Over the last year of lockdown Professor Pete Shirlow, Director of the Institute for Irish Studies in Liverpool, has put together an impressive array of materials from lots of different people on both sides of the argument over NI’s future.
The front page of the civic space has two summative animated videos on the broad cases for a united Ireland and for staying within the Union. I’ll stick to the pro Union case for now and come to the UI material later…
There are contributions from most of the designated parties, except the DUP and TUV who seem not to have engaged with the project (yet). That’s a shame from their point of view, since they’ve created a free and open space for their rivals.
I have to say that in this regard the UUP’s economic spokesman John Stewart did well with the opportunity he was given to tie the rising prosperity in contemporary Northern Ireland into his own party’s vision back in 1998…
Reconnecting with what could turn out to be the party’s finest moment in its long history is smart framing, even if his DUP rivals could argue instrumentally they had little direct input since. There’s a been a lack of that in recent years.
That’s not the only good contribution from the UUP. Health Minister Robin Swann’s pitch is essentially about how he conducted his ministry over the last year for all the people of Northern Ireland. The cynics may say he had no choice.
But who seriously doubts informal polling which suggests that after Covid Swann is by far the most popular minster in the Northern Irish Executive? Indeed, inclusion seems to be something of a theme emerging across most unionist contributors.
John Kyle of the PUP talks about his pride in being British but also how “through music, poetry, literature, dance, film, theatre and the Irish language, Ireland has enriched the cultural life of these islands”.
Can we talk? Asks Julie Anne Corr Johnson, adding that “those who are ferociously pro-union or for Irish unity offer us little”. Who wants to “make this place work?” There’s even our own Terry Wright in there with several contributions.
There’s data too. Giles Monteith has a series of pieces that offer slices of key data which, he argues, should encourage unionists engage in conversations about the future of Northern Ireland and not be afraid to tell their end of the story.
Here’s a sample from his myth busting section:
- Power-sharing is not popular – wrong! Of those who express an opinion 83% support power-sharing
- One community is more supportive of marriage equality – wrong! In fact over 60% of Protestants and Catholics, who state an opinion, support marriage equality
- The communities always disagree- wrong. The majority of both Catholics and Protestants aged under 40, some 72%, would not mind if a close relative was to marry someone from a different religion
- All the communities think about are constitutional issues- wrong! People are 20 times more likely to think about jobs, education, health and welfare than they are about constitutional issues.
One of the problems with power-sharing, however popular it may be with the public, is how it reduces the number of opportunities for public contention and debate. And it’s a big problem for commentators and politicians alike.
The lack of opposition also necessarily narrows the ground on which our new politics can operate. And it denies the institutions we need to succeed sufficient air with which to breathe and take in the new challenges it must face.
This represents an important expansion in the depth and breadth of unionist and nationalist voices available to the public. In a space in which most political players are running out of narrative juice that’s a welcome development.
It’s a space for open contention over the future, to be won or lost on the ability (or otherwise) to articulate a vision capable of winning others over to your vision of the future. Or a sandbox for discovering who we are, and what we might become?
Photo by Grooveland Designs is licensed under CC0
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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