There was bound to be another inquest on the performance
of the Ulster Unionist Party at the last election. This latest
is a book authored by a member of the campaign team, Michael
Kerr, and titled "Transforming Unionism" David Trimble
and the 2005 General Election." This is neither the time
nor the place to comment on the book, suffice to say that
it is a first-hand account of the state of the party in the
most crucial days and hours before what was to be for it a
devastating defeat. We do not need to remind of the effect
on the party celebrating its centenary. We know that to have
imagined such a catastrophe would have been discarded as unbelievable
some years earlier. We saw, however, in recent years, a rapid
decline in party strength and that from the refusal of members
and supporters to follow the party line on politics they found
unacceptable and threatening, to their Unionism. The disagreements
within the leadership and the open antagonisms which separated
the leader, David Trimble, and his party officers were played
out in public, for the media missed nothing of what transpired
at party conferences which were contests, rival groups in
the party, confronting one another. We saw before our very
eyes a party divided against itself, so that the fall when
it came was inevitable. The breakaway of Jeffrey Donaldson,
and the others, was no surprise and little wonder that they
joined the DUP. There is no need to spell out what happened,
no one was left in any doubt as to its cause and effect. What
surprised some of us was the apparent belief of the leader
and his MPs that they would retain their seats in spite of
what had happened to them and their party. The feeling as
we sensed it in the country, was that the UUP had lost the
confidence of the Unionist electorate and seats would be lost.
They were all but one. And the outcome of the election confirmed
the ascendancy of the DUP. But what of the UUP? We have heard
from Sir Reg Empey, now the leader, and other spokespersons,
that the party has learned from its mistakes and is determined
to go on fighting for the good of the Province and the fair
and just treatment of unionists in the United Kingdom. The
contention is that Unionists are not all of a mind with the
DUP, and their different approach to politics means that they
need a party to represent them. What is always of concern
is the percentage of Unionists who refuse to exercise the
franchise. A multiplicity of reasons have been given for that
refusal to vote. Prominent among them is the antipathy so
many have to politics and politicians. We tried to persuade
our readers to vote; to what effect we can not assess. We
stay determined to support the parties that will maintain
the Union, though the choice is always that of brother Orangemen.
Our concern is for good government in Northern Ireland, and
devolved government, with our own people accountable to us.
We have yet to have a Direct Rule minister who understands
us, respects our culture and treats us fairly. The team in
charge now, with Peter Hain as Northern Ireland Secretary,
have done little to suggest that they will do any better that
their predecessors. They may do worse. The onus is on us to
make for ourselves the good country we need and in which everyone
is treated equally, and none is disaffected by religion, race
or colour. We want to live peaceably with all people. That
means respecting others and being respected by them. An ideal,
but one that is achievable when we stop fighting, verbally
and physically, and determine whatever our differences to
live together in this fair land.
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