Sections of the media and members of the 'great and the good'
have been lecturing the political parties, especially the
DUP, on the necessity of striking a deal before November 24,
which will get the Assembly up and going again.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Republic of Ireland counterpart
Bertie Ahern have been leaning on our politicians to reach
agreement.
Easier said than done. With the best will in the world, how
are true democrats expected to share power with members of
a political party who refuse to support the Police Service
of Northern Ireland. Policing is absolutely a key issue in
all this, as it always has been. The famous Royal Ulster Constabulary
was destroyed to appease nationalists, and the proud 'Royal'
prefix consigned to history. Recruitment to the PSNI is geared
to favour members of the minority Roman Catholic population.
Many suitable candidates for the Police Service, young men
and women who would have made fine constables, have been rejected
for no other reason than their Protestant religion. In no
other country would such discrimination be countenanced, yet
Unionists are expected to swallow this highly discriminatory
state of affairs. Republicans talk about sharing power, but
their tendency to hark back on past 'injustices' perceived
to have been committed against the minority community, while
conveniently overlooking the attacks carried out for so long
against the Protestant population are ignored.
And pressure continues to be exerted against Protestant and
Unionist areas in a way which gives the lie to talk about
respecting other peoples' tradition. In recent weeks there
have been more attacks on the Fountain Estate, the last remaining
Protestant enclave on the west bank of Londonderry. Protestants
in the County Londonderry town of Kilrea have been subjected
to intimidation and physical attacks. And, of course there
is the hardening of republican attitudes towards Orange parades,
and refusal to contemplate Orangemen walking along Garvaghy
Road or through Dunloy village again. All reasonable people,
and people who want Northern Ireland to progress, long for
the return of a devolved administration in Belfast. But the
obstacles and the hurdles to be cleared if this is to be achieved
- problems created by intransigent militant republicanism
- cannot be ignored and put to the one side. There must be
a genuine transformation of republican and nationalist attitudes
if the climate for a lasting political deal is to be realised,
and people must be prepared to face facts.
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