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Category: DUP

  • Sinn Fein claims PM is ‘in cahoots’ with DUP to block power sharing between parties

    Sinn Fein has accused the UK government of conniving with the DUP to deliberately block power sharing at Stormont.

    “Cahoots”

    Party president Mary Lou McDonald claimed Boris Johnson was “in cahoots with the DUP” in preventing the formation of a new Executive and Assembly in Belfast. McDonald alleged Johnson was “recklessly and cynically” facilitating the DUP as part of a “game of brinkmanship” with the EU. This was over Brexit’s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

    McDonald made comments following a meeting of Sinn Fein’s ruling council (ard chomhairle) in Dublin. They come ahead of Johnson’s anticipated visit to Belfast on 16 May to hold talks with the region’s political leaders. In the wake of last week’s Assembly election, the DUP has refused to re-enter a power-sharing executive. It claims to be doing this in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements which have created barriers on goods moving between Great Britain and the North of Ireland.

    Under Stormont rules, a new administration cannot be formed without the participation of the largest unionist party.

    The DUP has also blocked the nomination of a new Assembly speaker. This means the legislature at Parliament Buildings cannot meet while the impasse continues. The moves come amid mounting speculation that Johnson may signal an intent to override aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol by way of domestic legislation. However, this is a tactic which the EU has warned against.

    Changes

    The Stormont election saw Sinn Fein displace the DUP to become the overall largest party in the North of Ireland for the first time. Addressing reporters in Dublin, McDonald said:

    The DUP have not simply called a halt to the formation of an Executive, they have equally attempted to place a veto on the operation of the Assembly.

    I mean, it is outrageous.

    And the British government have assisted the DUP in these blocking tactics and they need to desist and certainly when we meet Boris Johnson on Monday we will be making that very clear to him.

    2022 NI Assembly election
    Sinn Fein’s president Mary Lou McDonald (left) and vice president Michelle O’Neill speak to the media after addressing the party’s ruling council in Dublin (Sam Boal/PA)

    On the prospect of unilateral action from the UK over the protocol, the Sinn Fein president added:

    It is very dangerous, it’s reckless, it’s a game of brinkmanship, very cynically carried out by a Tory government in London that has no care for the island of Ireland, north or south.

    The republican leader said people should not be overly “spooked or distracted” by Johnson’s “rhetoric”. She said the London government had repeatedly failed to act in “good faith” throughout the Brexit process. And she added:

    They have consistently threatened to act and have acted unilaterally.

    And let’s just be clear that the protocol is going nowhere. The protocol is a necessary outworking of Brexit for which the Tory party and the DUP campaigned.

    And the British government cannot use Ireland as a pawn, we won’t be the collateral damage in the Brexit negotiations.

    She added:

    We’re not one bit naive as to what’s happening here – it is very clear that the Tory government in London is in cahoots with the DUP to stall and to hold back progress, to frustrate the will of the people as expressed in the election and that, to anybody who calls themselves a democrat, is clearly unacceptable and clearly shameful. And that case will be made to Boris Johnson.

    “Punishing the public”

    Party vice president Michelle O’Neill will be in line to become Northern Ireland’s first minister if the DUP does agree to go back into government. She also addressed the ard chomhairle on 14 May.

    Afterwards, O’Neill also criticised Johnson:

    They (the DUP) are punishing the public for their own Brexit mess and they’re being facilitated in that by the Tories.

    They are punishing the public and that is not acceptable. And Boris Johnson has no mandate here on the island of Ireland.

    But yet he’s facilitating this DUP madness at a time whenever the people need us to be there for them.

    Justifying his party’s stance, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said there’s a need for a “very clear message” to be sent to the UK government and the EU that action must be taken on the protocol. He insists the trading arrangements have undermined the terms of the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast peace agreement. And he has maintained his party will not re-engage with the Stormont institutions until unionist confidence in them is restored.

    Last week, Johnson said:

    The people of Northern Ireland need leadership, they need a regional, a provincial government… they haven’t got that. That’s a real, real problem.

    And the reason they don’t have that is because there’s one community in Northern Ireland that won’t accept the way the protocol works at present – we’ve got to fix that.

    Meanwhile, foreign secretary Liz Truss has warned that the UK will have “no choice but to act” if the EU does not show enough “flexibility” on reducing post-Brexit checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea.

    Both the Conservatives and the DUP actively campaigned for Brexit.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The DUP’s refusal to govern with Sinn Féin is just sectarian business as usual

    It’s both official and historic. Sinn Féin, under the leadership of Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle O’Neill, is the largest political party in the North of Ireland. It won 27 of the Northern Ireland Assembly‘s 90 seats in the 5 May elections, as the British unionist DUP crashed to second place. O’Neill is now in line to be the North’s first minister. Sinn Féin also won the most first-preference votes. This is the first time any Irish republican political party has achieved this.

    Whilst we try to work out what this result could mean for the North’s position within the UK, the DUP appears to be have its head in the sand. The system of government in the North is such that Irish republicans and British unionists must work together. However, the DUP refuses to commit to entering government with Sinn Féin despite the historic and democratic result. Its position isn’t at all surprising. Try as the DUP might to use the fallout from Brexit as an excuse for not entering government, its thinly veiled sectarianism is fooling nobody.

    Was this the most important election?

    DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson billed this election the “most important in a generation”. Donaldson said he believed it would decide the future direction of the North of Ireland. He urged unionist voters to transfer their votes (the Assembly uses a Proportional Representation Single Transferable Vote system) to other unionist candidates. According to Donaldson, this would have helped to stop Sinn Féin from winning the election and thwarted its aim of holding a referendum on the North’s status within the UK.

    Additionally, according to Donaldson, voting in this way would demonstrate unionist opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP – the post Brexit agreement). Of course, Donaldson neglected to focus on the fact that the DUP was an ardent supporter of Brexit during and since the 2016 referendum.

    The DUP, once again, pulled out of government in the North of Ireland in February this year, citing its opposition to the NIP. It said the NIP creates a border down the Irish Sea, thereby treating the North differently to other parts of the UK. As such, the DUP claimed that it won’t re-enter government until this is resolved. However, it’s also possible that it realised support for Sinn Féin was such that the DUP would be its junior partner in government. This would be unacceptable to a unionist mindset that’s used to having the upper hand in a statelet which has been anti-Catholic from its very foundation.

    Donaldson’s plan to stop Sinn Féin failed miserably. Not only did the two main unionist parties not make gains, they in fact suffered losses. The DUP lost three seats, while the other mainstream unionist party, the UUP, lost one. The DUP’s first-preference vote dropped by almost 7%, while Sinn Féin’s increased by more than 1%. But Donaldson, in a way, may have got something right – the generation that voted in this election showed how unimportant the dominant DUP position is.

    Unionism hasn’t changed

    There can be little surprise at unionist reluctance to work with their republican neighbours as equals. Over the last few decades at least, they’ve made no secret of their feelings for their Irish Catholic and republican neighbours. From fostering suspicion to ensure that they couldn’t gain employment to comparing them to animals, there’s little doubt as to the real reason for the DUP not wanting to enter government.

    But that’s on them. The electorate in the North has shown in this and indeed previous elections that they reject such sectarian politics.

    The DUP hasn’t got the message

    24 years on and the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) has not been the stepping stone towards a united Ireland that leading Irish republicans promised it would be. However, in all my years observing politics on this island, this is without doubt the first time I can remember people from outside Irish republican circles talking about the realistic possibility of a united Ireland. Even if the shape of a potential united Ireland is something that concerns me.

    Regardless of its ineffectiveness for achieving a united Ireland, the DUP had nothing but contempt for the GFA. This is mainly because it means sharing power with its republican neighbours. Following the election result, Donaldson is still refusing to listen to the electorate, and he is instead engaging in ‘I told you so’. He appears oblivious to what has just happened to his party, and how a sectarian mindset has led it here.

    Featured image via YouTube Screengrab – Sinn Féin

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Despite claiming he lied, the DUP is still asking Boris Johnson for help

    As I’ve argued before, there’s nothing that complicated about politics in the north of Ireland. Nor is there anything that complicated about the DUP’s latest efforts to collapse the power sharing government (called Stormont) in the north. Put simply, this is damage limitation for the DUP’s Brexit balls up and the notorious Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) that followed.

    This self-inflicted harm is costing the DUP quite severely. Brexit has weakened its precious union. And according to opinion polls, it’s losing voter support. This is support which it’ll want to regain ahead of elections in the north scheduled for 5 May 2022. The DUP’s response to this self-inflicted shambles? Appeal to a lying Boris Johnson, who it also claims lied to them over the NIP, for help:

    Consequences?

    The DUP effectively collapsed the government in the north when its first minister Paul Givan resigned on 3 February. And it may not even have the three months between now and May to put things right. To begin with, its current government partner Sinn Féin is calling for early elections:

    But even if those elections don’t come early, according to opinion polls, Sinn Féin looks set to become the largest single party in the north. Moreover, Givan’s resignation has serious consequences, because it means local government can’t approve future spending on schools and hospitals. Additionally, an official apology to victims of institutional abuse won’t now happen in March, as was initially planned.

    A quick reminder on Brexit

    Despite not being able to convince a majority of people in the north of Ireland to vote Leave, we can’t forget the sordid role the DUP played in promoting Brexit in 2016. And there were plenty of people to remind the DUP of this and how it’s now trying to avoid blame:

    The DUP’s Brexit position has been described as “a huge strategic error”:

    But RTE‘s David McCullagh was on the ball in pointing out DUP contradictions to MP Gavin Robinson:

    We’ve been here before

    There’s nothing new in the DUP collapsing Stormont. It last collapsed it in January 2017 when Arlene Foster refused to step aside pending an investigation into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) financial scandal. And the absolute stupidity of the DUP appealing to a British prime minister isn’t new either:

    Comedian Jake O’Kane summed up the DUP’s position perfectly:

     

    The DUP lost two of its MPs at the 2019 general election. It’s currently performing poorly in the polls. And if those polls are reflected in the next Stormont elections, Sinn Féin will become, for the first time ever, the largest party in Stormont. It would then hold the position of first minister – also for the first time ever.

    It could be too late for the DUP to undo this self-inflicted electoral damage. But appealing to a lying prime minister, when the mainstream English media appears to care so little about Stormont, reads like an act of desperation. It would serve the people of the north a lot better if the DUP dropped its Brexit rhetoric and helped tackle the serious issues that probably matter most to voters.

    Featured image via RTE News – YouTube Screengrab & The Telegraph – YouTube Screengrab

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Boris Johnson attends a church service to mark a century of a divided Ireland

    Prime minister Boris Johnson and Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney were among dignitaries who attended a church service to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland’s formation. The prayer service at St Patrick’s church of Ireland Cathedral was organised by the four main churches to mark the formation and the division of Ireland in 1921.

    The British state divided Ireland and created ‘Northern Ireland’ as a British colonial enclave after the Irish Republican Army’s guerilla war against British rule enabled the creation of the Irish Free State in the rest of Ireland. The events of 1921 came in the wake of the British state’s brutal suppression of Dublin’s 1916 Easter Rising. The division of Ireland has led to a century of conflict.

    A controversial event

    Secretary of state Brandon Lewis, first minister Paul Givan, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, UUP leader Doug Beattie, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Alliance leader Naomi Long also attended the service at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.

    The Irish government was represented by Coveney and chief whip, Jack Chambers. Irish republican party Sinn Féin did not send a representative. The queen was also due to attend but it was reported she had to cancel due to ill health.

    Northern Ireland centenary
    Brandon Lewis (left) and Simon Coveney bump elbows in greeting at the service to mark Northern Ireland’s centenary (Liam McBurney/PA)

    The service became the centre of a row last month after the president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, declined an invitation to attend because he believed it was not politically neutral. As The Canary‘s Peadar O’Cearnaigh wrote at that time:

    …the Irish president Michael D Higgins declined an invitation to attend a political event in the north of Ireland ‘celebrating’ 100 years of partition on the island. Both historians and constitutional experts found he was correct to have rejected the invitation. Several online polls would appear to show an overwhelming majority of Irish people support his decision not to attend. And from the conversations I’ve had since this controversy broke, absolutely no one seems to be screaming for Higgins to change his mind.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Widespread criticism as the DUP threatens to collapse the Northern Ireland parliament

    The leader of the DUP has signalled his party will collapse the Stormont Executive (parliament in the north of Ireland) within weeks if changes to Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol are not delivered. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson also announced his party’s immediate withdrawal from cross-border political institutions established on the island of Ireland under the Good Friday peace agreement.

    The moves are part of an intensification of the DUP’s campaign of opposition to post-Brexit arrangements that have created trading barriers between Great Britain and the north of Ireland. Donaldson issued the warning on the future of Stormont in a keynote address in Belfast on the same day as European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic began a two-day visit to the north.

    Brexit
    New facilities at Belfast port to carry out Brexit checks on goods arriving from GB (PA)

    The DUP would bring done the north’s government

    Ahead of any move to pull ministers out of the coalition administration, a step that would bring down the powersharing institutions, Donaldson said his party was first seeking to challenge the legality of checks on GB to the north of Ireland trade introduced under the protocol and establish whether their implementation requires the approval of the Stormont Executive. Donaldson said:

    In the final analysis those who are democratically elected by the people of Northern Ireland lack the power to prevent such checks, if that is the case, if our ministers cannot in the end prevent these checks taking place and if the protocol issues remain then I have to be clear, the position in office of DUP ministers would become untenable,

    If the choice is ultimately between remaining in office or implementing the protocol in its present form then the only option, the only option for any unionist minister would be to cease to hold such office.

    Donaldson added:

    Within weeks it will become clear if there is a basis for the Assembly and Executive to continue in this current mandate, and I want that to happen.

    But, equally, we will also need to consider whether there is a need for an Assembly election to refresh our mandate if action is not taken to address and resolve the issues related to the protocol and its impact, its damaging impact on Northern Ireland each and every day.

    People call Donaldson out

    And there was a big reaction to Donaldson’s declaration. Irish republican Danny Morrison said:

    While political commentator Emma DeSouza tweeted:

    While others suspected an ulterior motive:

    The Protocol

    The protocol was agreed by the UK and EU as a way to maintain a free-flowing land border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by moving many of the checks and processes required on goods to the Irish Sea. Under the arrangements, the north of Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods and continues to apply EU customs rules.

    Unionists in the north of Ireland have been vehemently opposed to its terms which see additional checks on goods arriving to the region from the rest of the UK. They claim the arrangements have undermined the north’s place within the UK.

    While Donaldson said the DUP was withdrawing from north/south political bodies he said his party would seek to ensure continued cross-border co-operation on health issues.

    Featured image via Garry Knight

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Greater support for a united Ireland is adding to the DUP’s misery

    Following unionist discontent with Arlene Foster’s handling of Brexit negotiations and the subsequent Northern Ireland Protocol, Foster announced she’d step down as DUP leader and first minister of Northern Ireland. In the weeks that followed, the DUP elected Edwin Poots as party leader. It proved to be an extremely divisive time for the north’s then most popular unionist party.

    Because DUP members were unhappy with Poots’ handling of the UK government’s commitment to passing an Irish language act, he lasted just three weeks. The DUP then endorsed Jeffrey Donaldson as its new and latest leader. But if the party thought that was the end of this particularly bumpy road, it would be sadly mistaken.

    Poll results

    On 28 August, an opinion poll showed the DUP had slumped from being the most popular mainstream unionist party to becoming the least popular. It also showed it had become one of the least popular mainstream parties in the north of Ireland:

    Some on social media found it hard to contain their delight:

    While this person took a more satirical approach:

    The DUP couldn’t have been altogether surprised by this poor showing. Especially given divisive leadership struggles and its most recent Westminster election performance where it lost two of its MPs.

    It gets worse…

    But if all that wasn’t sufficiently gruelling for this racist, Islamophobic, homophobic creationist party, another opinion poll would pile the pressure on further. Because in the Observer on Sunday 29 August, a poll suggested two-thirds of voters in the north believe there should be a vote on its place in the UK. And even more worryingly for unionists, the survey suggested:

    A survey published in June suggested that support for a united Ireland was as low as 30%. So with this recent upsurge in support, some united Ireland supporters couldn’t contain themselves:

    Who’s sorry now?

    There can be little doubt that the aftermath of Brexit has affected people’s opinions. And let’s not forget the north’s then-leading unionist party was in the driving seat of that particular bus.

    While some unionists may take a different view of this poll, it’s ignoring the bigger picture of what might lie ahead. These are indeed worrying times for unionism.

    Featured image via YouTube – BBC Newsnight & Commons Wikimedia – Дмитрий-5-Аверин

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The DUP’s non-apology for its anti-LGBTQI+ bigotry is an utter joke

    DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) leaders have apologised for the party and its members’ anti-LGBTQI+ prejudice. As a bisexual man, I can safely say they may as well have not bothered.

    The DUP: founded in homophobia

    The DUP has a long and illustrious history of rampant heterosexism/gaycism (what some people perhaps wrongly call homophobia), prejudice, and incitement of hate. As Bernadette C. Hayes and John Nagle wrote for the London School of Economics (LSE):

    What drives the DUP’s anti-gay rights agenda? A credible answer concerns the DUP’s roots as an evangelical Protestant party which frames homosexuality as a sin and an abomination against Biblical scripture.

    They noted that:

    Most infamously, in 1978, Rev. Ian Paisley, then an MP, collected nearly 70,000 signatures as he led a petition to stop the ending of criminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland – a campaign titled ‘Save Ulster from Sodomy’.

    This kind of heterosexism continued over the years. For example, former DUP MP Iris Robinson said in 2008 that LGBTQI+ people can effectively be cured. Oh, and she also compared being LGBTQI+ to child abuse, saying it in parliament.

    An ongoing issue

    But DUP members being rabid bigots continues to be a reality, as Pink News documented. In 2014, during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Gregory Campbell MP claimed that:

    so-called equality is now being viewed by many as an oppressive threat to religious freedom, and that such freedoms should be protected by the introduction of a conscience clause

    Nigel Dodds MP said similar. Campbell’s comments are unsurprising, given he once also said:

    I would see homosexuality as something which merited the curse of God.

    Then, in 2016, Sammy Wilson MP said HIV/AIDS was due to gay and bisexual “lifestyle choices”; ignoring that about half the people living with the disease in the UK are straight.

    Clearly, though, the issue of the DUP’s entrenched heterosexism is becoming a problem for the party. Because its leader and deputy have decided to come out (no pun intended) and apologise.

    “Hurtful comments”

    On Thursday 1 July, DUP deputy leader Paula Bradley spoke at a Pink News event. PA reported that she said some of the things said by the party over the past 50 years had been “absolutely atrocious”:

    I can certainly say I apologise for what others have said and done in the past, because I do think there have been some very hurtful comments and some language that really should not have been used.

    Then, after Bradley’s comments, the new DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson weighed in on the issue. This is the same man who opposed same-sex marriage on the basis that it would lead to incestuous ones. No – really.

    ‘Sorry if our homophobia offends you’

    On Friday 2 July, Donaldson told BBC Radio Ulster he agreed with Bradley. PA reported that he said:

    There is no doubt that in the past things have been said that should not have been said across a whole range of issues, and not just by the DUP, I have seen people on marches and at rallies say things about the DUP that have been hurtful to us and our members as well.

    I have seen things said about people from faith communities that have been hurtful and should not have been said.

    I think it is right to apologise when we have said things that have been hurtful to others.

    There are differences in our society, differences and deeply held views on social issues, and what I want to see in Northern Ireland is a discourse that is respectful of difference.

    People can hold their sincerely held views without the need to say things that are hurtful to others. We can disagree but we can disagree well.

    Where we have said things that have hurt others then it is right that we say sorry for that. Sorry needn’t be the hardest word.

    “Sorry” is the only word suitable for Donaldson’s comments; as in, ‘sorry – what…?’ Because it’s clear from what he and Bradley said that the DUP hasn’t changed at all.

    A “social issue”?

    Being LGBTQI+ isn’t a “social issue”. It’s not something that needs to be debated. Nor is it something where the dividing lines of opinion merit all sides of the argument being heard. Because our sexuality is not a choice (unless you think straight people choose to be that way). It is a fundamental human right and not something that can be turned on and off like tap.

    Take the issue of “gay marriage” – or just ‘marriage’ generally if you prefer not to lace your comments with tired tropes. As a bisexual man, the English state allows me to marry my current partner, because she’s a woman. I can also marry a man if I choose to. But if I wanted to live in the north of Ireland, and the DUP had had its way, gay marriage would not have been allowed. So, I could’ve married my female partner – but not a male one.

    Why? Obviously I am suddenly less offensive to the DUP as a bisexual man because I’m having sex with a woman.

    It’s just prejudice

    So there really is nothing to “disagree” about – unless you are heterosexist. Using religion as an excuse for your prejudice just doesn’t cut it. My mother, a devout Christian, welcomed my previous male long-term partner into her life like a second son.

    The DUP is institutionally bigoted, end of. Bradley and Donaldson can espouse hollow platitudes as much as they want. But unless the party’s members and MPs have all suddenly seen the light, then little will have changed. If the north of Ireland wishes to be a truly progressive country, then these bigots need to be rooted from power and work done to change the views of some of their supporters. Anything else is just lip service.

    Featured image via the Democratic Unionist Party – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • New DUP leader rocked by MLA resignation on first day

    New DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has been rocked by the resignation of a Stormont MLA. Alex Easton’s statement announcing his decision to leave the party after 21 years comes on Donaldson’s first full day in the leadership role.

    The North Down MLA, who will now sit as an independent, cited a lack of “respect, discipline or decency” within the DUP as one of the reasons he is quitting the party. His move comes after two months of unprecedented internal turmoil for the party.

    A divided DUP

    Bitter divisions within the party have been laid bare after successive revolts deposed former leader Arlene Foster and then her successor Edwin Poots, who quit after just 21 days in the job. Poots’ demise came only weeks after he narrowly defeated Donaldson in the leadership contest to succeed Foster.

    Easton announced his resignation in a statement reported by the County Down Spectator and Belfast Telegraph on Thursday. Several party councillors have also quit the DUP in recent weeks. Easton said:

    It is with great sadness and hurt that I find myself doing one of the hardest things in my life and resigning from the DUP,

    I have had to stand back and watch as colleagues tear themselves apart, brief against other colleagues and run to the media in order to hurt each other on a daily basis. There is no respect, discipline or decency, I have just had enough.

    This is not something that I want to be a part of as a unionist – it is not Alex Easton. No matter who people supported during the recent leadership contest, I find elements from both sides are equally to blame for recent events, and it continues.

    General Election 2019
    Alex Easton has quit the DUP (Liam McBurney/PA)

    The source of current DUP discord?

    After formally being ratified as leader by members of the DUP executive on Wednesday night Donaldson vowed to unite the party after several weeks of turbulence. He also said he expected prime minister Boris Johnson to “right the wrong” of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

    The party’s 130-strong executive met at the La Mon Hotel to approve his appointment on Wednesday.

    Donaldson, the party’s 58-year-old Westminster leader, was the only candidate to put his name forward for the DUP leadership after the dramatic resignation of Poots earlier this month.

    Referring to recent discord within the party, Donaldson said:

    There has been a lot of talking, I have spent time over the past few days talking quietly to colleagues, including Edwin (Poots).

    There have been things we have said to each other, recognising the hurt that has been caused. I think that has been good, it has been cathartic for the party and I think there is now a united determination. There is a desire to unite, to draw together, because in our unity is our strength.

    Donaldson also referred to the ongoing row over the Northern Ireland Protocol after a High Court ruling on Wednesday said that it conflicts with legislation that created the United Kingdom but is still lawful.

    DUP leadership

    Edwin Poots leaving the La Mon Hotel, Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

    Will Donaldson take the risk?

    The new leader has made clear his intent to return from Westminster to assume the first minister’s job at Stormont.

    However, the timeline for that move remains unclear. He would have to trigger a parliamentary by-election in Lagan Valley in order to re-enter the Assembly and it is unclear whether he would want to prompt such a contest in the near future, given the DUP’s recent poor poll ratings.

    Donaldson is due to make his first keynote speech as party leader at a Belfast hotel on Thursday morning.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Arlene Foster’s ex-adviser says Edwin Poots made ‘monumental mistakes’

    A former special adviser to Arlene Foster has accused Edwin Poots of making “monumental mistakes” in the 24 hours before his resignation.

    Poots resigned after just three weeks as leader of the DUP, amid party anger at a UK Government pledge to grant Sinn Féin a key concession on Irish language laws.

    Emma Little Pengelly, a former DUP MP and adviser to Mr Poots’ predecessor Arlene Foster, said he had failed to demonstrate the necessary leadership.

    She told BBC NI’s The View:

    Edwin was clearly very, very keen to take the leadership, there were many in the party unhappy about the way that it was done.

    General Election 2019
    The DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly (Liam McBurney/PA)

    It was then over to him then to demonstrate why he felt it was necessary.

    What were the changes that he felt needed to happen?

    However, over the course of the last two weeks we haven’t seen that – for example in terms of North South relations, the protocol and of course what has happened over the last 24 hours.

    She added:

    What has happened over the last 24 hours, last night and into today seem to have been monumental mistakes.

    Another former adviser to Foster, Lee Reynolds, said Poots should have known that the decision of the UK Government to legislate on the Irish language would not be acceptable to the DUP.

    He told BBC Newsnight:

    When I heard about it last night, I’m sitting here going ‘This isn’t going to fly’.

    There is no point getting people into a room agreeing something that any man on the street could have told you would be dead on arrival.

    He said Poots did not possess the “political goodwill” to survive the deal. He said:

    The simple reality is that there are always compromises in any agreement. And you need political capital and you need political goodwill to deliver on those

    That is just a central reality to Northern Ireland politics in 2021.

    The protocol and its impacts have made the well of political goodwill empty. It has cleaned out the unionist bank account of capital to spend on this, and that is a core problem.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • New DUP leader’s EU comments lack ‘adherence to reality’, says ambassador

    DUP leader Edwin Poots’ allegations that the European Union is causing harm to Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit lacks “adherence to reality”, according to the EU’s ambassador to the UK.

    Brexit means Brexit

    Joao Vale de Almeida on 1 June dismissed Poots’ claims that the arrangements are having a “devastating impact” and are causing “demonstrable harm to every individual in Northern Ireland”.

    The diplomat argued that “there is no alternative” to the Northern Ireland Protocol, after the DUP leader called for it to be suspended.

    Brexit
    EU ambassador to the UK, Joao Vale de Almeida (Aaron Chown/PA)

    Vale de Almeida told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

    First of all I don’t think those statements have adherence to reality. The EU is politically, financially and emotionally, I would say, committed to peace and prosperity for everybody in Northern Ireland.

    The protocol is not the problem, Brexit created the problem in Northern Ireland.

    The protocol is a joint endeavour of the UK and the European Union, it is British law, European law, international law, there is no alternative to the protocol.

    Even those that criticise the protocol do not present an alternative which is compatible with the terms of Brexit so the protocol is the solution, we need to implement it and we want to implement it with pragmatism.

    Poots has claimed the region is being used as a “plaything” by Europe and argued its ports will be subjected to greater checks on goods from Britain than take place in Rotterdam when the grace periods end.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Fifty years on, the DUP finally tries democracy. It’s not going well.

    On 28 May, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ratified Edwin Poots as its first elected leader in its 50-year history. And to say this democratic process has got off to a rough start doesn’t quite capture it.

    Since the party dipped its toe in these new waters: a DUP executive member has resigned; it’s rumoured that some councillors could follow; senior figures walked out of the Poots’ acceptance speech; and there’s even been an allegation of terrorist intimidation in the electoral process:

    Confused?

    If you’re finding this all just a bit too much to take in, that’s understandable. Because despite a poor election result in 2017, the DUP still held on to be the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly. And as recently as September 2019, it was propping up the UK government while trying to dictate on Brexit.

    But since then, it’s all gone pear-shaped. In December 2019, the DUP lost two of its Westminster MPs. This means the north of Ireland has more Irish republican MPs than unionist. Since January, the Brexit that the party so deviously campaigned for came back to bite it.

    And on 22 May, a poll predicted that Sinn Féin, the DUP’s partner in government but also its arch rival, could become the largest party in the Assembly following elections in 2022.

    DUP online

    The DUP is in absolute turmoil, which is even taking a toll on its social media presence. Because when former leader Arlene Foster abandoned her @DUPLeader twitter handle, she took over 96,000 followers with her.

    And her former handle, which now has over 3,700 followers, was quickly taken over by a parody account. That account didn’t waste any time:

    Sticking “the Poots in”

    Poots’ knife edge victory of 19 votes to 17, over his rival Jeffrey Donaldson, set a divisive stage. Because now they’re at each other’s throats. One insider is predicting a very bleak future indeed for the DUP:

    This cartoonist took a satirical approach:

    Paisley lets it slip

    Try as the DUP might to display a united front, that may not last. This current split could have its roots in a previous one – namely the one in 2008 that ousted DUP co-founder Ian Paisley senior as leader. Because his son, Ian Paisley junior, who backed Edwin Poots, recalled how that ousting affected his father:

    Time will tell what happens to the DUP. As things stand, it probably won’t face another electoral test until May 2022. But as Poots has already declared war on Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, a test of that leadership could come much sooner. This is far from over.

    Featured image via YouTube – Northern Ireland Assembly & YouTube – Sky News

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • With its new leader, the DUP seems set on self-destruction

    The newly elected Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Edwin Poots has said the removal of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) will be his number one priority. The fact his priority is at odds with the DUP’s government partners Sinn Féin doesn’t appear to matter. Nor the fact that it’s also at odds with two of the other five political parties in the Northern Ireland Executive.

    Both the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Alliance Party want the protocol to work. But I guess ‘democratic’ means different things to different people, given this debate has taken place several times over the last five plus years.

    So as we approach the north’s contentious marching season, the DUP’s creationist leader-to-be presents a ‘new’ hardline policy. A policy that could see the 2021 marching season as the most violent in some time.

    And since marching season is typically marred by some kind of violence, this may not worry the DUP faithful too much. But what should be worrying Poots’ believers is that the DUP’s 50th birthday celebrations could be the beginning of its own post-mortem.

    Hardline unionism leads to conflict

    The DUP’s roots are in “hardline Protestantism”. A similar hardline brand that used gerrymandering to prevent Irish republicans participating in democracy. It also discriminated against republicans in housing and employment. Indeed, the Northern Ireland statelet’s discriminatory pro-unionist/anti-republican behaviour since its foundation in 1922 was a catalyst for the north’s bloody 30-year conflict which caused:

    just under 3,500 deaths and 48,000 injuries, the equivalent by population size of 125,000 deaths and nearly 2 million injuries in Britain, or roughly half the British death toll during WWII.

    On the wrong side of public opinion

    Just as it opposed several agreements beforehand, the DUP opposed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA). And it opposed it because it refused to share power with Sinn Féin. But, as announced this day 23 years ago, voters in the north overwhelmingly accepted the GFA. And 23 years on, the GFA forms the basis of the current power-sharing agreement, which the DUP is still a part of.

    Similarly, when it backed Leave during the 2016 Brexit referendum, the DUP was out of step with the majority of voters in the north. And despite being on the winning side of that vote in the wider UK, it’s still unhappy with the result. Worse still from a DUP point of view, popular opinion indicates an increase in support for a United Ireland as a result of Brexit.

    Sinn Féin constantly gaining ground

    When the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed in January 2017, it further created shaky ground for the DUP. The collapse came from the DUP’s Arlene Foster refusing to step aside as first minister pending an investigation into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) financial scandal.

    Foster’s refusal forced Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness to resign as deputy first minister. The elections that followed led to Sinn Féin closing the gap on the DUP in the north’s Assembly.

    Attempts to restore it in 2018 appeared to collapse when the DUP got cold feet on committing to an Irish language Act. This act would have protected the development of the Irish language.

    Then, on 22 May, a LucidTalk poll predicted Sinn Féin would win the next Assembly elections. This would mean Sinn Féin, or any other Irish republican party for that matter, holding the first minister position for the first time in the north’s history. And while that would clearly be a democratic decision, it seems the DUP may not accept that either.

    Marching season approaching

    All of this is happening as we approach the summer. Followers of politics in the north will know that means marching season. A season when the unionist Orange Order marches through towns and cities in the north. A number of these marches lead to violence and intimidation of local Catholics.

    And as the reality of the post-Brexit NIP dawns, the sinister face of unionism re-emerges. In what can only be described as a bizarre appearance at a Northern Ireland select committee, a representative of loyalist paramilitaries threatened a return to violence should the NIP remain in place.

    And while this is in keeping with the loyalists’ March announcement to withdraw from the GFA, it sets a dark tone for the summer ahead. Because just as increased loyalist violence followed Belfast City Council’s controversial vote to limit the flying of the union flag in December 2012, the same could happen this year too.

    A failed and dangerous strategy

    So with this in mind, Poots’ hardline position makes little sense. Not least because there doesn’t appear to be a workable alternative to the NIP. But also because the DUP’s priority is to:

    maintain and enhance Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the United Kingdom

    Yet the hardline position has had the opposite effect. If the DUP wishes to self-destruct then so be it. Not too many this side of the political divide will mourn that. But if it faced up to the north’s weakening position within the UK, then that could prevent us mourning something much more serious. It’s time the DUP woke up to that.

    Featured image via YouTube – Channel 4 News

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Ministers accuse DUP of ‘obstructing’ north-south relations

    The DUP has been accused of “obstructing” north-south institutions.

    Sinn Féin and the SDLP say the DUP failed to nominate a unionist minister to attend two North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) sectoral meetings in recent weeks which prevented them from going ahead.

    One accompanying minister from the opposing political view must attend NSMC meetings to allow them to proceed.

    ‘Obstruction’

    On 16 April, infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon (SDLP) said an NSMC transport meeting could not go ahead due to no unionist minister having been nominated.

    DUP leader Arlene Foster later claimed the meeting did not happen due to a timing issue and insisted it would take place in the future.

    Sinn Féin communities minister Deirdre Hargey said an NSMC languages meeting was cancelled on 31 March because a unionist minister was not in attendance. The PA news agency understands that Hargey wrote to the Stormont Executive earlier this week to express her disappointment at the situation.

    Ministers discussed the matter under the any other business section of the Executive meeting on 15 April.

    It’s understood that deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill has asked the head of the civil service to ascertain if all ministers are continuing to participate in north-south ministerial structures. The next scheduled NSMC sectoral meeting is set to take place on 28 April and will concern agriculture.

    The current Stormont agriculture minister is Edwin Poots of the DUP.

    Language

    Hargey said important decisions on languages had been due to take place. She said:

    I raised the failure of a DUP minister to attend the languages meeting at yesterday’s Executive meeting. I made it clear that this was unacceptable.

    Properly functioning north-south structures are critical to the successful operation of the Good Friday Agreement framework.

    Unionist ministers do not get to cherry-pick which meetings or structures they want to participate in, it’s an obligation and must be fulfilled.

    Mallon accused Foster of having “failed to fulfil her ministerial requirement” by not nominating a unionist minister to attend the latest meeting on 16 April. She said:

    Today the DUP have once again blocked the proceeding of an important north-south ministerial meeting.

    Irish Government Minister Eamon Ryan and I were waiting to join our meeting, which was blocked from proceeding because no accompanying unionist minister would make themselves available.

    The Executive

    The Executive is made up of five DUP ministers, four Sinn Féin ministers, and one each from the UUP, SDLP and Alliance party.

    In February, the DUP warned that north-south relationships will be “impacted” by their opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol governing post-Brexit arrangements. The party also pledged to oppose all protocol-related measures in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    Foster said the 16 April meeting did not happen due to an issue with dates and said it would take place in the future.

    She told the BBC:

    We’ve made our position very clear in relation to the Protocol and the fact that we believe the Protocol needs to be dealt with so that there is balance in the Belfast Agreement.

    But the date of today wasn’t something that we could meet with and, as you know, all of these meetings take place in agreement, and the agenda wasn’t agreed, nothing was agreed for the meeting today between the different parties. So it’s something that will happen, it will happen in the future.

    Featured Image – Pixabay – veve

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Loyalist rioting isn’t at all ‘complicated’. It’s just history repeating itself.

    On 9 April, when writing in Byline Times about British loyalist rioting in the north of Ireland, Otto English (Andrew Scott) wrote:

    The roots of the violence that flared up over the past week on the streets of Belfast are like everything else in Northern Irish politics – complicated.

    And, given English’s approach to that article, you’d have to agree that politics in the north of Ireland is indeed “complicated”. Because before dealing with the “complicated” matter of loyalist rioting, English wrote four paragraphs (195 words) implicating Irish republicans in those riots.

    Except that English is wrong. The riots have nothing to do with Irish republicans. And politics in the north is only as “complicated” as any other land mass. Because once you understand that politics in the six-county statelet boils down to the fact that neither loyalist nor unionist wants ‘Roman Catholics about the place’, it becomes a whole lot simpler. And independent media must be ruthless in exposing that.

    “They don’t want a taig about the place”

    The Social Democratic and Labour Party’s (SDLP) Alasdair McDonnell caused a stir in 2015 when he was apparently heard saying:

    The DUP don’t want partnership – they don’t want a taig about the place. I’m sorry, it’s as brutal as that.

    But these weren’t really McDonnell’s own words. Because as a member of the SDLP, McDonnell is a ‘taig’ (tayg is a racist term for an Irish Catholic). He was merely paraphrasing the words of Ulster Unionist Sir Basil Brooke. In 1933 Brooke apparently boasted to an audience that:

    he had not a Roman Catholic about his own place

    Because he apparently believed Roman Catholics were:

    out with all their force and might to destroy the power and constitution of Ulster

    And Brooke’s mentality played a significant part in the makeup of ‘Northern Ireland’ since partition in 1922. Because that unionist statelet used gerrymandering to limit republican participation in democracy and to discriminate against them in housing and employment. So it’s the erosion of that mentality, since Irish republicans took a stand against it, which causes unionists and loyalists such angst today.

    Because today, republicans are elected to office, even though election to that office is far from what Irish republicans ever stood for. Nonetheless, unionist and loyalists can’t stand it. Republicans no longer live in squalor or accept second rate jobs. Well, no more than anybody else does at least.

    But, but… isn’t it complicated?!

    There’s plenty of terminology to bandy about for those who like to complicate things. But really it’s lots of different words for two pretty simple sides of the argument. Some will disagree, but I tend to categorise as follows (not an exhaustive list):

    1. Political/Geographical:
      • The north/ the north of Ireland/The six counties/Northern Ireland/Ulster (even if ‘Ulster’ is factually incorrect) – take your pick
      • Derry/that other place – take your pick
    2. Political/National:
      • Republicans/Catholics/Nationalists/Irish/United Irelanders – take your pick
      • Loyalists/Protestants/Unionists/British/Orange Order/United Kingdomers – take your pick

    I’m clear about which ones I chose, and I have my reasons, but ultimately they’re just words. English’s “complicated” article on the other hand is significant. Because it’s insulting. It’s insulting as it’s effectively telling the reader they’re too ignorant to work this out. It’s too complex for mere mortals, so stay away.

    Yeah but…the rioting is complicated

    The exact reasoning behind this latest spate of loyalist rioting may be complicated. But this current period of unrest reveals an uncomplicated big picture – on the 23rd anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and after almost a century of partition – of British unionist repulsion at power sharing with Irish republicans.

    Of course, if we want to get into the nitty-gritty of the Northern Ireland Protocol in terms of what it says about import quantities and documentation, then yes, it’s complicated. But so are most other international treaties. The north’s no different. Yet I seriously doubt any young loyalist who petrol bombed that bus did so because they were fed up completing colour-coded importation documents in triplicate and returning them to Brussels within 3-5 working days. Maybe it’s more to do with the DUP winning the Brexit vote but losing the Brexit result.

    And it’s not just the north

    It’s probably safe to assume that almost every land mass on the planet has “complicated” processes and politics. I mean, look at the UK. The UK prides itself on law and order yet it doesn’t have a single written constitution. It allows unelected people, in its upper house of parliament, to decide British laws.

    Its duke of Edinburgh came from Greece, lived in London and had no say over what happened in Edinburgh. Maybe because the UK has enveloped itself in so many complexities, it assumes everywhere else is the same. Should we also avoid UK politics?

    Didn’t the Good Friday Agreement fix everything?

    To cut a long story short – no. The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) stopped the mass killing. But, as civil rights campaigner Bernadette Devlin McAliskey said:

    The killing has stopped, yes. But the killing wasn’t the start of it. The killing was the consequence.

    McAliskey believes social inequality was at the core of the conflict in the north of Ireland. And that social inequality remains today. McAliskey claims there are 370,000 people in the north (in a total population of around 1.9m people) living below the poverty line. So the underlying problem is still there. And anyway, the GFA has been problematic since the get-go.

    While it set out a model for power-sharing between Irish republicans and British unionists, those power-sharing institutions have collapsed several times. And they’ve essentially collapsed because unionists hate sharing power with republicans. Just as they hated the 1973 Sunningdale power sharing arrangement.

    And unionist unwillingness to share power has nothing to do with the connection between some Irish republicans and Irish republican paramilitaries. Nothing. Irish republican paramilitaries were relatively inactive between 1922 and 1969. Yet still there was no power sharing of any real consequence. Unionists dominated that landscape, discriminated against republicans and resisted attempts to reform.

    Familiar, yes. Complicated, no.

    So whether it’s Sunningdale, the GFA or the Northern Ireland Protocol, it matters little to British unionists. They can’t tolerate sharing power with Irish republicans. And that might very well be the reason why young, working class loyalists are doing the dirty work of older, middle class unionists. It’s that simple.

    The more complicated media outlets make the north sound, the more this suits the unionist agenda. We must keep calling it out.

    Featured image via – YouTube – BBC News & YouTube – Channel 4 News

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Easter 2021 and it’s loyalists who are rising against British rule

    Between 24 and 30 April 1916, Irish republicans, socialists, and nationalists staged a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. They call it the Easter Rising. It was the beginning of the end for British rule in the south of Ireland.

    Fast forward to Easter 2021 and it’s British loyalists and unionists who are in the midst of a rising of sorts. Because for the last few days, loyalists have been battling with police in Belfast, Derry, and other parts of the north of Ireland. And unionist leaders are taking the British government to court over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

    While loyalists and unionists may not be rebelling against British rule as the women and men of 1916 did, their position is clear. They oppose the British government’s post-Brexit deal with the EU and they have no confidence in the PSNI‘s chief constable. And what also seems clear is, just as the British government has once again abandoned mainstream unionism, that brand of unionism has abandoned loyalists.

    Let down again

    It’s hardly the first time loyalists have been let down by unionism. Political commentator Joe Brolly referenced the words of David Irvine:

     

    Two republican funerals. Two different outcomes.

    Some blame current loyalist rioting on a Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announcement. On 30 March, the PPS announced that no action would be taken against members of Sinn Féin who attended the funeral of the IRA’s former head of intelligence Bobby Storey. The funeral was in June 2020.

    However, two other Irish republicans were prosecuted for attending a different funeral and doing pretty much the same thing as the Sinn Féin members. And it’s unclear why there’s a different approach to these two funerals. In any case, the PPS is reviewing the Storey decision.

    They came onto the streets

    It didn’t take long for the signs of loyalist discontent to spill on to the streets:

    Loyalist violence has certainly increased since then and has spread across the north:

    Where is loyalism at?

    Despite a brief calm, the rioting continued:

    And a war of words is also emerging:

    We’ve been here before…

    Some unionist leaders campaigned for Brexit. Despite that, they’re taking legal action against the protocol. And because of that protocol, loyalists chose to withdraw from the 1998 peace agreement.

    Unionists reacted to the Bobby Storey decision but had little to say about the Irish republicans who are facing prosecution. And following the Storey decision, unionists’ words were clear. So, just as the British government has once again shafted mainstream unionism, they’re doing something similar to working class loyalists. It’s become all too familiar.

    Featured image via Flickr – Óglaigh na hÉireann & Twitter – BBCMarkSimpson

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Report shows army and MI5 colluded with loyalist terror gang in killings

    Evidence has emerged that suggests the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), one of the three loyalist paramilitary organisations that have withdrawn from the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), colluded with the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and MI5 in killings.

    “Professionally carried out”

    The evidence relates to the murder of three IRA volunteers as well as a civilian. The IRA volunteers were John Quinn, Malcolm Nugent and Dwayne O’Donnell, and the civilian was Thomas Armstrong. UVF reportedly took responsibility for the killings, which took place at Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh in March 1991.

    In December of that year, three part-time members of the UDR were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murders. Another man who was related to one of the UDR men was detained too, but no charges were made.

    Now, a British army document has come to light. It not only provides information on how the UVF attack was executed but also the weapons used. The document further states that the murders were “professionally carried out”. In particular:

    From investigation of the scene it was found that the groupings of the bursts of fire were quiet [sic] exceptional for a PPM [Protestant paramilitaries] shoot and the targets had been well acquired.

    This new evidence was first revealed by the Irish News:

    Collusion

    The Belfast Telegraph states that a report has been handed to the victims’ relatives. The report, drafted by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) on those killed at Boyle’s Bar, says that:

    in the months after the killings three serving UDR members were named in intelligence reports as being responsible [for the killings].

    It further states that a “possible MI5 link involvement was also raised”.

    Phoenix Law lawyer Gavin Booth represents the families. He commented that this disclosure is “the first time a state report confirms collusion” in the Boyle’s Bar murders.

    More collusion

    It’s worth highlighting that there are many other instances of collusion or interaction between the UVF, and other loyalist paramilitaries, and British intelligence and armed forces.

    According to a lengthy exposé in Village, these include:

    • MI5 infiltration of Ulster Resistance (UR). Also, that “information was leaked from RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] and the UDR which provided [UR] with details of ‘suspected republicans’”.
    

      

    • Collusion between the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). It’s also reported that RUC intelligence was “used to target suspected republicans, including Loughlin Maginn, shot in Rathfriland in August 1989. His death, following that of solicitor Pat Finucane in February 1989, sparked the decades-long investigations by Sir John Stevens into collusion by the Security forces”.
      • 

    

    

      

    • Claims that “MI5-controlled provocateur” Robert Nairac “obtained equipment and weapons for, co-ordinated and executed the [Miami Showband] massacre which was perpetrated by the UVF led by their commander Robin Jackson. … Two serving UDR officers, and one ex-UDR officer served life sentences for the murders”.
      • 

    

    

      

    • Collusion between UDA agent Brian Nelson (found guilty of solicitor Pat Finucane’s murder) and the Force Research Unit (FRU).
      • 

    

    Other revelations
    

    In a July 2016 article, The Canary revealed a restricted document that provided evidence of the UK government’s collusion with paramilitary organisations in the north of Ireland. The document consisted of testimony by Ian Hurst, an FRU agent, who also went by the name Martin Ingram.
    

    Then in November 2018, The Canary reported on another example of collusion involving the Glenanne gang, which:
    

    was made up of members of the RUC, a former police force in Northern Ireland; the UDR, a British Army regiment; and the UVF, a loyalist paramilitary group. It was centrally involved in the murder of over 120 innocent civilians between July 1972 and the end of 1978. The group also took its murderous campaign south of the border.
    

    And in December 2020, The Canary reported on the 1971 McGurk’s bar massacre, when 15 people were killed and more than 16 were injured. The article reported that author and activist Ciarán MacAirt revealed files showing:
    

    the name of the UVF’s original target that evening and showed there was a nearby British army presence that evening also. Moreover, MacAirt claims his revelations connect General Frank Kitson [British general who authored ‘Low Intensity Operations’] to the atrocity.
    

    It’s claimed that a staggeringly high number of Loyalist paramilitary members were British intelligence assets.
    

    Meanwhile, the UVF, UDA, and Red Hand Commando – all proscribed terrorist organisations – are continuing to pressure the UK and EU on matters related to Brexit. And going by the UK government’s track record for duplicity, it’s doubtful whether it can be trusted to be on the right side of history here.
    

    Featured image via YouTube
    

    By Tom Coburg
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary. 
    
	
    
	
	
  • 
	
	
    
		
		
    
			
			
    
				
    

				
    Loyalist gangs withdraw support from the Good Friday Agreement over post-Brexit Irish border
    
			
    
			

			
		
    
		

		
    Loyalist paramilitaries have withdrawn support from the Good Friday Agreement over post-Brexit border measures.
    

    The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) is an umbrella organisation that reportedly includes proscribed terror groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Red Hand Commando. The group has written a letter to Boris Johnson and Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin. It warns that the 1998 peace agreement faces “destruction” if the border is imposed.
    

    In the letter, which was first reported by the Irish News, LCC chair David Campbell said:
    

    please do not underestimate the strength of feeling on this issue right across the unionist family. … Accordingly, I have been instructed to advise you that the loyalist groupings are herewith withdrawing their support for the Belfast agreement until our rights under the agreement are restored and the protocol is amended to ensure unfettered access for goods, services, and citizens throughout the United Kingdom. If the EU is not prepared to honour the entirety of the agreement then it will be responsible for the permanent destruction of the agreement.
    

    He said that Loyalist groups were:
    

    hereby withdrawing support for the Belfast Agreement and its institutions until our rights under the agreement are restored
    

    Campbell added that the groups were concerned that new border checks for goods coming in would create “disruption to trade and commerce between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom”.
    

    No return to violence?
    

    Responding to the letter, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Jeffrey Donaldson spoke to the BBC. Donaldson said that following his own discussions with the LCC on the matter, he felt there was:
    

    no sense that loyalist paramilitaries were going to revert to violence in opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol. I think that is reflected in this statement. Of course we are very clear that choosing the path of violence is not the way to go in any circumstances.
    

    Loyalist gangs
    

    The move drew criticism from politicians in the north of Ireland, but the implications are not yet clear. Stephen Farry, an MP with the centrist Alliance party, said:
    

    

    The agreement stands on the basis of the dual referendums in 1998. I am more concerned at the continued escalation of rhetoric and building of unrealistic expectations that the protocol can be replaced in the absence of a plausible alternative.
    

    

    Farry said he was concerned “that what is essentially a voice for proscribed terrorist organisations is becoming an actor in a political debate”.
    

    Irish News security reporter Allison Morris, who broke the story, tweeted a full version of the LCC letter. She warned that while the move might be meant as a negotiating tactic, it could have a “destabilising” effect:
    

    


    

    But whether or not the letter is intended as a negotiation tool, these threatening words are a worrying sign. And it is yet more evidence that the Tories have failed Ireland when it comes to Brexit.
    

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Keith Ruffles
    

    By Joe Glenton
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary. 
    
	
    
	
	
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    Arlene Foster making up school reopening policy ‘on the hoof’
    
			
    
			

			
		
    
		

		
    Sinn Féin has accused Arlene Foster of making up policy on the hoof after the first minister suggested revisiting Stormont’s decision on schools reopening.
    

    On Monday night, Mrs Foster indicated the DUP’s desire for a more rapid return to classrooms than the phased approach agreed by her party only four days earlier.
    

    Last Thursday, the Stormont executive announced that some primary school pupils would return to class on March 8, with some older post-primary school children returning on March 22.
    

    Ministers did not commit to a date for the full return of the wider school population.
    

    

    Northern Ireland’s health service
    Sinn Fein’s Pat Sheehan criticised Arlene Foster’s comments (David Young/PA)
    

    

    A change in tone?
    

    On Monday evening, Mrs Foster changed tone, expressing hope the decision could be reconsidered.
    

    Her comments came after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a full return to school in England on March 8. Mrs Foster said DUP education minister Peter Weir had wanted to pursue a similar strategy at last week’s executive meeting but she said Stormont’s health advisers “didn’t think that that was the right way forward”.
    

    She told the BBC:
    

    I understand that we have to take a safe and sustainable way forward, but I hope we can now revisit that again because I know full well from my own personal experience that the kitchen table is no substitute for a classroom,
    

    

    First steps for easing UK lockdown
    (PA Graphics)
    

    

    In response, Sinn Féin’s education spokesman Pat Sheehan accused Mrs Foster of flipping her position in response to Mr Johnson’s move. He told BBC Radio Ulster on Tuesday morning:
    

    Nothing has changed since last Thursday and in fact the CMO (Dr Michael McBride) told us last week that the reopening of schools completely would lead to a rise in the R number by between 0.3 and 0.7,
    

    If the R rate at the minute is sitting around 0.75, even if we only hit that lowest number, it brings us back above one and we’re back in the exact same situation again.
    

    It’s disappointing that Arlene wants to go and make policy on the hoof in interviews on the TV last night. Nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed is that Boris Johnson has decided to make a decision for England.
    

    You would think by now that the DUP would have learned not to hitch their wagon to Boris.
    

    

    

    When are pupils returning?
    

    Only vulnerable children and those of key workers have been in at mainstream schools in the north of Ireland since January. The executive decided last week that primary school pupils in year groups P1 to P3 would return to face-to-face learning on March 8.
    

    Pre-school and nursery children are also due to return on that date. Ministers decided that secondary pupils in key exam years, year groups 12 to 14, will return to school on March 22.
    

    The P1-P3 pupils will revert to remote learning for a week on that date, for the week prior to the Easter holidays, to minimise the impact on infection rates of years 12-14 returning. No decisions were taken on whether other year groups will return to class after the Easter holidays.
    

    

    By The Canary
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary.