Opinion

Theresa May makes intriguing appointment to NIO

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

James Brokenshire is the new secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Picture by Andrew Matthews, Press Association
James Brokenshire is the new secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Picture by Andrew Matthews, Press Association James Brokenshire is the new secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Picture by Andrew Matthews, Press Association

Everyone has been too enthralled by secretary of state James Brokenshire’s name to notice that one of the NIO’s new junior ministers is called Kris Hopkins - with a ‘K’. What on earth is the world coming to? The other new junior minister is Lord Andrew James Dunlop the Baron Dunlop, which is more like it. His Lordship is a shared appointment with the Scottish Office, where he has been since last year, having already had a remarkable 30-year career as a Downing Street special adviser and high-flying international lobbyist. In 2013, the SNP accused Dunlop of “plotting” with the Spanish government to sabotage the Scottish independence referendum, after he was invited to Madrid in his capacity as David Cameron’s Scotland adviser. Giving him a Belfast/Edinburgh job share is one of Theresa May more intriguing post-Brexit moves.

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It is just as well that our new prime minister seems to have taken her appointments to the Northern Ireland Office seriously. In her first week at Number 10, Theresa May made a point of travelling to Scotland and Wales to meet first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones, before making her first trip abroad to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel. Spot the missing destination on this list.

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Having raised the subject of a border poll, forcing Taoiseach Enda Kenny into mentioning it too, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has now backed down. A poll would be “divisive” and “detrimental”, he told BBC Radio Ulster, adding that he “never said” nor believes there would be majority support for a united Ireland. In retrospect this was clear from his initial statement, when he said: “civil society must be included, together with business, unions and professional organisations” - a phrase that epitomises modern political spoofing.

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The rising demand for Irish passports in Northern Ireland has caused gridlock not just at the issuing department in Dublin but at the General Registry Office in Belfast, where research work has been suspended due to related demand for birth certificates. However, it does not take much to swamp a bureaucracy and the first post-Brexit figures suggest this story has been somewhat overblown. Applications for Irish passports in Northern Ireland in June, which contained one post-referendum week, were up 9.5 per cent on the same month last year to 7,045 - an increase of 669. Furthermore, this is less than half the percentage rise in applications from Britain. It seems that significant numbers of unionists are not rushing to claim Irish nationality. The real story is that issuing every unionist with an Irish passport in the event of a united Ireland would take close to 200 years.

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A DUP-commissioned report into Northern Ireland’s libel laws has recommended that 2013 Westminster reforms be substantially adopted in Northern Ireland, after being mysteriously blocked by former DUP finance minister Sammy Wilson. The finance portfolio is now in the hands of Sinn Fein’s Mairtin Ó Muilleoir, who might be expected to look more favourably on the issue, having just been reappointed as a director of a Belfast-based newspaper group. However, nothing can be done without the DUP’s cooperation and there is no sign of the party recanting its unexplained objection. In any case, the enthusiasm of newspapers for libel reform is overstated. Westminster’s 2013 law is primarily about protecting science, academia and high-tech industry. As none of those sectors in Northern Ireland have had the guts to put up much of a fight, they deserve all they get.

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A senior police officer has said a memorial banner to loyalist leader Billy Wright will not be removed from a lamppost in Dungannon because it is “perceived by some to be offensive but not by others” and the PSNI “must attempt to achieve a balance between the rights of one community over another, and of course uphold the law.” Among the many remarkable aspects of this statement is its apparent ignorance of the law. First, the banner commits potential offences of harassment, stirring up fear or hatred and encouraging terrorism. Second, communities have no rights. Only individuals have rights and the right to free expression is restricted in ways applicable to this banner.

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DUP agriculture minister Michelle McIlveen has been ridiculed by the Alliance Party for demanding “immediate support from Europe for our hard-pressed farmers”, despite campaigning for Brexit. McIlveen can scarcely have been oblivious to how silly this would make her look but she and other DUP ministers have little choice but to wave the Brussels begging bowl around as normal until we actually leave the UK - a process that will take at least 30 months, which is half the length of a full Stormont term. Of course, this would not look quite so ridiculous if the DUP had developed any kind of Brexit plan.

newton@irishnews.com