Alex Kane is clearly getting frustrated with the air of unreality that has descended upon politics in Northern Ireland. But what exercises him most is the thick fog that appears to have descended upon the leader of his own party, the UUP. All members, he claims, want a final and lasting resolution to the party’s difficluties – whichever way it goes. The next UUC meeting is due on Saturday – a matter of months after the last one.
By Alex. Kane
David Trimble and his assorted aides and advisors could do a lot worse than spend the next week watching back episodes of The West Wing. Unlike the lumbering antics of the UUC, this is political drama at its very best. Recent editions have concentrated on the interplay between the President and his inner circle as they prepared him for a re-election debate with his main opponent.
Had any of Mr. Trimble�s team been watching this programme—or at least paid attention if they had watched—then he might now be better placed to enter the endgame with his internal opponents. Indeed, he might have been better prepared to handle the series of constituency meetings he has had this past week.
I was at the meeting in South Belfast last Monday. Mr. Trimble was lacklustre; unfocussed, uninspiring, ill at ease and clearly uncomfortable. Worst of all, he had no answers or reassurances for those people worried about the present divisions within the party. When accused of being responsible for the division and loss of votes to the DUP, he resorted to a robotic attack on the hypocrisy of the DUP, rather than defending his own position and policies. When asked about unity, he responded that, �if the internal difficulties go beyond policy and into something else, then I don�t really know how we deal with that.�
This whole battle resolves down to one issue and one issue alone: leadership. One of the most vicious attacks launched on a leader by a party colleague, was when former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont, accused John Major of �being in office, but not in power.� Mr. Trimble�s position seems not much better. He is leader, but he is not in control of the party he leads. When he speaks of the next meeting of the UUC as representing a �defining moment,� nobody knows what he means; for even if he carries the day, how does he deal with dissidents who won�t leave?
The members of the UUP, along with the tens of thousands of people who vote for the party, want all outstanding matters resolved once and for all. This means that the meeting, next Saturday, must be the final showdown, however unpleasant and bloody the encounter may be. It means, too, that David Trimble has to give the speech of his life. To do that, he must abandon the rambling, inarticulate scripts he has offered at previous meetings, and speak straight from the heart. What is he offering the party in particular, unionism in general, the Agreement, and the well being of Northern Ireland? Put bluntly, why should UUC delegates continue to endorse his leadership?
A few weeks ago Martin Smyth noted; �Rather than acknowledging and addressing the fact that the majority of unionists are unhappy with the political arrangements as currently envisaged under the Agreement, the issue is just talked around and met with rhetoric such as there is no alternative.�
Martin is right. The fact that IRA/SF have failed to do the decent thing in terms of decommissioning and linkage, along with the continuing absence of an effective mechanism to force either delivery or exclusion, means that unionists have been robbed of all of the palpable devolutionary and democratic evidence of the supposed benefits of the Agreement. So, to some degree at least, David Trimble seems to be asking delegates to endorse a hope rather than a reality. But how many unionist leaders have even been able to offer the prospect of an acceptable settlement?
Yet the fact remains that the battle for the heart and soul of unionism goes way beyond either the out-workings of, or possible collapse of the Belfast Agreement. In terms of reflecting the aspirations of the pluralist, moderate, pro-powersharing wing of the pro-Union community, there is no credible alternative to David Trimble. And, in my opinion, there is no credible alternative to that form of unionism. Whoever leads the largest unionist party will, by choice or coercion, opt for that form sooner or later.
David Trimble has to convince an increasing majority of the UUC that he remains the best person to lead them, and, in seeking their approval, he must also insist upon their support for his right to lead in the absence of orchestrated opposition. He not only has to win next Saturday, he has to demonstrate his victory by way of a draconian exercise of personal authority. Jeffrey Donaldson didn�t have the courage to accept the consequences of his own �defining moment� in June. David Trimble should now show what real leadership is all about.
First published in the Newsletter on Saturday August 30th
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
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
