We Irish politicos have been lucky in recent times; just as the steam seems to have escaped from the Bertie/Loan saga once and for all we have another major political debate to turn our attentions to, the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland.
Of course while the opposition in the Dáil were careful enough to end their siege on Government as soon as it was obvious that the public no longer cared, their Northern counterparts (from all communities) have failed miserably at enacting upon such instincts, much to the dismay of anyone who got that nauseating sense of deja vu as the ‘will they, won’t they?’ discussions resurfaced once more.
The DUP, being careful not to allow Sinn Fein the opportunity of calling their bluff, have implied that additional caveats will be added to their deal-breaker demands, namely the provision of information and ‘ill-gotten gains’ by the IRA to the PSNI.
The fact here is that Ian Paisley and Co. got scared that their focus on policing was looking weak; what if Adams agreed to their demands? What if the DUP had a support base that still opposed co-operation, despite there being no good reason to? Wouldn’t they need a safety net to justify their departure from talks? I don’t think the DUP have any intention of using this little point as a deal-breaker just yet, unless it is obvious that their followers aren’t ready for a deal in spite of Republican progress; they’re just keeping it in reserve so they can continue to blame the other side if things go arse up.
Sinn Fein on the other hand have tried to look reasonable by seeming to accept policing while not really doing so; quickly implying that they aren’t the ones with a decision to make.
It would be unfair to compare the NI Assembly’s structure to that of a regular majority-led Government; I think the simplest way to describe it is a forced coalition between opposing sides. To that effect Sinn Fein’s stance is baffling. Can you imagine if Labour, as part of their coalition-forming discussion with Fine Gael demanded that the Garda were reformed, and that they would only join Government when this had happened? Surely being a part of the establishment that can exact the change is the best way to make this happen?
That’s not an entirely fair comparison, I know, but I have no sympathy for a party that fails to supply reasons for their stance and yet externally demands that others do the work they should be doing from the inside anyway.
Whatever happens in the next few weeks, I just hope that the two Governments don’t cop out with some interim agreement on November 24th that leaves everything as it has been all along. I still agree with a friend of mine that ignoring NI politicians for a year is the best way to get a solution from them, and cutting off their funds is only going to speed up their respective thought processes in the direction of a solution.