Opinion

Tom Kelly: Unionism anchored to a vision of Northern Ireland that does not exist

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly is an Irish News columnist with a background in politics and public relations. He is also a former member of the Policing Board.

James Craig, the first prime minister of Northern Ireland.
James Craig, the first prime minister of Northern Ireland. James Craig, the first prime minister of Northern Ireland.

In 1921 unionists won 40 seats out of 52 in the new Northern Ireland parliament.

The loss of a mere eight seats at the next election saw the unionist administration change the electoral law as outlined in the Government of Ireland Act by dumping the Single Transferable Vote thus ensuring unionist hegemony.

All six Northern Ireland prime ministers were in the Orange Order. Every cabinet member (with the exception of three) who served from 1921 until 1969 were also in the Orange institution.

No Catholic served in the government of Northern Ireland. In the death throes of the last unionist administration in 1971 the then prime minister, Brian Faulkner, appointed as a junior minister a Catholic, Dr Gerard Newe. He was unelected. Faulkner said Newe would advise on matters pertaining to the minority Catholic community. Today it sounds almost comedic. But it was not. It reflected a colonial attitude towards fellow citizens.

One hundred years on and how times have changed, even if some attitudes have not.

Joint first ministers but not joined up thinking.

The new councils effectively now reflect the Balkanisation of Northern Ireland as predicted by the late Seamus Mallon. Belfast is no longer the capital of unionism, that dubious honour would seem to fall to Larne.

In a Stormont Assembly of 90 seats, unionists now only hold 40. The Orange Order (whilst in serious decline) still retains a disproportionate pull on unionist politicians which makes it increasingly difficult for unionist parties to demonstrate any form of inclusive or pluralist agenda that would appeal to a wider audience.

Political unionism appears anchored to a vision of Northern Ireland that simply does not exist. When their representatives claim to speak for Northern Ireland, everyone knows they don’t. The continued folly of Sinn Féin’s wasteful abstentionism from Westminster only serves to fuel such unionist delusions.

At least the SDLP, by attending parliament, challenge the narrative DUP MPs would like the British public and their politicians to adopt towards Northern Ireland. Thankfully the bombastic and caustic performances by certain DUP MPs make the job of the SDLP much easier.

Poll after poll about the constitutional position of Northern Ireland remains consistent in that there is still a sizeable majority who remain unconvinced about a united Ireland, at least for now. Any nationalist who thinks Irish unity is imminent is as deluded as any unionist who believes Northern Ireland is as British as Finchley.

Unionist insecurity has been evident since the formation of the statelet. Northern Ireland could not have been sustained without oppressive emergency powers which were exercised brutally and unfairly.

The same sense of insecurity is driving the unionist opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol. The loudest voices of loyalism are far from being the sanest. Just like the stupidity of the Drumcree protests this too could end with tragedy and tears.

Sinn Féin’s attitude to the past is both unjust and jaundiced.

Neither Sinn Féin nor the DUP seem capable of the generosity required to make Northern Ireland work or build a future. They only co-exist hand to mouth, hoping each day to get one up on the other side. Only in Northern Ireland could a fight against a global pandemic become a sectarian squabble. Only in the north could issues about access to Lancashire black pudding or gladioli seeds descend into a cultural existential crisis about identity.

Republicans seem to think that unionists are a transient problem. That one day the fog will lift and they will realise they were Irish all along. Diehard unionists appear to believe Northern Ireland can still be governed as a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people. Irish unity by 2016 as predicted by Gerry Adams didn’t happen. The Good Friday Agreement didn’t prevent unionists rising every day beneath the same grey skies of Ulster.

The lesson learned is it’s better not to get on a high horse than have to climb down from it.