North to the Future

The restoration of devolved powers to Northern Ireland feels like the real deal.

There haven’t been many times in recent history when Stormont has been a symbol of peace and unity, but hopefully recent events will represent a turning point in what has been a tumultuous past. There have been numerous false starts however the restoration of devolved powers to Northern Ireland feels like the real deal.

There are several reasons that make me think that this is going to be a sustainable peaceful government and not just another on-again off-again arrangement. First of all, there seems to have been an amazing change of character in the new First Minister. Ian Paisley has come a long way from his “No Surrender” days, and in recent months he’s been falling over himself to be genial. After years as a maverick outsider shouting from the extremist edge of Unionism, the temptation to take the reigns of power and create a positive legacy for himself seems to be too much to refuse. Of course, before all this could happen a few stipulations had to be met with those he once would have called antichrists…

Northern Ireland’s Republican community, largely represented by Sinn Féin, have been integral in Paisley and the DUP’s willingness to play ball, with their newfound acceptance of the authority of the PSNI and perhaps the single biggest move of all, the IRA’s decommissioning and end to criminality.

With Sinn Féin pretty much removing all the major obstacles to sharing power, the DUP had no other choice but to honour their side of the agreement. In fact, when the original deadline for forming a government was cast aside in favour of a mutually acceptable one for the Northern parties, the DUP’s change in tone would have been noticeable from space. Jeffrey Donaldson, generally one of the more, erm, canine in his approach to republicanism, started referring to Sinn Fein without the “IRA” afterwards. That in itself was a huge step. In subsequent interviews, Donaldson and the rest of his party have sounded more reasonable and measured than ever before, especially when it comes to republicans, and yet they are still able to sound like they aren’t compromising themselves. It’s a stroke the UUP were unable to pull and they paid for it.

While the DUP and Sinn Féin are getting the brunt of the credit for the government we see today, it’s important not to forget the huge amount of foundation laying done by the SDLP and the UUP, as well as the spate of former Irish Taoisigh, British Prime Ministers and Secretaries of State who have slaved over what we have today. For the current heads of government in both Ireland and Britain, this could well form a very large part of their legacy, as Tony Blair in particular is looking likely to abscond from Number 10 as soon as possible.

So now that we’ve seen what many thought would never happen in their lifetime (Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness sharing a podium in the same day is extraordinary enough), can we expect the new government to be that effective?  Well as both First Ministers and members of both parties have conceded, it will be very tough especially for the first few weeks and months, but instead of arguments along old sectarian lines, the fierce debates will be on things like the 11 plus, water charges, regional development and the health service.

It won’t be easy by any stretch, but after over eighty years of strife and conflict of a very different kind, it’ll be worth it.

By: Paddy Duffy

*Photo by mberry on Flickr.com

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