Belfast must avoid return to sectarianism
Arlene Foster, the leader of the main unionist party in Northern Ireland, has called for direct rule. The proximate cause is disagreement over the use of the Irish language. The wider issue is the lack of will to compromise. Previous generations of leaders shed blood over principle, but finally came together to sign the Good Friday Agreement. Today, that settlement is threatened by a new set of calculations. Sinn Fein, which came within 1,000 votes of winning the popular vote in the last Assembly elections, can see an endgame: a united, socialist Ireland at home in the EU. The Democratic Unionist Party is trying to hold its own ground. If it agrees to a standalone Irish language Act, it will be accused of cultural surrender by many within the Protestant community. Neither side sees advantage in accommodation.
One would imagine that Theresa May would be in a good position to help: she is Prime Minister largely by the gift of the DUP, whose 10 MPS prop her up at Westminster. Yet Mrs May’s joint visit to Belfast with the Irish Taoiseach on Monday achieved nothing. Mrs Foster actually labelled it a distraction. This is an embarrassing way for one partner of a parliamentary alliance to speak of another – to say, in effect, that Westminster’s intervention has proved counter-productive. But what does it say about Mrs Foster that she has now asked the British Government to take over the functions of government? Either way, the decision to move Gavin Williamson, who as chief whip was critical to the deal with the DUP, to running defence now looks short sighted. Especially as Northern Ireland is no longer a purely domestic issue: the future of the Irish border is one of the EU’S red lines in Brexit negotiations.
Movement on all sides is necessary. Whitehall may have to step in to fill the gap because the voters of Northern Ireland have a right to a properly functioning administration. Government by local people is preferable, as Mrs Foster said, but some government is better than none at all. Plainly, No 10 has to provide better leadership. And the parties of Northern Ireland, while understandably concerned about partisan visions of the future, need to think about the necessary preservation of what was won in the past. No one wins if Northern Ireland descends once more into bitter sectarianism.