Unionism

The “Love Ulster” campaign has got a lot of air, and press, space today.. most notably in the Newsletter – UTV carries the Press Association report.. although the, so far sparse, website seems more concerned with expressing opposition than celebrating. It all combines to create, at least initially, a high profile lobbying campaign.. whether it can continue with that profile may well depend on a lot more openness about who is involved in the campaign. Something that the campaign itself …

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Danny Morrison writing in Daily Ireland poses some questions. Remember how often over the past thirty years we were told that loyalist paramilitary violence was solely a response to the activities of the IRA? We heard that mantra ad nauseam from unionist politicians and loyalist spokespersons alike. It was echoed in police press statements and in the tenor of early media reporting describing the murders of Catholics as “tit-for-tat” or “retaliatory” killings. They told us that if there was no …

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Sinn Féin have launched a dossier(pdf) highlighting attacks from Unionist Paramilitary groups over the summer months. Speaking at the press conference Mr Kelly said: “The following report details unionist paramilitary activity since the beginning of June. “It details over 85 instances of unionist paramilitary activity, including five murders in a period of just over two months. “Although by no means comprehensive, due to the fact that many attacks and acts of intimidation go unreported, it offers a chilling picture of …

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I noticed earlier that Mr has found time in his day to be annoyed at Peter Bowles call for Sinn Fein MLA Caitriona Ruane to be interviewed by the Police over the Columbia three incident. Interesting that she isn’t the first Sinn Fein MLA to fall foul of Cllr Bowles. Michael ShillidayI used to write and get paid, now I read and don’t. Former UUP staffer, currently living in London. @mjshilliday

Jim Nicholson has reacted angrily to the Irish governments plans to grant speaking rights to MP’s and MEP’s from Northern Ireland, calling the decision deplorable. The unionist community will not tolerate such an aggressive assault on our sovereignty by a jurisdiction which has been so hostile in the past. He has in this statement, ruled out taking his seat uder such plans. Michael ShillidayI used to write and get paid, now I read and don’t. Former UUP staffer, currently living …

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Saturdays Newsletter carried a platform piece by Sir Reg Empey in which he outlined his concerns for the future. His concern over Dail speaking rights for Northern MP’s and MEP’s is shared it seems by Andrew McCann (praise indeed). The Party has since its release been explicit in its distrust of the IRA statement. Michael ShillidayI used to write and get paid, now I read and don’t. Former UUP staffer, currently living in London. @mjshilliday

Sir Reg Empey has made his initial response to the IRA statement of this morning. As far as the UUP is concerned actions speak louder than words. We have seen only their words today. Since the IRA has killed thousands and injured thousands more, it is inexcusable that the statement claims that its ‘armed struggle was entirely legitimate’ but fails to express a single word of remorse. It also leaves fundamental questions unanswered. Where is the confirmation of the disbandment …

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The Ulster Unionist Party’s newly appointed Chief Negotiator, Alan McFarland, delivered his speech to the MacGill Summer School last Friday, in which he made his theme confidence and trust.He not only defends the UUP line post 1998, but takes the DUP to task for their stance. The Democratic Unionist Party ran away from negotiations in 1997 and spent 6 years carping from the side-lines. They stood in the 2003 Assembly elections on a cunning plan about which they were unable …

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The announcement of the new Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has been welcomed criticised by both the DUP and the UUP. The new Chief Commissioner, Bob Collins [a former director general of RTE], who joins the other commissioners, has responded – “Do not make any assumptions about me on the basis of where I come from.”.. Bob, the problem isn’t where you come from.. it’s where they come from that’s the problem. Here endeth the lesson. …

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Despite the early criticism of Reg Empey, the boundaries of where the party is taking its fight have begun to change already. Michael McGimpsey has a think piece in the Andersonstown News. In it he argues that voting for the DUP and Sinn Fein people are choosing a communial carve up rather than voting to work together across the divide. He will surely need to provide some evidence that his party (and presumably the SDLP) can provide that alternative, if …

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Talk of the UUP’s rightful place, and Reg Empey’s description of his party as a ‘broad church’ have the ring “an epitaph masquerading as a birth certificate“, according to Newton Emerson. He goes on quote Lurgan DUP MLA Stephen Moutray: “The UUP does not have any rightful place. It is the people who dictate who will speak for them.” Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the …

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THE UVF ceasefire has, once again, been called into question by all sides after the murder of Craig McCausland. And once again, it is innocent people with no connection to the feud or paramilitarism who are paying with their lives. Four days after McCausland’s horrific murder (his mother had also been murdered by the UDA aged 23), the family had yet to see a unionist politician darken their doorstep or phone to offer sympathy – their excuses rang pitifully hollow …

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The Newsletter (no link) reports today that Sir Reg Empey has made his second round of appointments. Following from the appointment of Danny Kennedy as Deputy Leader he has created the portfolio of Parades, and has appointed a team of four to take it on. The four who are all members of the Orange Institution and other Loyal Orders are Michael Copeland MLA, Olive Whitten, Cllr Trevor Wilson and Young Unionist Alan Barr. The report also reveals that the Party …

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SLUGGER continues to drive debate beyond the web in today’s Irish News, where Roy Garland uses recent criticism of ‘the Roy Garlands’ of unionism by contributor Watchman to draw a distinction between “the strength of the constructive voice of unionism” and what Garland sees as a past unionism of “small minds and self-defeating philosophies”.Garland writes: Watchman mistakenly assumes that the concerns of most unionists centre on traditional sectarian dog fights but thinking unionists know that sectarianism is the barrier to …

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THE IRA has admitted that it killed a schoolgirl in Derry more than 30 years ago. At the time, the IRA blamed the British Army, and killed a soldier in retaliation.Unionists have reacted with scepticism, perhaps seeing it as a cynical move by republicans to demonstrate – without conceding anything – to the two governments that they are ‘moving on’ before the next round of talks. Unionists tend to see such moves as minimalistic, not addressing their concerns. But then …

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Brian Walker’s been keeping an eye on some subtle changes at Westminster. Not least the greater attendence of Ian Paisley, who is now styling his interventions on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland, Walker suggests is now consciously enlarged from the previous normative definition of protestant Northern Ireland.Noteworthy amongst everything else was Peter Hain’s advocacy for greater powers for the Welsh Assembly (subject to approval by referendum: Peter Hain’s claim that he can handle double-jobbing has been put to …

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Irish Daily Star political columnist and Unionist revisionist Dr JOHN COULTER maintains that whoever wins the UUP leadership battle on Friday evening, he must lead the party in the direction of a formal merger with the DUP.By John Coulter By the end of this week, there’ll be a new Ulster Unionist leader and his first task should be to lay the groundwork for a formal merger with the DUP. The hard reality which the unionist family must face is that …

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Empey, McFarland, McNarry. There is still some doubt over the intentions of Lord Maginnis, however he will probably pull out by the end of the week when nominations close.Empey’s press conference was well attended, and he had an interesting cross section of the Party in support. Definite supporters seemed to include Jim Nicholson, Danny Kennedy, Fred Cobain and Tom Elliot. He also had the support of a number of new Councillors such as Mark Cosgrove as well as the established …

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DR JOHN COULTER is a political columnist and Unionist revisionist. Here he flies a controversial kite and argues that the Ulster Unionist Party should swing to the Radical Right if it is to have any meaningful future in Ulster politics.By John Coutler The badly bruised Ulster Unionist Party can take its first tentative steps on the long road to recovery by re-launching itself as a Radical Right-wing movement with a positive ultra-conservative agenda … but first it has to elect …

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The prospect of the DUP finally meeting with the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Sean Brady. It’s been a bit of a pot boiler over the last few days, but this Irish News editorial argues that if it includes the party leader, Ian Paisley, it would represent a cultural change that appears to have already been in train within the party for some time now: Some observers regard all this as a fantasy, but there have been at least some firm …

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