Arlene must beware of alienating nationalists
ASKED by Patrick Kielty about how she would feel about living in a United Ireland, Arlene Foster perhaps predictably said that she would have to leave, presumably meaning that she would have to head for the ‘mainland’. ‘First of all, I don’t think it’s going to happen... But if it were to happen, I’m not sure I would be able to continue to live here. I would feel so strongly about it,’ said the DUP leader. It’s so depressingly typical of Unionism’s double standards that while it won’t brook any compromise, it expects its nationalist neighbours to accept being cut off from the country of its allegiance by a border that perhaps, with Brexit, will be strictly enforced by army units and police, and dotted by customs posts and watchtowers, topped with barbed wire. But Arlene Foster should tread carefully. She and her party may be good at scoring little victories in Westminster over Brexit, but sectarian sentiments won’t endear her to the swathe of middle-class Catholics who may be more amenable to remaining in the United Kingdom than others. It’s their support she may have to rely on in the future to maintain her precious union – and she can only blame her openly dismissive attitude towards Ireland if it’s not forthcoming.