Nelson Mccausland: protocol anger should not be dismissed
Resentment is as bad as at any time in the last 50 years
DURING the Home Rule controversy at the start of the 20th century, Ulster unionists produced a series of political postcards about the danger of Irish Home Rule and their determination to oppose it. One of these depicted a young woman, who represented Ulster, and it carried the message “Deserted, well I can stand alone”.
That word “deserted” reflected their deep sense of betrayal and abandonment in the face of threat. The position of unionists today is not that of 1912, or 1913, but within unionism there is a deeper level of resentment and disillusionment than I have seen in a very long time.
An older generation of unionists will recall their sense of betrayal 50 years ago, when Conservative prime minister Edward Heath abolished the devolved Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont. They will also recall the anger and bitter resentment in 1985, when another Conservative prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, opened the door to Dublin, through the Anglo-irish Agreement.
Now, there is a similar sense of betrayal by the current Conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson.
When he signed an international agreement with the European Union to create an internal border in the United Kingdom, he broke a solemn pledge that he would never do such a thing.
The record of the Labour Party is no better and Tony Blair’s secret deals with Sinn Fein and the IRA are still toxic, especially his 200 “on-the-run” letters for members of the IRA.
He even had the audacity to reappear in 2015 to warn David Cameron that the peace process was “fragile” and that any attempt to pursue IRA terrorists for their atrocities could unravel it.
It’s no wonder that many unionists feel as angry as they do.
The implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol is a running sore and it will remain a running sore while the Protocol exists.
Unionists have also had to endure the exclusion of Northern Ireland from the UK Government’s announcement on the Union flag and we have seen the shameful refusal by the UK Government to use frozen Libyan assets to compensate victims of an IRA terror campaign that was resourced by the
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Many people in Northern Ireland have also been angered by the imposition of a radical abortion regime, as favoured by Sinn Fein — a decision which totally undermines the credibility of devolution.
Against that background, they now have to swallow the decision by the PPS not to pursue cases against 24 prominent members of Sinn Fein for breaching Covid regulations at the Bobby Storey funeral.
The fact that it took six months to interview the Sinn Fein members and present the case to the PPS is itself a disgrace, as is the revelation that “engagement” between Sinn Fein and the PSNI before the funeral was a key factor in the decision not to prosecute.
It simply reinforces the widespread belief that there is two-tier policing and a two-tier justice system.
Sinn Fein directing £700,000 of
Stormont MLAS’ expenses to Research Services Ireland is just one example from a very long list of Sinn Fein misdemeanours.
The list of known misdemeanours is long and the list of actual misdemeanours would be a lot longer if they were all to be interrogated, as they should.
That culpability is then magnified by the arrogance of Sinn Fein who will attempt to brazen out anything, no matter how obvious the guilt.
Unionists are also faced with an arrogant and energised pan-nationalism as the Dublin coalition government sets up a “Shared Island Unit” and the SDLP backs calls for an Irish minister for reunification.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Future provides a vehicle for Irish republicanism to mobilise and galvanise what is termed “civic nationalism” and at the same time seeking to demoralise both civic and political unionism.
That situation has not been helped by the bumbling comments of the new US President, Joe Biden, who is clearly a firm believer in the “blame the Brits” school of Irish history.
It’s not a pretty picture, but sometimes you have to step back and look at the bigger picture and the longer term.
In this case, it helps to explain why there is a growing sense of unionist alienation and frustration and all politicians, whether in Belfast, London, Dublin, or Washington, would be foolish to underestimate it, or ignore it.