SO, OVER the last two years, the DUP and their chums strung out pointless legal challenges to the hated Protocol, which ultimately ended up with the Supreme Court telling them that parliament was sovereign. But they are now insisting that Daíthí's Law must not be introduced by the local government at Stormont, but should instead be brought in by Westminster, because... er... parliament is sovereign.
In the surreal world that passes for politics here, we've reached an all-time low. Chris Heaton-Harris may well be using emotional blackmail to try to force Jeffrey and his mates back to Stormont to get the legislation through that would help a very sick boy to get a heart transplant. Tories are cynical enough to try anything. But he's learning fast that 'No Surrender' is not just a slogan on a wall for the DUP – it's the mantra they live by. Not even a child's life can alter the thran-ness that characterises their mentality.
The very people who say they are wedded to the union with Britain are weakening it by the day, proving that devolution in Northern Ireland is not workable now.
"This place is doomed and so it should be," quoth Jim Allister during the debate in the Assembly. You said it, Jimbo.
When MLAs initially backed Daíthí's Law last year, the vote was unanimous. It showed what positive outcomes can happen if politicians work together for the common good.
Six year old Daíthí and his parents were watching from the public gallery on Tuesday morning as that golden moment was trashed. Many others who are languishing on the transplant list, getting sicker by the day, must wonder why the fragility of the British identity felt by the DUP and their fellow travellers, must trump everything else – including their right to life.
The pity is, opinion polls suggest that despite leading their supporters into a cul-de-sac with no real answers to political realities – apart from 'No' – the DUP won't lose votes at the next election.
Heaton-Harris has set the date for the next one as probably the Twelfth of Never, but it doesn't really matter. The results will be the same and nothing will change.
A wry commenter on the Slugger O'Toole website summed up our political landscape: "Next up is the St Patrick's Day protests. The sectarian bonfires, Féile and the Wolfe Tones. Marching season. Poppy season. Then a break for the winter. Rinse, wash, repeat."
Sounds about right, doesn't it?
The rest of the world moves on. The Daily Telegraph suggests, like The Times last week, that a deal between the EU and UK is likely in the next few weeks. But as it's a compromise, the hard-liners in the ERG and their Ulster acolytes won't like it.
And yet the mood among the cheerleaders for Brexit is darkening by the moment. They're even desperate enough to counter the bleak financial prospects facing Britain by calling together an all-party secret conclave, including diplomats, business leaders and bankers. Its aim, as stated in The Observer, was how they could make Brexit work better "with our neighbours in Europe."
Cue shrieks of horror from The Daily Mail about "the secret plot to unravel Brexit" and hollow laughter in Brussels, but it seems the cold reality of how Brexit is actually damaging the British economy is finally dawning on even its most ardent supporters – like Michael Gove, who admitted to the gathering that there were "shortcomings" while still insisting it would turn out alright in the end.
Rishi Sunak has decided to honour the apparent return of Fawlty Towers by adopting the Manuel approach: "I know nothing," he says of Gove's participation in the event. It seems rather appropriate that the two day gathering was held at the Ditchley Park retreat.
IT WAS sad news that the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association has been forced to sell up after racist thugs attacked its centre on Donegall Pass twice. In a statement, the organisation said that after the first arson attack in 2021 they had hoped to return to the building, having received tremendous support and donations from the wider community.
But just hours after the repairs were completed, a second, devastating arson attack was carried out in April 2022. Now the organisation, which is much needed, is homeless.
Police have made no progress to find those responsible for the attacks, despite CCTV footage, the prominence of the building and prior threats of violence to the centre and its staff.
Shameful.
