Martin will be our next First Minister
It'll be good craic next year when our Martin becomes first minister.
Many are looking forward to it. It'll help to liven things up.
Launching his campaign for the leadership of the Ulster Unionists, Tom Elliott vowed to change the rule that makes a Sinn Fin first minister a possibility. Before the talks at St Andrews, the
largest 'designation' was entitled to provide the first minister. But, at the Scottish summit, the terms of the original agreement were changed to allow the largest party to take the 'top' post.
The DUP thought it would help them to crush the UUP but they didn't foresee the continued growth in the republican vote. Now it's probable that Sinn Fin will be the largest party after next May's election.
The unionists are like a football team in danger of losing a big match.
But, instead of getting on with the game, they're trying to spare their blushes by campaigning for a change in the rules. There's virtually no chance of the referee, the Secretary of State or the sport's governing body in the form of the British Government agreeing to the mid-match change. If that were to happen, surely the Shinners would lift the ball and take their team off the pitch.
Mr Elliot has already lobbied Owen Patterson to make the change. Incidentally, the other contender for the unionist leadership, Basil McCrea, takes a different line. Like former First Minister Ian Paisley, he says he'll accept a Sinn Fin first minister if that's how the electorate vote.
But Basil McCrea is unlikely to be elected. He's far too trendy to be a unionist leader.
For most unionists, being old-fashioned is their defining characteristic. It's in their genes. It's how they're programmed.
"Elliott is taciturn, conservative, steady, rural, unexciting, an Orangeman, a member of the Black Preceptory, a former part-time UDR man," as described by political commentator Brian Feeney. In other words, he's the perfect unionist. What politician anywhere in Irish politics needs policies when he's got the perfect CV like Elliott? Wasn't Jim Molyneaux the perfect unionist leader in his time and his policy was not to have a policy. Yes, Tom Elliott's a shoe-in for the job in the party's election later this month.
But neither he nor Peter Robinson has any chance of getting the SDLP and Sinn Fin to renegotiate the St Andrews Agreement. And whether or not Robinson will survive as leader of the DUP, even until next May's election, is another question altogether. Their best option would be to put a brave face on their prospects and calmly accept that Martin McGuinness is likely to be first minister. They should accept the democratic verdict of the electorate. They shouldn't make a big deal out of it. After all, the first and deputy first ministers are in a joint office with identical powers. Even if Martin does become top dog, no constitutional issue will arise for unionists.
But, make no mistake; it will be a massive psychological blow for them. And the more they make a big deal out of it, the greater will be their trauma when it happens.
That's the other thing about unionists. They never learn from their mistakes. They've kept on repeating the same big mistake over and over again. They don't do strategic thinking.
Like the Gadarene swine in the bible, they can't see a cliff without hurling themselves over it. The politics of paranoia are deeply ingrained in their collective psyche. Whipping up fear in their electorate has long been their most favoured tactic. Playing up one crisis after another served many of their individual politicians well over the years. It kept them in power. In the longer run, however, it was always at the expense of their own community.
Thus Sen Lemass's visit to Stormont was a threat in 1966, civil rights marches were a threat in 1968, power-sharing was a threat in 1974, the Good Friday Agreement was a threat in 1989 and the probability of Martin McGuinness becoming first minister will be their favoured threat for 2011.
The election should be good craic. Bring it on.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Derry
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
