Opinion

Fionnuala O Connor: Rudeness appears to be next to godliness for DUP

During the Brexit process, the DUP has appeared to regard rudeness as next to, and sometimes as an alternative to, godliness. Picture from BBC
During the Brexit process, the DUP has appeared to regard rudeness as next to, and sometimes as an alternative to, godliness. Picture from BBC During the Brexit process, the DUP has appeared to regard rudeness as next to, and sometimes as an alternative to, godliness. Picture from BBC

THE first scraping at the gloss on Friday's Brussels patchwork of reassurances had already begun before the weekend was over.

Merely a "statement of intent" and not "legally enforceable" said the unimpressive David Davis before attempting to rewrite himself, while Michael Gove slid from gushing about Theresa May's "achievement" to promising - as though he himself may propose and dispose - that the electorate would eventually decide.

The stew of Tory ego, disunity and shocking irresponsibility makes a spillover of contradiction inevitable.

On this island, words meant to insult are also still rippling. Dublin government reaction needs as ever to absorb northern attitudes, eyes and ears wide open, prejudices to one side.

We all have those. Don't northerners everywhere see southerners as double-dealing, while southerners mainly note dour pugnacity staring down the road?

But we can maybe all recognise insularity, bad manners and disrespect in someone mangling names of people or places because another language strikes their ignorant ears as funny.

The past fortnight has been a hayride of ignorance, from Lord Kilclooney's decision to call Leo Varadkar "the Indian" through Sammy Wilson's "Enda Kennedy" and "Varad-ekar" with detours for English Conservative Brexiters to make spectacles of themselves.

The dogged rudeness of Wilson and the former John Taylor is the more disturbing. These are political figures on this island, Wilson still an elected representative.

We can flinch and turn away from the sound of them, turn off the radio or TV, but a mentality that chooses to offend because the judgment is that unionists will reward offensiveness, is worrisome.

Some unionists must also fret that garbling an Indian name, as Wilson did with Leo Varadkar's, or talking about Tony "Donnelly" instead of "Connelly", appears to substitute for political argument.

But then the DUP, as formed and tutored by the Reverend Ian Paisley for whom bullying was a reflex, can appear to regard rudeness as next to, sometimes as alternative to, godliness.

The Connelly to Donnelly moment came from an ex-DUP Westminster functionary who apparently thought his former position meant he should patronise a BBC NI interviewer; Connelly, as RTE's Brussels specialist, having been recognised as learned guide through Euro Brexit machinations, it was clearly essential to mis-speak his name.

Some of this the Republic has clearly noticed, with a degree of irritation.

But the open letter to the Taoiseach printed here yesterday breathed an anxiety about the likely fickleness of that irritation at least in official Dublin.

Founded in fear about the outcome of British Brexit, the appeal as printed voiced frustration presumably fed as Varadkar - between proper reiterations of his duty to the Irish in the north who voted to remain - struggles to reassure unionists that he means them no harm.

He had better pause, reflect and re-calibrate. These are volatile times. He is a still-new taoiseach with a history already of jangling variety.

He should fall back and let the more measured Simon Coveney front up for a while.

Casting Fine Gael as Sinn Féin running-dogs and Coveney as irrepressible united Irelander probably raised eyebrows from Belmullet to Belfield.

Clumsy bad-mouthing of the south's two leading ministers has done little for the DUP's image. But then in general unionist politicos have rarely believed in trying to make friends, much less allies.

Dublin-bashing has been an easy if dislikeable DUP gambit, rather than turning on the British prime minister who may have taken their support for granted, but is still the person with whom they did their deal.

The dark humour in the recent spate of DUP and Tory aggro is its distance from reality. Varadkar and Coveney chasing Sinn Féin votes, said gormless Tories.

The reality is how far short of acceptance by the south's political class Sinn Féin remains. Sinn Féin in turn have yet to find a civil, amiable way to handle their reception in the Dáil and what amounts to fairly general media dislike.

South, and north as well, there is resonance still from the worst days, when IRA violence killed and maimed and wrecked and semi-emergent SF figures spent most of their time with reporters under pressure as apologists for mayhem.

It didn't make for cool and constructive republican analysis - nor for good reporting. That unevolved relationship probably feeds into the delusion that a restored Stormont could provide the north with 'a voice' on Brexit.

Facts can be awkward. The most consistent northern voice on Brexit, closest to Irish diplomatic thinking, is that of the SDLP, sidelined for want of votes.