Opinion

Alex Kane: Theresa May's promises have become dust after Westminster defeat

Alex Kane

Alex Kane

Alex Kane is an Irish News columnist and political commentator and a former director of communications for the Ulster Unionist Party.

Theresa May told MPs she was 'listening to unionists across the country'. Picture by PA Wire
Theresa May told MPs she was 'listening to unionists across the country'. Picture by PA Wire Theresa May told MPs she was 'listening to unionists across the country'. Picture by PA Wire

Christmas is the time for round-robins, those rambling letters which the senders think are packed with terribly important information, but which the receivers tend to open, glance over, roll their eyes, rip into shreds and then toss towards the nearest bin.

Theresa May sent one to the 'people of Northern Ireland' last Friday, although, in fairness, it was actually meant for those unionists who voted Leave. She was actually trying to reassure the DUP that she wasn't planning to shaft them anytime soon, even though she had given a pretty good impression of shafting them a few days earlier.

And just to prove that she hadn't forgotten the in-laws, who she has to pretend she doesn't like, she wrote: "The whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, will leave the EU customs union and the EU single market. Nothing in the agreement I have reached alters that fundamental fact.'' Her big mistake, of course, was writing the letter before Wednesday night's vote in the Commons--which her government lost--meaning that she can only make 'provision for implementing the withdrawal agreement if it is subject to the prior enactment of a statute by parliament approving the final terms of withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.'

In other words, last Friday's letter, like almost every other round-robin, isn't worth the paper upon which it is written.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Irish News published a round-robin to Leo Varadkar from 'almost 200 high-profile members of the nationalist community.' I recognised about 25 of the names, so I'm pretty sure Varadkar's staff will have spent the day on Google trying to work out who most of these people are and what, exactly, their political and civic influence amounts to. I'm also surprised that, even though they describe themselves as 'Irish citizens living in the north of Ireland,' (which embraces all of those with an Irish passport) the list doesn't include one Remain unionist who also happens to be the possessor of an Irish passport.

I understand the concerns they raise, but can't help thinking that the letter would have had more impact--and might have made it easier for Remain unionists to sign--had it been addressed to Theresa May (who is, after all, responsible for delivering Brexit); particularly since they write, "The Conservative Party's political pact with the DUP has now become a grave threat to political progress."

Anyway, every one of those signatories will be well aware that Varadkar has enough on his plate without this distraction. So yes, he will assure them of his "commitment to stand for equality and a human rights based society...and his determination to secure and protect the rights of all citizens in the north of Ireland." But, having assured them of that, he'll get on with the Christmas shopping and raise a few prayers that May's defeat on Wednesday may yet see the entire Brexit saga unravel and then reversed at a second referendum.

The signatories are also wrong in their assertion that the "current crisis has come about fundamentally due to a failure to both implement and defend the Good Friday and St Andrew's Agreements." I actually regard that as nonsense. In 2007, 2011 and 2016 Sinn Féin and the DUP agreed a programme for government and formed an executive with barely a mention of broken promises, unfulfilled pledges and non-implementation of the two agreements. Indeed, in November 2016 Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness were jointly boasting of how well they were working together and governing together.

The current crisis is rooted in the brutal reality that the DUP and Sinn Féin can't work together on a long term basis because the gaps between them are unbridgeable. The Good Friday Agreement--which the DUP has never signed up to--has run its course; and St Andrews is a British/Irish agreement rather than a DUP/SF agreement. So even if Leo Varadkar was to wrap himself in the round-robin and become some sort of superhero for northern nationalism, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to the political dynamics here.

What the two round-robins confirmed was the scale and nature of the ongoing division. May was addressing unionists, while the 200 were addressing nationalists. Neither side cares what the other thinks any more, because neither side is interested in compromising with the other. They stopped talking to each other a year ago, but they'd already stopped listening to each other a few years before that. Unionists are back to complaining about Dublin interference and lack of neutrality, while nationalists say the same of London.

As I've been saying for the last few years there isn't even a coherent debate between unionism and nationalism any more and these two round-robins won't change that. May's promises became dust on Wednesday evening. Varadkar won't even make any.