New nationalism now needed

What is obvious about Sinn Fein’s current woes and the SDLP’s stagnation is that a new nationalism is needed on the island of Ireland. You could of course argue a similar case to modernise British nationalism (unionism) here but ill dedicate this blog to the former. .

No major political party is seeking to recast the old nationalism’s which have shaped 20th century Irish politics into relevant expressions of identity and ambition fit for the 21st century.

As Belfast academic Richard English notes in his recent tome, nationalism remains one of the most succesful forms of political expression around the globe for good reason. It transcends, class and generation. It has the capacity to bridge creed and often provides a shared space for those of differing (left-right) ideological outlooks. Whilst Connolly said the cause of Labour is the Cause of Ireland,  it is also true for the very many of a ‘nationalist’ outlook on this island the cause of business or indeed the cause of science are also the cause of Ireland.

Unity is the central objective of Irish nationalism. The lack of agreement between the large nationalist parties on this island about what a united Ireland might look like is arguably the greatest threat to it ever achieving its central objective.  Because of the absence of an agreed vision of unity, it has become a party political issue with different nationalist parties seeking to ‘out green’ each other on an issue which should really unite them.

There is a constituency looking for a new Ireland.

Younger generations are disinterested in re-running the old battles of the past. Old ideologues are looking increasingly out of touch and old ideologies feel more and more irrelevant to the lives and challenges facing ordinary working people and families across this island.

The time has come for some positive and progressive nationalism. Credible on unity but not solely defined by it. Capable of speaking to working families, business people and international investors in language they understand. Strong on conversation and not confrontation, with sustainability at its heart and innovation in its DNA. A modern politics for a 21st century Ireland. in short a politics that can ignite conversations and unlock ambition in every county at the same time as being respectful and credible to unionism.

Before we can develop a stratgy fro unity we need a vision for this island not just in 2016 but in 2026 and beyond.

This is the great opportunity for a new generation of Irish politicians ansd civic leaders.

We need an SDLP – UUP alternative

Patrick Murphy had a typically thought provoking piece in yesterday’s Irish News about the need for an ‘Opposition’ at Stormont which was also covered on Slugger.

Mr Murphy’s central premise is that some day the North will need to consider whether compulsory power sharing is working. This is not a new argument. Last year Mark Durkan raised the issue in the context of a debate around a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights.

The Irish News columnist has a point:

In the old Stormont, the opposition was ignored.  In the new Stormont, the opposition has been abolished.  How democratic is a parliament without an opposition?  Advocates of the new system argue that it brings political benefits.  But does it?  It gives constitutional authority to sectarianism and promotes political schizophrenia.  Both the DUP and Sinn Féin claim the other is the enemy, within a supposedly partnership government.  Do nationalists benefit by having nationalist ministers?  For example, would our roads policy be different if Arlene Foster replaced Conor Murphy as regional development minister?

But does a focus on the structures of government take away from other significant weaknesses in Northern politics?

Adversarial, winner takes all, politics with clear governments and opposition is the way here in the UK and Ireland but not everywhere. The American system is much more complex as is the French one. Not to mention Isreal or Belgium, both of which have systems in which power is effectively shared between different offices which may or may not be held by representatives of the same party.

Our system doesn’t make politics more difficult it just makes it different. What is worrying is that the weakness of our political parties may be the real issue which is undermining the opportunity for government here.

Neither SF or the DUP will score well on their record in Government. To date the Executive they both lead has distinguished itself for inaction rather than results and this is very unlikely to change in the run up to the 2010 UK General Election and the 2011 Assembly poll. This is not because they have a free run in institutional terms with no opposition breathing down their necks - it is because they are being measured by their support base on their ability to stand up to each other rather then work together. That said we do need to ask whether to some extent the SDLP and UUP are letting them away with it.

I see no great public desire to see instability return to Stormont. As much as it pains many who are ambitious for the North, the basic threshold for success in the public mind appears to be stability. The vast majority of Northern voters seem willing to reward parties who stay together. That they are achieving very little whilst doing so is not an issue as there is nobody offering an alternative which would also be stable.

So heads down and do nothing then?

With the exception of the 60,000 who support the TUV the other million voters in NI seem supportive of powersharing and devolution.

If either the SDLP or UUP were to leave the Executive they would stand accused of fostering instability. But that does not mean they cannot change they way they work together and inside and outside the Executive. Right now is not so much a debate about opposition but one about alternatives.

There is nothing in the structures of government which would prevent the UUP and SDLP from developing common positions on key issues.

Education is an obvious example. Agree the basic principles of a workable system based on academic excellence and social justice, possibly with pupil choice at 14 and at least both parties could demonstrate that Irish and British people who call this region home can agree on important issues.

Tackling our divisions is another. Commit to a shared future and stand together against sectarianism and racism.

Even on the economy there is very little on which the DUP and SF agree.  This creates yet another opportunity for the UUP and the SDLP. They should agree a real Green New Deal and have the courage to publish it as an alternative response to the current recession.

All this does not in any way prejudice either party’s nationalism or unionism. No more than it would prejudice the Green Party, Alliance or PUP if they were to support agreed positions. What it would illustrate is that our two communities and their representatives can work together and share a commitment to the success of this region and its people. This would be a real platform for change.

The system can be reviewed till the cows come home but real change will come when nationalists and unionists start really sharing power and working together for the betterment of all.  The DUP and SF seem unable or unwilling to do this. The question is whether the SDLP and UUP could?

Tory MP calls for a Bill of Rights

Conservative MP, James Brokenshire, has called for a Bill of Rights in GB. Writing today on the official Conservative Blog, Blue Blog he says:

Many of the social problems we see and experience can be attributed to our increasingly fractured society and a loss of collective identity.  Anything that contributes to this fracturing through the prevention of community activity or through restrictions on the way that we relate to each other isn’t a step in the right direction. 

Despite being a lawyer, I’m not a huge fan of legislation as a tool of social policy.  Yet I’ve come to the conclusion that a change in law is probably the only way to start to shift things in a different direction.  A Bill of Rights is the obvious way of achieving this aim.  It could help redefine our increasingly defensive viewpoint.  If we don’t, the lack of the 392 the next time the snow flakes start to flutter will be the least of our worries.

It will be interesting to see if this perspective gains support in GB and how it might impact on the UUP’s attitude towards and Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland.

SDLP to debate establishment of New Ireland Coalition

The SDLP will debate the establishment of a New Ireland Coalition at its conference this weekend. The new group would create an all island political think tank and campaign group which would explicitly support the SDLP in the North of Ireland.

It is being proposed that the Irish Labour Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail would all become members of the coalition with the basic aim of promoting greater debate across the island of island about greater cooperation between the people of Ireland as well as openly and vigorously campaigning for the SDLP as the voice of progressive democratic nationalism in Northern Ireland.

The move is being proposed by the party’s largest branch in Balmoral, south Belfast. It will follow the final report from the All Ireland Working Group which it is believed will recommend that the SDLP continue as an independent, social democratic party and will not seek to merge in the short term with any other party on this island.

Whilst the thinking behind the proposed New Ireland Coalition is hardwired into the SDLP and much of the party’s historic success has been built on establishing and maintaining a consensus on the so called national question between itself and the major parties in the South, it has never been formalised. Doing so now could create a powerful campaigning group to promote greater all island integration whilst recognising the different political outlooks on the island. The simple fact is that a one size fits all political offer will not unite the people of Ireland – Sinn Fein’s poor electoral showings in recent elections south of the border are evidence of this.

A strong all island coalitionexploring the issues and challenges that will face this island over the next generation would create a space for real political debate not just within nationalism but also between the Irish people on this island and those of a British identity. That is simply not happening today. Nor is it likely ever to happen on the basis of a conversation between Sinn Fein and the rest of us on this island. That the proposed New Ireland Coalition would also be a campaigning political group in the North means the ideas generated would have a political vehicle through which to be realised.

The challenge of the next twenty years will be to build the basic infrastructure of the new Ireland.

• To build an all island economy, to strengthen trust and confidence between the Irish and British people of this island and between Northerners and Southerners.
• To shape a sustainable future built on strong foundations, harnessing the opportunity for renewables, catching the innovation wave and translating the island into a job creator and good payer. 

Of course there is also the historic challenge of accepting our differences and identities as a strength and not a threat. The new Ireland will have to rediscover its British roots and unionists will have to feel free to explore their deep Irish ones. This, also, is not happening today and will not happen until someone takes a stand and begins a conversation across the thirty two counties and all political groupings about the sort of island we all want to share in a generation.

Cameron’s confused message II

David Cameron says he stands for change and for a new ‘Union’ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Conservatives in Northern Ireland say they are post-sectarian and that if elected to the Assembly their MLAs would designate themselves as ‘other’ – not unionist or nationalist.

No wonder there was such interest when he arrived in Belfast on Saturday to share his ‘vision’ with soon to be colleagues in the UUP.

A new dawn then?

Well no.

His message was anything but post-sectarian. It was in the words of former UUP adviser, Stephen King, ‘red, white and blue’. Cameron got his biggest cheer when he declared a ’selfish and strategic interest in Northern Ireland’ a remark which undermines a speech made by Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Brooke at the dawn of the peace process when he said the UK had no selfish strategic interest in Northern Ireland.

The Tory leader went on to wax lyrical about issues which are devolved as if they were not but managed to sidestep the important issues here like education, justice, water charges, sustainability, the bill of rights or an Irish Language Act.

The Good Friday Agreement puts the North’s destiny in the hands of the people of Northern Ireland, Unionist and Nationalist and commits the British and Irish governments to a position of neutrality on the future of this region. How does Mr Cameron square this with his assertion that he will ‘not be neutral’ on Northern Ireland if elected PM?.

The old UUP gave us a Prodestant Stormont for a Protestant people. Sounds like Cameron wants a return to a Unionist Prime Minister for the Unionist people.

To paraphrase his big fan, Barack Obama. That’s not change, that’s just back to Thatcherism.   

He is dipping in the polls too.

Cameron’s not so simple message

Just watched David Cameron’s question and answers session in Belfast this morning online. Unlike Reg (below) I actually think he had very little to say to people on this side of the Irish Sea.

New partnerships always have big communications issues to overcome. Each party’s message has to knit into the other. This is not happening here. Cameron is talking about the UK and taking it for granted that NI is a fully signed up member. 

His core proposal was that the Union should be stronger and that he wants to lead a United UK. Grand so, but he talked about issues which were devolved as if they were not and did not address a single one of the key political issues in Northern Ireland such as education, policing and justice or sectarianism. I can’t imagine him escaping a similar meeting in the English midlands for example without talking about racism. This sounded like the bloke from England who came over to talk about GB, not someone who wants to lead NI also.

All in all I was underwhelmed by the Tory Messiah and his vision for NI within the UK. Not because I disagree with it, because I still don’t know what it is.

Beginning to see what President Elect Obama meant when he let it be known he does not have much time for Mr Cameron.

Reg’s simple message

Reg Empey is not a man known for his communications skills yet he has framed the UUP’s partnership deal with the Conservative Party in very simple terms – Vote for us and you are voting for a British Government. Vote for us and become a full part of the Union again.

Will it work?

The North being the North things will never be as straightforward as they should but in simple communications terms it is a strong and easily digested positive message, targeted not at core UUP supporters but at stay at home unionists and conservatives. That is something the unionist electorate have not had for the past decade.

Some find this all very confusing. They may be proven right but I have to say the view from O’Conall Street over the UUP’s small holding looks clearer today then it has for a while.

Sinn Fein gun to 60,000 heads

Sinn Fein has indicated that there are ten days to break the deadlock around the replacement of the 11 plus. 60,000 P5 and P6 parents now have a metaphorical gun pointing at their heads yet nobody is any clearer about what the basis for agreement might be and how it can be achieved before the Christmas recess when it has not be possible in eighteen months.

Mervyn Storey (DUP) and John O’Dowd (SF) talked politics at each other for ten minutes on today’s BBC NI Politics Show. There was not a single exchange on policy nor any discussion on the Church Leaders Initiative for example. John O’Dowd’s suggested finding a resolution on this issue was primarily a matter for political negotiation between the DUP and SF.  

There is a lingering question in my mind however. How many people would trust these two parties with their children’s future?

Parents, teachers, trade unions, the business community and the churches are looking for real political leadership and an honest discussion on this issue. Surely presents an opportunity for the UUP, SDLP  and Alliance to agree a common position on this issue and show us all that consensus can be reached when the interests of children are put first.

As it stands it looks awfully like we are heading for a race to the bottom. 

Tory future for UUP and new Assembly fudge recipe

The prospect of a UUP – Tory pact is interesting in a number of ways.

From a UUP point of view this could get the party off the hook of sectarian politics which has dominated it since its foundation.  David Cameron’s Conservative Party will not tolerate the sort of policies which the UUP promoted during their earlier relationship in the 20th century. In fairness to the new generation of UUP people, they seem very keen to find a new and relevant voice.  

The Tories will get a couple of extra MPs (they hope), something which could really matter in a hung parliament. It will all present a big challenge for the brave bunch of NI Tories. Takeovers, mergers or partnerships always lead to the assimilation of the smaller party and a significant loss of influence.  So whilst the UUP will become conservative in GB terms, NI Tories will become UUP back home.

As for the left wing unionists out there time will tell whether they will feel able to stay within the new arrangements or whether this will spur other conversations about politics here.

The O’Conall St post bag has been full of interesting correspondence this week. There were emails from Gary McKeown and Terry McErlane. Both of whom have launched new blogs. This is Gary’s second coming and a good read as always.

Up at the house on the Hill former journo and SDLP spin master, Ruairi O’Kane, has been cooking up his own culinary delights. He points out that his dish was an important omission from the recently published MLA cook book.

The Devolution of Justice and Policing Agreement Fudge

 Cooking instructions

Mix some DUP nuts with some crumbly and flakey Shinners and stir.

Cook up together in Stormont Castle for 150 days. Then leave to simmer until boiling point.

Add some dough from London.

Remember to remove all dates.

Then serve up as a sticky agreement and spoon feed to a cynical and bemused media and public and hope they swallow it.

For best results take the Devolution of Justice and Policing Agreement Fudge with a large pinch of salt.

Warning – may leave bitter taste in the mouth and could stick in the throat