“Is Gilmore fighting old Stickie/ Provo battles?”
Posted By: September 11, 2013
GILMORE’S VACUOUS TALK SUITS HIS INVISIBLE ROLE
That was the first occasion since 1985 that the Irish government was not involved in such a project, despite the fact that there could have been substantial cross-border benefits.
It was amazing to nationalists that after a year of unionist flag protests, riots injuring hundreds of police, provocative marches past Catholic Churches and flashpoints like Ardoyne by bands extolling the exploits of loyalist killers, the only criticism Gilmore had to make was to parrot the words of our clueless proconsul and attack Sinn Fein for its march in Castlederg. Nothing like a bit of balance eh? You can’t help but wonder is Gilmore fighting old Stickie/ Provo battles or just electioneering for a Southern audience?
The most serious criticism of his role as co-guarantor of the GFA [ Good Friday Agreement] is that for the first time on matters of critical importance there’s a conference beginning next week chaired by Richard Haass in which the Irish government has no formal role. Gilmore allowed that to happen. The British government will have to implement any proposals on flags or the past by introducing new legislation or amending existing law. Has the Irish government no input into which symbols and emblems are displayed as of right in the North? Does the Irish government have no contribution to make about dealing with the past other than vacuous talk about unionist ‘perceptions’? Had the British government no role the Irish government wishes to examine, like maybe in the Dublin/Monaghan bombs, the official documents of which Blair and Brown refused to release? Clearly not as far as Gilmore is concerned. He is too keen in Stickie fashion to appease the British government and unionism.
So if last Saturday’s speech is anything to go by, when haass’s all-party talks begin next week the Irish government will stand idly by. A pity, because past experience shows that only when the two governments work together to twist the arms of their Northern client groups is there any progress. Hillsborough 2011 was the recent proof of that. Without Dublin and London, but with elections next May, what chance of progress?