City name game saga rumbles on
With so much to discuss regarding the future of this city and region, it was regrettable that the City Council again spent time on the long-drawn out saga about the name of the city.
The arguments have been trotted out over and over and little effort has been made by the nationalist majority in council to allay the fears of the significant unionist minority in the council area that this is nothing more than triumphalism and the boot being on the other foot.
Precious little has been done to build on the historic links with London, which should be a major asset for the city. A recent visit by a prominent citizen of the City of London actually commented that there are countless cities throughout the world that would dearly love to have the links to London that we have and our council wishes to jettison.
I do not propose to rehash the arguments on the city name change for fear that my readers would be asleep within moments. However, there is another dimension to the process that has been overlooked. The principle of consent is now seemingly accepted by all parties at Stormont. We have a new ball game in play in which major decisions requires the consent of both traditions. As I see it, from these principles flows the logical argument that a major decision to change the name of Londonderry also requires the consent of both communities within the city. The bottom line is no agreement, no name change.
This should present the nationalist majority with a challenge to become persuaders of their fellow citizens rather than impose an unacceptable solution to something that is not a burning issue for most people.
There is a need for real engagement with the unionist community in the city council area. This is not achieved simply by rotating the position of mayor and chair of council committees. There is a need to see the other person's point of view, which has been sadly lacking since the reform of local government over thirty years ago. It is no wonder that the graffiti in the Fountain spells out the message 'West bank loyalists-still under siege.' The unionist leaders have not been without blame in the situation that developed as many of them simply did not wish to recognise and accept the new political structures.
The principle of consent has many far-reaching implications not just in relation to the argument on the name of the Maiden city. Since the creation of the state of Northern Ireland the constitutional question dominated politics. The Good Friday Agreement parked the sterile constitutional debate with the provision that constitutional change in the status of Northern Ireland required the consent of both parts of the island of Ireland. One could argue, however, that the principle of consent requires both communities in Northern Ireland to consent to constitutional change as well as the electorate of the Republic. From a practical point of view, the acceptance of such an argument would have led to a breakdown in the negotiations leading to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. At first reading the Good Friday Agreement could be seen as encouraging both sides to attempt to out-breed the other in a numbers game!
The saving grace was that the canny Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern knew (and was very thankful) that there was no prospect in his lifetime of the electorate of Northern Ireland voting for a united Ireland. There are even dark stories that private opinion polls in the Republic showed a majority didn't want a united Ireland seeing those unruly northern hordes upsetting the stability of the Republic.
The endgame, a decade after the Good Friday Agreement, has been that the Republic's government, parties and voters can breathe a sigh of relief as the Shinners and the DUP have together walked into the lobster pot carefully set for them. Our new republican and unionist political elites have to find accommodation in their dealings at Stormont. The least that can be expected at local level is that they also seek accommodation and the name of the city is an interesting challenge for both of them.
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Weather for Derry
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: West
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Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
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