DURING his party's Easter commemoration at Arbour Hill on April 28, Micheál Martin took the opportunity to demonstrate that in one matter at least, the north, he's consistently wrong.
He advocated two options for making progress in the Stormont talks - going straight into the assembly and suspending the petition of concern, or holding a referendum on marriage equality. The SDLP of course backed him.
Both proposals are daft. Here's why. The second one first.
There's no legislative provision in the north for a referendum on anything except a border poll, so the British government would have to legislate specially for one on marriage equality.
Given the present arithmetic in Westminster placing Theresa May in hock to the DUP that's not going to happen.
Furthermore, what would the question(s) be? Who would decide? The Electoral Commission?
Suppose, after legislation, a referendum passed, who would implement it? The British government, or a local assembly?
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In any case, even if the British were prepared to pass legislation for a referendum - which they're not - the process would take a year to work through. Does Martin ever think past his first sound bite?
The first proposal, entering the assembly and suspending the petition of concern, is not only daft but dangerous and provocative.
Again, he couldn't have thought it through.
What's worse, the SDLP who should know better, supported the plan.
Entering the assembly without preconditions is in fact the DUP position and would override the stand Sinn Féin has taken since 2017.
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How can any Fianna Fáil leader seriously propose overriding the policy of the party which represents 70 per cent of northern nationalists in the assembly, and after last week's council elections represents over 60 per cent of them in councils?
Answer: when it's Sinn Féin. Despite even this British government rejecting the DUP demand to enter the assembly and address the matters which caused its collapse, Martin and the SDLP would do it.
Let's look at suspending the petition of concern, an astonishing suggestion for the SDLP to support - naïve to the point of pitiful.
Here's what would happen. Knowing the petition was to be suspended, the DUP, and individual DUP assembly members, would be ready with a slate of proposals to push through with the support of the craven, demoralised UUP.
For example, first on the list would be changing the definition of a victim which the DUP has been worrying away at since 2006.
They want only what they call 'innocent' victims to benefit from legacy provisions, not all victims as laid down in the 2006 Victims and Survivors Order.
Then, in any order you like, they would propose permanently flying the union jack from Belfast city hall, and/or all council halls, all government buildings, funding events on Army Day on June 29, flying the Army Day flag, all together now, from all government buildings on Army Day, and so on and so on.
Some of these proposals would have the advantage of splitting, or at least embarrassing the Alliance party, whose more pro-union members might agree with them or find difficult to oppose.
Now, let's get back to the point of suspending the petition, which is simply to force marriage equality down the throat of the DUP MLAs.
That's why the proposal is provocative and divisive as well as just plain stupid.
You can't develop arrangements which overrule the biggest party in the assembly which has just had its position as the representatives of the majority of unionists endorsed again.
The petition of concern is there for a purpose and that's to prevent such actions.
Yes, of course it's been cynically abused - and more so by the DUP than Sinn Féin - but that doesn't mean it should be suspended, let alone abolished.
We haven't even looked at how it would be suspended.
For a start, if anyone was daft enough to agree to the SDLP plan to enter the assembly, then suspend the petition, what's to stop the DUP plus Jim Allister and some UUP MLAs invoking a petition of concern to prevent it being suspended?
Or is this British government going to legislate over their heads to do it, and for how long? Hah.
Fianna Fáil and the SDLP need to think through the consequences of their sound bites.
