Better Together

Returning to the Problem of Incentives: An Ardoyne Twelfth

Better Together on July 16, 2013, 5:57 pm

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Last year, I wrote a piece in relation to the apparatus of the Parades Commission, arguing that the fundamental flaw of its operation lay in its core assumptions concerning the parading issue and its lack of a coherent regulatory framework in taking decisions. That piece detailed how the process of regulating parades focused entirely on parade participants and due to this limited frame of reference, did not properly design a system of incentives which rewarded good behaviour and punished bad behaviour in a logical, …

Flags, Nationalists and the Contested Law of Equality

Better Together on January 6, 2013, 10:10 pm

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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, understandably, with regard to the appalling scenes of violence and ongoing loyalist protests, this issue opens up much deeper issues around the nature of the accord …

The murder of David Black

Better Together on November 3, 2012, 10:20 am

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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 local church and the Loyal Orders. More importantly, he was a family man with a wife and two children. None of this was considered relevant to …

Sinn Fein and the permanent process

Better Together on October 29, 2012, 2:35 pm

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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 strategy”. By ‘national reconciliation’ Sinn Fein means a united Ireland. Fine and dandy – that remains their end goal. But it is not the end goal …

DUP: Unravelling the Irreconcilable

Better Together on October 17, 2012, 2:38 pm

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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 statement of support for Mike Nesbitt over the standing down of the deputy leader of the UUP Assembly Group. More interesting in that riposte was his …

Parliamentary dogfights: A new tactic for the small parties?

Better Together on October 11, 2012, 11:07 am

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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 the potential to be exploited with such tactics, as the Assembly’s vote on welfare reform demonstrated. Sinn Fein were attempting to maintain a pretense of fighting …

Permanent Cantons or Effective Government?

Better Together on September 27, 2012, 5:35 pm

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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 sample but the trend is unmistakeable. We are now heading towards a three-party system of DUP, Sinn Fein and Alliance, perhaps by the end of the …

Sinn Fein: Reconciliation, Logic and Future Direction

Better Together on September 13, 2012, 5:06 pm

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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 republican has ever galmorised war. We should not seek to romanticise war, or armed struggle, nor the actions of the IRA in this, or any previous …

Parades: A question of morals and incentives….

Better Together on September 5, 2012, 2:40 pm

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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 and flagrant law breaking have formed an integral part of this discussion, as question marks arise over the powers and regulatory functions of the Parades Commission. …

“They have a mutual desire to maintain and build peace but little in common beyond that ideal”.

Better Together on August 21, 2012, 1:48 pm

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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 for the billions which it sends to keep the wheels of Stormont turning every year. Mr Paterson has a perfect right to keep a watching eye …

Nuance or dissent? The SNP, NATO and internal party management…

Better Together on August 8, 2012, 7:39 pm

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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 the party: “…to have at least seven SNP MSPs prepared to oppose the leadership’s position at conference constitutes a significant rebellion, certainly the biggest since Alex …

“The debate is gaining momentum due to the shut-out tactics of the two main parties which betray the ethics of an Agreement which was meant to unify.”

Better Together on July 31, 2012, 3:32 pm

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Last week, the News Letter had a feature article by former UUP Vice-Chairman Terry Wright, calling for the UUP to enter “virtual opposition”, a more structured stance of performance review for the executive and Assembly, if not full withdrawal from the executive. This may be seen as another attempt to try to square a particularly difficult circle for the party (and indeed the SDLP), as the intention behind the Agreement may be giving way to the practical logic of politics: …