Growing up in rural Armagh in the 1960s we were amused by the rantings of Ian Paisley, thinking his views were so extreme no-one would take him seriously. Unfortunately we had not reckoned on the siege mentality of the Protestant/unionist community and their propensity to always believe the worst possible scenario.
Paisley’s rantings continued for 40 years until he achieved his ultimate personal ambition by being elected First Minister. Then, after an extraordinary metamorphosis, a genteel, jovial, octogenarian emerged, laughing and cracking jokes with Martin McGuinness. Those who had hung on his every word for decades and had followed him to Burntollet, up an Antrim hillside in the dead of night, donned the red beret of Ulster Resistance or camped out at Drumcree, felt totally betrayed. One disconsolate Ballymena lady lamented in a radio interview: “We’re all going to end up in a 32-county Free State.”
The DUP leadership has learned nothing since. They put all their eggs in the Brexit basket, thinking this would reinstate the border, strengthen the bond with the UK, re-establish British laws, give amnesties to security forces members and curb immigration. They embarrassed Theresa May, blocked her ‘backstop’ proposal and we ended up with Boris Johnson’s empty promises and the dreaded protocol. With hindsight the DUP’s £400k ‘dark money’ would have been better spent on the Remain campaign.
Paisley was prepared to wreck everything; he rejected every democratic proposal, from Sunningdale to the Good Friday Agreement, simply because he didn’t emerge as top dog. Sir Jeffrey seems prepared to do likewise. He does not speak for the majority and seems to forget that unionism lost its majority in Stormont, Westminster and the EU in the last elections. The majority here support the protocol but, apparently, it’s only democratic when it suits unionism. It’s far from certain he will even get elected in Lagan Valley, never mind become First Minister. So, I say to Jeffrey Donaldson, go ahead, trigger Article 16, tear up the protocol, reinstate the border, wreck the assembly and we’ll all look forward to the next election. Such actions will only galvanise the nationalist vote. When the inevitable border poll follows, I look forward to his pious platitudes as he tries to sell the benefits of the union to those nationalists whose votes he will undoubtedly need in that event.
Unionists need to be very careful, as their constant ‘no-no-no’ is wearing very thin in Britain and Europe. The protocol is saving unionists from themselves but they haven’t the wit to recognise that.
P McKENNA
Newry, Co Down
Vaccination benefits
Peter McGinnity is correct when he states that “none of the Covid vaccines stop infection or transmission” (November 23). However, the primary benefit of vaccines is that they greatly reduce the possibility of those who are infected becoming seriously ill and requiring hospitalisation. This is particularly important in the winter months when health services are severely under pressure. Last month the Mater University Hospital in Dublin said that it had to take “the unprecedented decision to cancel a transplant surgery”, due to a shortage of beds in its Intensive Care Unit. The Mater added that there were severe capacity constraints in its ICU on the day, with 50 per cent of those receiving critical care at the time severely ill Covid positive patients. I can’t imagine how the patient, who may have been awaiting a viable transplant for months or years, must have felt. There have also been reports of ICU nurses in the Belfast Trust resigning due to mounting pressure on the health service.
Mr McGinnity also states that “the Swedes are completely back to normal with zero restrictions”. Perhaps his letter was submitted for publication before Sweden announced that, from the beginning of December, it was requiring proof of vaccination to be produced by people wishing to attend indoor functions of 100 people or more. I agree that the principle of free and fully informed consent is the bedrock of medical ethics. However, the information provided should be correct and based on fact. In view of this I would like to suggest that The Irish News should consider setting up a fact checking unit, particularly with regards to letters published in relation to Covid and the pandemic.
DANNY BOYD
Newtownabbey, Co Antrim
Flags and emblems
I WOULD like to responded to the £800,000 cost of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition which could not, or did not, come to any conclusion on what to do regarding flags. In the Stormont archives there is a copy of the unionist-imposed 1954 Flags and Emblems Act which stipulated that all nationalist flags and emblems were banned from being displayed in Northern Ireland. This ban was rigorously and viciously enforced by the RUC and their brothers in arms – the B-Specials – so much so that all Irish bands were driven (by force) off Irish roads and sport fields and the majority of Irish bands in Northern Ireland all driven into obscurity, because of this sectarian act. This led to loyalists believing they, and only they, had any right regarding band parades and marching – a complete falsehood. This 1954 act (at no cost) should have been dusted down – the word nationalist removed, leaving words all flags and emblems banned and instruct the PSNI to enforce this law. Parity of esteem was obviously not on the unionists’ radar in 1954 and it is still not in 2021.
PETER McEVOY
Banbridge, Co Down
Protocol solution
Let us hope that the groups opposed to this protocol, who bandy about the threat of violence unless they get their own way over its removal, keep it within their own communities. However, I may have a solution to this impasse. Permit the loyal DUP, led by Jeffrey Donaldson, along with his faithful followers, to operate via video-link from the west coast of Scotland, with the permission of the SNP, as a proxy for Stormont, set up purely for this purpose, so ensuring that these individuals maintain their Britishness, while leaving the rest of us here in these six counties to get on with the day-to-day running of this statelet – starting with reversing the potential collapse of our health service. I am certain that Jeffrey and company will agree to this proposition. It’s a win-win situation for all, including the EU.
EDWARD MURPHY
Ballycastle, Co Antrim
