Profile for Better Together
Latest posts from Better Together (see all)
Better Together has posted 11 times (0 in the last month).
Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
Tweet Much discussions over the past month in Northern Ireland has centred around the aftermath of the decision of Belfast City Council to move away from its 106-year old tradition of flying the Union flag every day, to one of only flying it on a maximum of twenty designated days. Whilst much has been written, [...] more »
The murder of David Black
Tweet The brutal murder of David Black on Thursday morning was another chilling reminder, if one was needed, of the potential of dissident strains of Irish Republicanism to cause mayhem, destruction and unjustified grief to a family circle and the rest of the community. David was a Prison Officer, a well liked member of his [...] more »
Sinn Fein and the permanent process
Tweet Declan Kearney has been at it again, this time in Westminster. Alex Kane is out quickly in the News Letter today, rounding on Kearney: “Here’s my other difficulty with Sinn Fein’s reconciliation project: described by Mr Kearney as “calling for an all-inclusive national discussion on reconciliation leading to the development of a national reconciliation [...] more »
DUP: Unravelling the Irreconcilable
Tweet Peter Robinson has been unusually vocal in a party political sense in the weeks following the Convenant celebrations. The predictable appeal for the somewhat elastic and elusive concept of unionist unity on the eve of the Covenant was sound party politics, trying to frighten horses in the UUP. The mischief continued with a public [...] more »
Parliamentary dogfights: A new tactic for the small parties?
Tweet Over the course of the last few weeks, the SDLP have used parliamentary mechanisms in order to attempt to embarrass their political opponents in Sinn Fein. Their motion to exclude Nelson McCausland, although doomed to failure, forced Sinn Fein into open confrontation with their close colleagues in the executive, the DUP. The gap between principle and pragmatism has [...] more »
Permanent Cantons or Effective Government?
Tweet Newton Emerson, writing in today’s Irish News, speculates on the future direction of Northern Ireland’s political spectrum: A poll published last weekend shows Alliance overtaking the UUP for the first time, on 13 per cent compared to the UUP’s 10 per cent. The SDLP is on 9 per cent. The poll had a small [...] more »
Sinn Fein: Reconciliation, Logic and Future Direction
Tweet Monday’s edition of the Irish News carred quotations from Sinn Fein Chairman, Declan Kearney. Speaking at the party’s summer school in West Cork on the subject of reconciliation, Kearney said there was “no excuse” for the devastation wrought by the Shankill bomb and in addition made several substantive claims as well: “….no right thinking [...] more »
Parades: A question of morals and incentives….
Tweet Much has been written about events around parading over the past number of weeks, in the wake of the incident at St. Patrick’s church, the Black Saturday and the recent rioting and serious public disorder on the streets of north Belfast. Disputes about the line between civil disobedience as a form of public protest [...] more »
“They have a mutual desire to maintain and build peace but little in common beyond that ideal”.
Tweet Ed Curran, writing in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, outlined how the Secretary the State, with his open consultation on reforming Stormont, is playing the only hand open to him, appealing above the heads of Stormont to wider civic society to have their say: “The UK government is blamed for imposing austerity cuts here but rarely applauded [...] more »
Nuance or dissent? The SNP, NATO and internal party management…
Tweet David Torrance has written in the Scotsman about the upcoming SNP Conference debate on potential membership of NATO in an independent Scotland. Torrance notes that a quiet U-turn, initially planned for a June meeting of the National Council of the party, has been pushed up to Conference level after an apparent mis-reading the temperature of [...] more »
Latest comments from Better Together (see all)
Better Together has commented 77 times (0 in the last month).
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Books
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The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)
Tweet With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical [...] read our review »
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Is Fianna Fail the new Woolworths of Irish politics?
Tweet It’s not published until 3rd March, but one book I recommend you place an advance order for from Slugger’s Bookstore is James Harkin’s Niche. Belfast émigré Harkin examines a number of stories from business, culture and politics and comes to a single insight: everywhere the broad middle is collapsing. He offers Woolworths as an iconic [...] read our review »
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“This coming 16 June, Radio 4 will be a wall-to-wall Joycefest…”
Tweet As The Observer’s Alex Clark notes This coming 16 June, Radio 4 will be a wall-to-wall Joycefest, kicking off at 9am and running until midnight: a new, five-and-a-half hour dramatisation of Ulysses, narrated by Stephen Rea and starring Henry Goodman, Niamh Cusack and Andrew Scott, will be punctuated by broadcasts by Mark Lawson in [...] read our review »
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Comment on Now here’s a thought. The Union Jack is not the flag of Unionism
on 9 January 2013 at 1:20 pm
Brian
The problem is that there was no concord that designated days is an appropriate solution- if in Belfast, then why not in Derry City Council and Omagh? My argument for the flag is that it is not the symbol of one sect, it is the soveriegn symbol- putting it into a cultural stew with other contested issues devalues it.
Republicans/Nationalists have chosen to do this, preferring short-term gain over a sensible long-term position. The reality that demography is not going to carry the day for them has yet to sink in, they seem to cling to the hopes that death by a thousand cuts is still, if it ever was, a viable strategy.
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Comment on Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
on 7 January 2013 at 5:12 pm
Chris
Interesting- are oyu now endorsing that in any proposed transfer of soveriegnty, Northern Ireland must remain a distinct entity? That appears close to what I understand to b SDLP policy.
Once again- you miss my point. I accept that many Irish nationalists have asprations to consttutional change and do not regard themselves in any sense as endorsing Northern Ireland or a British identity. My point is that the British Unionist/Irish Nationalist binary you pose is inadequate to capture the complexity of identity and constituional preference in Northern Ireland today.
My point is that Unionism has an opportunity to expand the coalition in favour of the status quo, the conditions are there, whether or not this is admitted to by political nationalism. Nationalist strategy appears caught in a ‘wind up the prods’ approach in order to disguise their lack of an appetite for serious politics- this is a disservice to their own constituency as much as unionists.
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Comment on Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
on 7 January 2013 at 12:04 am
Ruarai
Thanks for the generous comments. I think you understand, as a nationalist, the weaknesses in such an approach- it shows little appetite for building an inclusive form of nationalism. It’s rather like the bankruptcy of the foaming at the mouth that goes on in the event of a Census. I noticed many on the Republican side were very quiet after the publication of the Census results, as they painted a much more nuanced picture than their assumptions.
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Comment on Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
on 6 January 2013 at 11:55 pm
Chris
I said unionism ought not to concede that the Union flag is a trival symbol, simply because that is the perception of others. I did not deny there are many nationalists who feel this way, but I also note that in the EQIA by BCC 56% of Catholics surveyed had no strong feelings one way or the other on the Union flag flying. People who dismiss the possibilities for social and economic conditions to bring about change ought to see Irish Presbyterians between 1798 and 1885. The Union has the advantages of incumbency and a tested bout of power-sharing.
Again, I make the point- Joint Sovereignty was not the deal. One has to distinguish between cultural and constitutional symbols- the respective flags are constitutional symbols of different states. Cultural symbols to me relate to parading, sports, music etc- this is an area in which equality of access and esteem was geared towards.
I respect people’s right to aspire towards a single Irish Republic- but that is not where we are and the Tricolour, whilst having emotional appeal to many, has no legal status in this jurisdiction. This was accepted by nationalists in 1998, that is not the same as asking someone to stop being nationalists. It’s a specious argument.
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Comment on Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
on 6 January 2013 at 11:00 pm
Ruarai
My point was that the spirit of the Agreement was a recognition of the constitutional status of NI and conditions for any change therein, in exchange for a guaranteed role for nationalists in our governance arrangements and clear equality screening mechanisms to ensure everyone has an equal stake in our society socially and economically.
Pursuing low-level campaigns of ‘cleansing’ British symbols undermines the pretensions to a Republicanism of Tone, preferring instead an exclusionary little Irelander approach. Otherwise, what was the compromise?
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Comment on Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality
on 6 January 2013 at 10:52 pm
Obelisk
The premise is that you cannot equate a reality with an aspiration- if you sign up to the constitutional reality, yet seek to move at all times to undermine its visibility, how do you suppose that helps community relations?
Similarly, I note you don’t take much time to address the nationalist record on equality or your view of using public money to fund terrorist memorials. Actually, my argument is that council chambers can and should reflect a variety of our culture, with the flag standing above this as a symbol of what was accepted in 1998.
Would it hurt nationalist majority councils to have a policy of designated days to counter-balance their policy of using Irish exclusively on council property/publications? Or do you enjoy majority rule when its the ‘right sort’ of majority rule?
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Comment on DUP leaflet accuses Alliance Party of ‘ununionist activities’…
on 15 November 2012 at 12:07 pm
SK
Actually a white paper from central government in the UK in 2009 was encouraging all council chambers to fly the Union flag every day, in order to re-claim it from extremists….There is a plurality between designated days and 365 days per year, but the trend is very clearly in the other direction as many city councils, such as Leeds, have taken to flying it every day.
IJP
Btw, Stormont does not have a flags policy, it has legislation, imposed over the heads of the parties here whilst Peter Mandelson was Secretary of State. Simply because agreement could not be found- this contravened the conventional approach which had applied hitherto- the problem is that the conventional approach did not foresee there would be a block of people vehemently opposed to its being displayed. So that does not advance your argument.
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Comment on DUP leaflet accuses Alliance Party of ‘ununionist activities’…
on 14 November 2012 at 12:23 am
SK
It is the flag, country and state which allowed us to engage in power-sharing and devolution of power in order to secure adequate protection for the cultural interests of all within Northern Ireland. That is why I am a Unionist and I don’t accept your implication- Unionists didn’t start this debate or “obsess” about it.
In fact, it is often ardent nationalists who like to broach debates about flags and emblems, feeling that one more chip away at the edifice will help it fall down. It is something of a bizarre situation when we remain part of the UK, but nationalists just want to pretend we are not through a bare flagpole.
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Comment on DUP leaflet accuses Alliance Party of ‘ununionist activities’…
on 13 November 2012 at 11:55 pm
Chris
“So let’s see. Somebody calling himself ‘Better together’ actually believes that, in a city and country divided historically over political allegiances, this petty sectarian campaign will somehow convince people of a catholic background to jettison their traditional nationalist leanings and become British unionists.”
Chris, you all of all people should know, that Irish Presbyterians once had a significant republican leaning and influenced the SUI, yet went on to become Unionists as the cultural climate and their interests changed. Identities are not fixed in stone- the trouble nationalists have is that Northern Ireland as integral part of the UK caters for cultural Irishness whilst improving the material interests of everyone in Northern Ireland. A key advantage Unionism has is its multi-national framework.
You are the one blurring the boundaries between Catholic and Nationalist- since Life and Times started around 8% of Catholics surveyed have stated an element of their identity as British- small, but not invisible. Similarly, the clamour for a single Irish state appears to diverge from election patterns, posing significant problems for Irish nationalism- if the status quo is working, why would people take a risk?
Again my point is that I am proud of the flag of a multi-national diverse state, one which had the imagination to develop institutions of consent in Northern Ireland. Nationalists confuse cultural identity with sovereignty- Section 1 of the NI Act 1998 is pretty clear on the jurisdiction- so this misnomer of a tricolour flying really is out of step with reality.
As far as the apparent sectarianism of this campaign goes, I seem to recall Sinn Fein’s FST Westminster campaign in 2010 buffeted by a poster of “Don’t let the Orangeman turn the clock back”, so you’ll forgive me if I take that with a bale of salt.
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Comment on DUP leaflet accuses Alliance Party of ‘ununionist activities’…
on 13 November 2012 at 8:27 pm
Chris
Fighting for the meaning of the Union flag is the way forward for unionists, not seeking to placate a kulturkampf by republicans. This is not about flag waving in people’s faces- this is about maintaining a constitutional symbol and working to spread prosperity under the Union.
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