Opinion

Denis Bradley: Sinn Féin not the right people to lead debate on new Ireland

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley is a columnist for The Irish News and former vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is generationally removed from the troubles but to unionism she representative of a movement and an ideology that destroyed their country and killed their people
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is generationally removed from the troubles but to unionism she representative of a movement and an ideology that destroyed their country and killed their people Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is generationally removed from the troubles but to unionism she representative of a movement and an ideology that destroyed their country and killed their people

I am in danger of becoming a bore. I am finding it difficult to get past the belief that unionists need to save themselves and the rest of us from a fate that is all too reminiscent of our past.

No matter what the starting point is I find myself drifting back to the same theme. Unionism needs to find voices that challenge their own people about facing up to and being honest about the future.

I am not referring to unionist politicians, to the DUP and the UUP - at least not initially. I am talking about that strange animal called civic unionism.

I suppose that means people who have a profile and an access to public forums. It would be made up of professionals, business people, academics, farmers, clerics, community leaders and those who hold public appointments. These people need to take some responsibility. They need to read the signs of the times and see that unionists and nationalists are approaching a point of numerical equality.

These people need to break the silence that forbids unionism from facing the reality that their political ideology is no longer the majority or the dominant presence in the political entity that is Northern Ireland. They need to stop hiding from the statistical trends that are predicting a Catholic/nationalist majority within a few short years.

Of course, not every Catholic will vote for Irish unity. But that argument misses the point. The point is that once psychological dominance is broken, it can never again retain or regain its full power. It is a crude and distasteful example but the DUP understand that psychological tipping point. Why else would a political party fight an election on the ticket that if you don’t vote Arlene you will get Martin.

The danger with the hope for creative and future thinking unionist voices is that it might just be aspirational fluff. People who are walking along a narrow ledge and afraid of falling into an unknown abyss have very little time or interest in listening to idealistic and moral promptings. Even more so if those people have spent their lives feeling in their guts that their future is precarious. Many of them, indeed, living in fear during thirty awful years that they would be murdered for being members of the armed forces of their country.

So I should be welcoming of Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald’s accurate description of unionists as being as Irish as she and her mature use of Derry/Londonderry. And I am. But even though it is not right to shoot the messenger, it is important to admit that the wrong messenger can sour the message.

The hard truth is that Sinn Féin are the wrong people to encourage unionism down off their precarious ledge. Mary Lou and the present leadership are generationally removed from the troubles but to unionism they are representative of a movement and an ideology that destroyed their country and killed their people. Memory is slow to dissolve and is at its most powerful when faced with loss and grief.

Sinn Féin are not dissimilar to unionists when it comes to trusting. Neither are very good at co-operation. Both are fearful of sharing.

It probably comes from an historical fear backed up with some painful experience that others will let you down or not do the job right. The SDLP experienced that self-reliance, self-protection at the hands of Sinn Féin in the peace process. Sinn Féin experienced it at the hands of the DUP when in government with them and the DUP must be having sleepless nights that they may be about to experience it from the Conservative government in the chaos that is Brexit.

The greatest act of assurance and support that Sinn Féin could offer to civic unionism would be to publicly admit that they are not the right people to lead on the debate and on the evolution of a new Ireland. That they acknowledge the hurt and the fear of unionism and their role in generating those feelings. That they will stand back and allow others; the Irish government, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, civic nationalism to lead and define that debate. That they realise that civic unionism will find it easier to find their voice in an atmosphere where Sinn Féin are not the dominant player.

On Sinn Féin’s part it will be an act of great self-sacrifice. Perhaps the greatest act of self-sacrifice since the Easter Rising.