders debate. RTÉ, like our print media, is a vital arm of our democracy and a bulwark upon which our democracy flourishes. Therefore the silencing of a political party is an attack on democracy itself.

TOM COOPER


Dublin 2

Heartache in store for Lansdowne residents

I had tremendous empathy when I read Suzanne McGonagle’s article on the replacement of granite kerb stones on Lansdowne Park (January 27) because the Serpentine Road residents had exactly the same misfortune.

The “distinctive”, and it has to be said, much more suitably robust granite kerb stones were replaced by comparatively cheap and nasty mass-produced slithers of ‘quick fix’ concrete. They crumble at the edges and are not fit for the purpose of withstanding the pressures of modern-day vehicles.

Within weeks of being laid, faults appeared and were duly decorated with yellow spray paint. Once there were enough eye sore blotches, the company that has his contract then sent a team out to fire a blob of quick mix cement at the cracks.

This lasted for a very short while and the cycle again commenced with yellow paint over the new cracks. I fail to see how replacing with material that constantly needs repair contributes to the safety of pedestrians, wheelchair users and others.

Feel free to visit the Serpentine Road and see what’s in store for Lansdowne residents.

M SHIELDS


Newtownabbey, Co Antrim