Friendless DUP paying price for not uniting the people

NOT far from my home there is a wildlife sanctuary, one of the best in Europe, and there is a five-mile path around it which goes through a patch of woodland and alongside a lake.

It’s both peaceful and beautiful. Sometime around May or June 2016 I was strolling along it with my earphones listening to something or other when I was awoken from my own wee world with a shout, “Hey, Pat. How’s it going?”

I looked up and it was none other than Martin Mcguinness. We stood and talked for about 15 minutes and during our conversation he was strangely subdued.

He said he was finding Stormont “heavy going” and the DUP difficult to deal with. He made mention of both arrogance and ignorance.

And he definitely used an analogy along the lines that unionists seemed to think “they owned the hotel [Stormont) and we are only there as staff”. Put it like this, it was not the kind of messaging he was doing in public.

I don’t know if you have been following it, but what started out as a trickle in the media about the possibility of Irish unity coming down the track a lot sooner than anticipated has now become a full-on flood. And it’s not from the usual suspects either.

Former Chancellor George Osborne last week penned a major piece about the break-up of the UK where Northern Ireland was centre stage.

He said: “By unleashing English nationalism, Brexit has made the future of the UK the central political issue of the coming decade. Northern Ireland is already heading for the exit door.

“By remaining in the EU single market, it is for all economic intents and purposes now slowly becoming part of a united Ireland. Its prosperity now depends on its relationship with Dublin [and Brussels] not London. The politics will follow.”

Osborne pointed the finger of blame clearly at “Northern Ireland unionists” for their “unbelievably stupid” decision to, as he described it, torpedo Theresa May’s deal with the EU that avoided separate Irish arrangements.

Just a couple of days later the Financial Times really put the boot in when leading columnist Robert Shrimsley penned a piece under the none too subtle headline, “Democratic Unionists are now Irish reunification’s secret weapon”.

He wrote: “This year marks Northern Ireland’s centenary celebration. But, given the effects of Brexit, few are betting on there being a 125th birthday.”

Which brings me back to Martin Mcguinness. I came away from our conversation that day in the clear belief he felt his gestures like meeting the Queen, standing beside PSNI chief Hugh Orde – after dissident republicans had shot dead a policeman – attending a Northern Ireland soccer match etc were not being reciprocated by the DUP and he was getting it in the neck from his own people.

It seems the DUP have a problem in reaching out beyond their own narrow base. Instead of calm and conciliatory, their default setting seems to be hit the angry button and verbally explode. Not only has it alienated many, it’s also pretty witless, to use Shrimsley’s term. And they are paying for it now, big time!

In 1936 an American, Dale Carnegie, wrote a book, which sold 30 million copies, called How to Win Friends and Influence People.

I think the DUP should make that 30,000,002 by buying a couple of copies.

It might help because they sure as hell need to start winning some friends – and pretty quickly at that.

The DUP have a problem in reaching out beyond own narrow base

CHAT Martin Mcguinness