Political deadlock in Northern Ireland
Posted By: July 08, 2017
Letters to the Editor. Irish Times. Dublin. Thursday, July 6, 2017
Fr. JOE McVEIGH, Tattygar, Enniskillen.Co Fermanagh.
A chara,
Your editorial “Tribal politics triumphs again” (July 7th) is a narrow and negative approach to the political impasse in the North that does not take account of political realities and the new momentum for change expressed in recent elections. Your focus on the failure of the parties to bring back the Assembly is much too general and does not attempt to understand the reasons for the collapse of the Executive last January. By stating that both “tribes,” as you put it, are equally to blame is a travesty of the truth. It does not accept the refusal of the DUP to implement agreements already made. You fail to deal with the Tory government’s undermining of the institutions and previous agreements by their shady deal with the DUP. That new alignment of the Tories and the DUP has taken the pressure of the DUP to deliver on previous commitments. It now
– Your editorial “Tribal politics triumphs again” (July 7th) is a narrow and negative approach to the political impasse in the North that does not take account of political realities and the new momentum for change expressed in recent elections. Your focus on the failure of the parties to bring back the Assembly is much too general and does not attempt to understand the reasons for the collapse of the Executive last January. By stating that both “tribes”, as you put it, are equally to blame is a travesty of the truth. It does not accept the refusal of the DUP to implement agreements already made. You fail to deal with the Tory government’s undermining of the institutions and previous agreements by their shady deal with the DUP. That new alignment of the Tories and the DUP has taken the pressure of the DUP to deliver on previous commitments. It now has the support of Theresa May for its obdurate refusal to accept parity of esteem and the need for respect. That is what your focus should have been – on those in the DUP who are not committed to the process and to a parity of esteem and on the British Tory government for its unashamed support for the hard-line “not an inch” DUP approach. Place responsibility where it belongs, not on the old worn-out shibboleth of “tribal politics”, as if the British had nothing to do with it. It is painfully obvious that that is where the blame for the impasse lies. – Yours, etc,
