Many of you will be familiar with the phrase, “Sucking the oxygen out of the room.” It’s when an issue becomes so dominant that every other issue doesn’t get a look in. This is what is unfolding with Drumcree. The media is consumed with Drumcree, as are all the politicians. But as Newton’s third law states, everything has an equal and opposite reaction. With all the focus on Drumcree, this means nothing else gets a look in, not education, not health, not housing, not the diabolical state of Lough Neagh – All the other issues get ignored while we focus on this most toxic of issues.
Or, still, in all likelihood, this issue is going to collapse the assembly, and then there will be even less focus on the core issues that matter to us all.
It’s a tragedy, but as I have said repeatedly, it also gets our politicians off the hook. Stormont has had a disastrous track record of making meaningful changes to our lives, so Drumcree gives them all a convenient excuse to throw their hands up and walk away.
The dark truth is our politicians are most comfortable with these sectarian culture wars. Ask them for meaningful solutions to any of our practical issues, and you will get a blank stare in response. But when it comes to cultural issues, they are all on the ground making grand speeches with all the eloquence Of Edward Carson or James Connolly.
The not-so-subtle message we are conveying to young people is: we don’t care about your education, employment prospects, ability to buy a home, or start a family. We are saying to the old people living on benefits and terrified to turn on their heating that you don’t matter. To all those people out there earning a hard day’s crust and just about managing to pay their bills, you don’t matter. The only thing that seems to matter in a region of nearly two million people is 30 old men in Portadown.
The even darker truth is that there is part of us all that relishes all this. We would rather burn down the metaphorical house than have somebody from the other side live in it. We have done practically nothing over the last 30 years to help community relations. Most of our children are still educated separately. Most people still live in segregated areas. We have instituted a benign apartheid where we choose to live separate lives from each other.
We are coming into winter with sky-high heating and fuel prices. There will be the usual collapse of our hospitals. All these issues will be utterly predictable, yet our leaders do nothing practical to help. They are all consumed with the ghosts of history. Why focus on the problems of 2026 when you can focus on the problems of 1995?
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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