With another UUC meeting expected soon to decide on whether to turn down or accept the two governments’ joint declaration, today’s Irish News contains a piece (subs needed) from Jude Collins, is a pertainent reminder of one of the bottom line responsibilities implied in the Belfast Agreement (or presumably in any subsequent agreement) – ie to make Northern Ireland work.
He quotes directly from A Long Peace? to make the point that at some stage Northern Ireland needs to address its own economic shortcomings:
In relative terms, its (the north of Ireland�s) manufacturing sector now receives fifty times as much subsidy as English manufacturing, with between a third and a half of manufacturing capital expenditure coming from the public purse during the 1990s (the figure in England was 1% in 1995). Most of this money has been squandered, with Northern Ireland�s productivity levels low compared to the rest of the UK, itself not an impressive performer against international benchmarks.
He insists that, “somewhere, someone in the ranks of unionism is going to have to step forward and embrace change, otherwise unionism is doomed.” He goes on:
In the section titled �Learning to Win�, he says: �It is not in our interest for Northern Ireland to appear to be a failed political entity, or something that does not work.� But that�s exactly how it appears. The economic figures suggest that the north of Ireland isn�t working, can�t work. And the actions of David and his Amazing Collapsing Assembly over the past four years suggest that politically, it isn�t working and can�t work either.
He finishes by suggesting that in the fog that has descended upon the peace process since the signing of the 1998 Agreement, many Unionists have lost sight of the fact that most nationalists have signed up unambiguously to the principle of unity only by consent:
Many nationalists/republicans did so with considerable misgivings, since it requires them to turn aside from their belief that a majority of the people in Ireland, not Northern Ireland, should decide regarding Irish unity. But they read the document, swallowed hard and signed.
Unionists too signed. But since that day the air has been thick with unionist insistence that should a majority of people in the North vote for a united Ireland, this would be insufficient: the Good Friday Agreement looks as if it says an overall majority, but it really means a unionist majority. This from politicians who continue to present themselves as plain-dealing, my-word-is-my-bond people.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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