It is not hard to know that an election is near when we hear Sir Jeffrey Donaldson threatening to pull down Stormont. Unfortunately for Jeffrey his voice doesn’t carry the same threat as when his political idol, Big Ian, said something similar. The DUP is under pressure from all sides. Jim Allister is now the face of hardline unionism, while Doug Beattie can’t make up his mind if he wants to move into Alliance space or revert to pre-1969 unionism.
A group called Unionist Voice Policy Studies has appeared out of nowhere and thrown Edwin Poots and the DUP a lifeline with some sort of paper on how to make the protocol meaningless. Unfortunately for Poots and his colleagues, this is going nowhere.
Does the DUP really believe that they are going to do away with the protocol? I think not – they are like a child standing in the corner stamping their feet while everyone else enjoys the party.
Northern Ireland has always been a province of political pipe dreams – Alliance trying to build consensus where there is none, Sinn Féin ranting about a border poll that nobody cares about and the DUP looking to go back to the good old days of unionist domination, while all the time pretending to be democrats and the SDLP trying to be liked by everyone. In fairness to Jim Allister, at least you know where you stand with him.
We are on an election footing, make no mistake about that. The rhetoric will be ramped up over the next few weeks until you would think that Doctor Who has brought us all back in the Tardis to 1960. Pay no heed to it.
Perhaps Jeffrey has realised that Sinn Féin could well be the largest party and he would have to nominate someone to be Deputy First Minister.
If, after all this time of Sinn Féin serving under unionists as Deputy First Minister, Jeffrey wouldn’t nominate anyone - then unionism would have lost all credibility as democrats.
When it comes to politics in Northern Ireland always remember that parties are posturing to their hardline core vote. Unfortunately for the DUP their brand of ‘ourselves alone’ unionism is a thing of the past. NI is functioning better than ever. We are all comfortable here, except those who can’t accept equality.
TURLOUGH QUINN
Portglenone, Co Antrim
Unionist people deserve better
When will the leaders of unionism speak out and stand up to the rhetoric and nonsense of Jamie Bryson and Kate Hoey? The two of them are an embarrassment to the vast majority of the unionist community.
The lack of support for the ‘protest’ marches against the protocol and the self-appointed ‘spokesperson’ giving a speech standing on a bin says it all.
Words like ‘weaponising’ the law sounds like something from our troubled past.
There has been little mention of cross-community work or opinions from Jamie Bryson, or addressing reconciliation, truth and justice. There are serious issues in the unionist community about drugs, extortion, paramilitaries, murders and beatings and the DUP is still failing to stand up and speak out against the paramilitaries. With the elections coming in the next few months, I hope that the unionist parties realise the protocol is not the only issue on their agenda. Time and time again the PSNI has highlighted the drug and criminal activities of east Belfast UVF. The political representatives of unionism seem to be afraid to mention these facts.
The protocol has caused division between the political parties so maybe a referendum on it should take place. But then again the vote in Northern Ireland on Brexit and the GFA does not matter to Baroness Hoey or Jamie Bryson. Democratic votes only matter when they agree with the result. The DUP needs to realise they are part of the unionist representatives voted in by the unionist voters not Jamie Bryson and Kate Hoey who have not one vote between them. At election time, the DUP could end up losing seats as the unionist community wants to see proper leadership and forward thinking policies, not the rhetoric of ‘themuns’ and ‘whataboutery’. The unionist people and non-unionists deserve better. Don’t blame the voters after the election and don’t make it an election of the policies of fear and sectarianism.
RAYMOND McCORD
Belfast BT15
Rocketing rate of inflation
Rising energy costs, rents and general price hikes are hitting workers hard. The rate of inflation has officially risen above 5 per cent – the highest in decades. It also may go higher as increased wholesale prices for gas have to work their way through the economy. The reality is that inflation is higher than even the official Consumer Price Index suggests because it does not take adequate account of housing costs, which shows no sign of declining. The rise in inflation is exposing the market fundamentalism of government. They have refused to introduce maximum price orders even though they have the power to do this. To combat this workers need to consider putting in claims for higher wages to protect their living standards against inflation.
Workers are now facing real hardship and have a right to re-negotiate any agreement to ensure their wages keep up with prices.
People deserve a significant increase in their finances to ensure they aren’t financially penalised for the crisis the system is currently in. It is time for the government and employers to step in and cough up.
GERRY CARROLL MLA
People Before Profit
Wrong letter published
Due to a technical error a previous letter from Patrick McGinnity appeared in Wednesday’s edition (January 12). The correct letter is printed below.
Credit where credit is due
After reading my letter “Argument that vaccine passports are needed to control virus has no basis in science”(November 23rd), Danny Boyd suggested (December 7) that The Irish News should set up a new fact checking unit to root out misinformation in such correspondence.
I was dumbfounded as to why Danny had singled out my letter for special criticism, as everything I had written was entirely factual. I therefore asked him (December 16) to clarify what he considered to be inaccurate.
Upon reflection, Danny graciously conceded (December 30) that the only error he could find in my letter was not actually an error at all, as it was fully correct around the time of going to press.
While I am still somewhat puzzled as to what prompted his original comments, that’s all water under the bridge now. It’s important to give credit where credit is due and fair play to Danny for holding up his hand and acknowledging there was nothing wrong in my letter.
PATRICK McGINNITY
veterinary surgeon,
Derrynoose, Co Armagh
r
