In ancient Greece playwrights often wrote of protagonists brought down from great heights when arrogant overconfidence or hubris blinded them to danger. Like a Greek tragedy, Arlene Foster now finds herself in political jeopardy she might have avoided, but for her own arrogance and hubris.
She had reasons for thinking herself invulnerable. She had Martin McGuinness co-sign a platform piece in The Irish News (November 21) touting ‘mutual respect’ and ‘delivery’ while delivering what Gerry Adams termed “deliberate provocation, arrogance and disrespect.” Corruption, Red Sky or Nama were not worth mentioning. Unionist opposition also seemed incapable of mounting any serious challenge .
RHI could have been a minor annoyance. Martin McGuinness invited Foster to copy Peter Robinson’s Irisgate shuffle. Robinson, in January 2010, shuffled in Arlene Foster as stand-in first minister. Three weeks later, Robinson returned triumphant.
Had Foster shuffled in a stand-in and safe inquiry leader, she might have already returned in triumph with RHI ‘money to burn’ and DUP corruption claims behind her.
Instead, blinkered by hubris, the ‘iron lady of unionism’, gave her ‘I regret others let me down’ speech at Stormont. The DUP followed with its Christmas card cut-off of Irish study funding. Sinn Féin’s grassroots could swallow no more.
The party had bogged down in an obsolete strategy. During the Stormont Agreement talks the British would volunteer some confidence building gesture or statement eg proclaiming no selfish interest in keeping the six counties. Republicans would reciprocate to show good faith and keep momentum forward.
Greeting English royals, ‘sorry’ initiatives, ‘towards an agreed and reconciled future’ etc were devised to build goodwill with DUP members and, slowly, erode unionist fears.
Unfortunately, the British and DUP stopped reciprocating. Instead of confidence building measures to be repaid the DUP saw only concessions to be pocketed, while demanding more concessions. DUP voters enjoyed watching Foster putting Martin McGuinness in his place.
On legacy inquests, austerity, a Long Kesh Centre or Irish funding, the British stood back while the DUP squeezed out concessions.
Sinn Féin could take any meager results as somehow a victory or admit a defeat. ‘Rollover republicanism’ emerged.
Foster expects to be rescued by unionist voters on March 2.
She expects more partnership at any price. Once republicans lived up to Terence MacSwiney’s words: “It is not those who inflict the most but those that can endure the most that shall prevail.” Surely we have not come down to trying to prevail by enduring more ‘deliberate provocation, arrogance and disrespect’ inflicted by Foster and the DUP at Stormont.
MARTIN GALVIN
New York
Rejection of language act wasn’t a snap decision
The crocodile crack from Arlene Foster has surely ended any possibility of the Stormont asylum being reformed. I doubt that her petulant rejection of an Irish language act was a snap decision. She has to be aware that her words have closed the door on Sinn Féin’s future participation in the Mad Hatter’s tea party. After all they have stated that they won’t return unless they finally achieve an equality partnership with the act being specifically listed as a grievance.
Given that Sinn Féin were pushed into the resignation of Martin McGuinness by a grassroots weary of bending over backwards to the DUP they would find it impossible to nominate a co-minister – wouldn’t they? If they did decide to bake up a new batch of fudge it is likely to severely hurt them electorally in the future, perhaps to the extent that the party would split. Sinn Féin’s belated sense of outrage has left them in a very weak bargaining position. The DUP, effectively, have all that they want – the union; nationalist/republican de facto acceptance of the status quo by their participation in its regional body; no more ROI territorial claim; a veto on legacy issues and a means of passing out sweeties to their supporters when they get control of a Stormont department in the d’Hondt merry-go-round. Sinn Féin’s only card is to withhold the co-ministership and prevent the resumption of the assembly. Unfortunately the DUP are comfortable with any ensuing direct rule given that they have become little more than a branch of the Tory party. It’s difficult to play hard ball when all you have in your hand is a marshmallow. Direct rule would suit Arlene Foster, it would give her party time to let cool the renewable hot water they find themselves in. It is time that Sinn Féin cut their losses and consign the white elephant on the hill to extinction. Better to kill it now than have it trample anymore on the aspirations of their grassroots or the rest of us for that matter.
GERARD HERDMAN
Belfast BT11
Integrated education
I was horrified to read that £47 million of the £50m allocated by the Treasury to the Northern Ireland Assembly for integrated and shared education has had to be returned to Westminster as it had not been spent.
The 1998 Belfast Agreement advocated support for integrated education but successive ministers for education have failed to act.
The Fresh Start Agreement repeated this obligation and the Treasury allocated £500m over 10 years for integrated and shared education.
The excuse given for not spending the current year’s allocation was that projects were still at the planning stage.
Anyone who, like myself has been involved in trying to set up an integrated school knows the struggles involved in beating bureaucracy and securing funding. Many integrated schools spend years in temporary buildings and mobiles and funding for expansion is held up.
The Integrated Education Fund relies on generous donations from well-wishers from across the world.
Surely our DUP minister for education, if he had wished to fulfil the promises made in the Fresh Start Agreement, could have found ways to help the integrated sector. with the £50m.
If we want to end our divided society our children should grow up together learning about and sharing all our different cultures and beliefs.
MARGARET MARSHALL
Belfast BT8
Wasted energy
While the political focus is on the Renewable Heat fiasco, we should not absolve the executive from other financial incompetence. Presumably as a result of not having a budget and being incompetent, public employees are being given ‘protective notice’ and creditors are not being paid. No doubt other uncertainties are prevalent and these often create a bile that is hard to remove.
As if the Brexit uncertainties aren’t enough, ordinary folks are being subjected to locally imposed unnecessary stress.
It seems that there is little appetite by our elected representatives to work effectively for the whole province, making ‘hard decisions’ while retaining good manners. Over the years we have seen change and improvement while creating some upset, most often works out alright.
We need politicians who are competent, who have had ‘outside’ experience and who will move us on. There is a generation of young people who are being let down and it is not hard to predict what will happen in a few years unless a change is made.
TOM EKIN
Belfast BT9
Ulster has
two identities
W
hen the United States tried to make Puerto Rico the 51st state,
Conservative prophet Pat Buchanan said in his opposition to the plan,
“Let Puerto Rico be Puerto Rico and America be America.”
The same can be said about the ‘shared future’ behemoth here in Northern Ireland. Who cares if a British minister snubs the anthem during a
Gaelic match? It’s not part of his identity.
Ulster has two distinct cultural identities. One is Irish and the other is British/northern Irish. An Ulster nation open to anyone with either an Irish or British passport seems pretty reasonable to me. After all, I sincerely doubt that those in counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan wish to remain ‘good Europeans’.
Desmond Devlin
Ardboe, Co Tyrone
