Stormont is broken and we all know the reasons why. The question is how do we fix it? The answer is we can’t. Which leads to the next question – why bother to vote in the assembly elections? The (temporary) answer to this is an unsatisfactory one – it is the only show in town.
Mandatory coalition eased us out of the Troubles but it was never designed as an efficient means of administration. It was a carrot meant to seduce two enemies into an uneasy alliance of mutual self-interest. The DUP and Sinn Féin have been nibbling on either end of that carrot ever since. They take turns collapsing Stormont but the carrot continues to be diced and shared out among the party faithful while the rest of us struggle to pay the bills. These were once grassroot parties but now they are wealthy corporations.
The assembly is not a government, it exists to dole out our taxes that are returned to us from the British exchequer. The two largest ‘shareholders’ have had decades to learn how to distribute this money fairly and efficiently where it is needed and can do us all the most good. They have failed dismally. There have been some successes but these have been smothered by idiotic, self-serving decisions that have ranged from poor to disastrous. Multiple millions lost to the local public purse. With that money, hospital and housing waiting lists could have been cut, the pressures on other essential services eased and investment in growing the local economy assured. The carrot, of course, continues to grow unhindered. To the south the Dáil is little better. To the west a Tory government is even worse. The electorate are weary everywhere. They look for leadership, yet what they get is populism. People work hard for their money and are understanding of reasonable taxes if they are used to serve general society. Instead they get politicians who waste this hard-earned cash on pet projects. Then in spite of massively increasing the tax burden they still have to borrow huge amounts of money that our children will have to pay back and that will be a handbrake on future economic growth. Here in the north the parties will be at the doors bemoaning the strangulation of services and desperation of people dealing with frightening rises in the cost of living. They may make noises about solutions but you should ask them a simple question – do you accept any blame for helping to cause these problems? Stormont can’t be fixed but we can patch it up until we agree on something better.
GERARD HERDMAN
Aontú, West Belfast
Exhibition tells story of Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Is the building of a new country a denial of the old country? This question has been central to the legacy of Carlingford’s Thomas D’Arcy McGee, who in his youth was a physical force Irish republican but in middle age was assassinated as a founding father of Canada.
Tomorrow her Excellency Nancy Smyth, the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, will open the ‘Thomas D’Arcy McGee: Irish Rebel – Canadian Patriot’ exhibition in the EPIC Museum, Dublin. The colourful exhibition tells the story of Thomas D’Arcy McGee from his 1825 birth in Dundalk Street, Carlingford to his 1868 death on Sparks Street, Ottawa. It tells of his transformation from Irish rebel to colonial loyalist. It examines the strength and frailties of a remarkable 19th century revolutionary, journalist and politician whose ideas and ideals, especially ‘Unity-in-Diversity’, were central in the making of the Canadian nation – and the Good Friday Agreement.
Both John Mitchel and O’Donovan Rossa clashed bitterly with McGee and both are featured in the exhibition.
Thomas D’Arcy McGee and John Mitchel were inspired by the Society of United Irishmen. The exhibition includes an original edition of its Northern Star newspaper, presented by Ross Chapman. Margaret Harold and the Carlingford Heritage Trust have generously allowed the Thomas D’Arcy McGee Foundation to display his christening robe.
The exhibition examines not only McGee’s political journey and legacy but also his battle with personal demons, including alcohol. It tells of a man much-loved by his family, a man admired for his nation building and a man despised for changing his mind. The exhibition will be in the EPIC museum until the end of May. The EPIC is a 10-minute walk from Connolly Station.
ANTHONY RUSSELL
The Thomas D’Arcy McGee Foundation, Newry, Co Down
Is all human life not of equal value?
If the same rules are applied to journalists who broadcast and expose Russia war crimes as the US, Britain and Nato applied to Julian Assange for exposing and broadcasting their war crimes, all western TV, radio and print media journalists would be on their way to prison for a decade or more, and if America got a hold of them their sentence would be 150-plus years’ hard labour – the only consolation is they would never complete their sentence.
Also, I cannot recall Britain and Ireland throwing open their doors and welcoming the victims of Nato’s wars or indeed the leaders of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria or the Yemen having access 24/7 to western TV and radio and the emblems of their flag appearing on every MPs lapel. Why are the great and the good not loading up vans, lorries and even planes with all kinds medicine etc to assist the millions of Muslim victims of British, US and Nato war crimes?
Is all human life not of equal value?
PETER McEVOY
Banbridge, Co Down
Arrangement of words
I am not a grammarian but I felt bound to give a point of grammar to the US President Joe Biden’s ad-libbed words: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” He was referring to the Russian president Putin. It was not a sentence. It was an aspirational biting comment, an arrangement of words in such a way as to get an idea as exactly as possible out of one mind into another – primarily for those who use words as tools of their trade are involved in administration.
Compare a football pundit when asked to comment on a football manager’s poor team results and beyond redemption. The pundit may say: “This man cannot remain in his job.” In this case it would infer he should be sacked or resign and be replaced. That’s up to the directors of the club. In the case of the Joe Biden issue, it’s primarily up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russians. He just said what most people are thinking.
JAMES G BARRY
Dublin 6
