A bad week for Sinn Fein

Sinn Fein have attempted to milk the Martin McGuinness 'handshake' for all it is worth and a compliant media has assisted them in that endeavour.  I lost count of the number of times that UTV showed the same picture in the course of their late evening news.  However in other ways it has been a bad week for Sinn Fein.

South of the border in the Irish Republic support for Sinn Fein has slipped back.  The latest poll from Red C, in the Sunday Business Post, puts Sinn Fein on 16%, down from 19% in the previous poll, well behind Fine Gael on 32% and even behind Fianna Fail on 18%. Another Red C poll taken six weeks ago had Sinn Fein at a peak of 21% so the drop in support is actually 5% in the space of just 6 weeks.

Meanwhile north of the border, in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein has also taken a big hit.  It has presented itself as a party committed to 'an Ireland of equals' but it seems that in the world of Sinn Fein, as in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some people are more equal than others.  The Fair Employment Tribunal ruled that Regional Development minister, Conor Murphy MLA, had discriminated again a Protestant applicant, Alan Lennon, and appointed Sean Hogan, a Roman Catholic, as chairman of Northern Ireland Water.  The tribunal said that Conor Murphy had added new criteria in order to secure the appointment of Sean Hogan.

It also claimed that there was a pattern in the appointments made during the four years that Conor Murphy was in DRD.  According to the FET, there was 'a material bias against the appointment of candidates from a Protestant background.'  During that period a Roman Catholic applicant was at least twice as likely to be appointed as a Protestant candidate.

Indeed the figures for DRD for 2010-2011 show that 'of 57 Protestant applications for public appointment, only three were appointed.  In the same period, nine out of 31 Catholic applicants were appointed.'  The success rate for Roman Catholics was 29% and for Protestants just 5%.  In that year a Roman Catholic applicant was six times more likely to be appointed than a Protestant and the number of Roman Catholic appointments was three times thenumber of Protestant appointments!

These facts show that while Sinn Fein talks about equality, under Sinn Fein control there was a persistent pattern of anti-Protestant discrimination in DRD.  Actions speak louder than words and the actions of the former Sinn Fein minister speak very loudly.

Sinn Fein and Queen Elizabeth

Last week, as the news media covered the story of the forthcoming handshake between Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and DFM Martin McGuinness, it was noticeable that Sinn Fein representatives kept referring to her as 'the Queen of England'.  The fact is that she is the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The term 'Queen of England' was used by Sinn Fein in a traditional republican way as if to imply that she has no connection with Northern Ireland.  Indeed it was the term that Gerry Adams TD used on The Politics Show in the course of a discussion with Jeffrey Donaldson MP and Brian Feeney. 

Jeffrey Donaldson responded to this and stated clearly that she is the Queen of the United Kingdom of which Northern Ireland is a part.  It has been interesting to note that in several subsequent interviews Sinn Fein spokesmen dropped the term 'Queen of England' and referred to her as Queen Elizabeth, which is how she is commonly described.  This is a small step but a significant step in the right direction.

Eire unemployment double that in Ulster

The latest unemployment figures must make dismal reading for those who want Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join the Irish Republic.

The average figures for February to April 2012 were: Northern Ireland 7.1%, United Kingdom 8.2%, European Union 10.9% and Irish Republic 14.2%.

The figure for Northern Ireland has increased by 0.6% and that is disappointing but the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland is still lower than the UK average and much lower that the European Union figure.

The unemployent figure for the Irish Republic is the one that really stands out.  At 14.2% is is exactly twice that in Northern Ireland!  Is it any wonder that support for a United Ireland is at an all-time low?

Anither wee Ulster-Scotch wurd

Recently in the Irish Times, Diarmaid O Muirithe highlighed the word hallan.  The word was sent in by a reader from Cushendall and is found in both Scots and Ulster-Scots.  It was mentioned in 1942 as an Ulster word by Professor Estyn Evans and has a variety of meanings. 

Throughout Scotland from Galloway to Caithness the word is used to denote a partition of stone or clay in a byre or stable or between the living room and the byre.  In The Cottar's Saturday Night Robert Burns says that the cow 'yont the hallan snugly chows her cood.'

The earliest Ulster example that Diarmaid could identify was in a poem by Robert Huddleston from county Down, which was published in 1844. 'The aul' cly hallun shook wi' la'ghin'.'

The Dictionary of the Scots Language says that the word is from the Old Scots halland, hallen and means a partition.  It can also mean a perch for hens, presumably because they sometimes perch on a partition.

Armed Forces Flag

Last night Belfast City Council voted to fly the Armed Forces Flag over the City Hall for six days next week.  The Ministry of Defence had written to the Council asking them to fly the flag for six days to mark Armed Forces Day, which is Saturday 30 June.  The request came too late to be dealt with at the normal monthly council meeting and so DUP councillors arranged for a special meeting to be held last night so that a decision could be taken. 

An Alliance proposal to fly the flag for just one day was defeated and a DUP proposal to fly it for the six days, as requested by the MoD, was then passed with support from the DUP, UUP and Alliance. The SDLP and Sinn Fein voted against the proposal but it was passed since Alliance, who hold the balance of power, voted for the six days.

It is right that the Council in the capital city of Northern Ireland should recognise the service and sacrifice of our armed forces in this way.  Last year the flag was only flown for one day, on the proposal of Alliance, but this year when their proposal for one day was defeated, Alliance voted for the six days.

Running rings round Sinn Fein

Brian Feeney, a writer, commentator and former SDLP politician, had an interesting article in the Irish News today (20 June) in which he analysed some aspects of Sinn Fein.  In particular he commented on their practice of promoting former IRA members as MLAs, ministers and special advisers and said:

We're talking about MLAs and ministers.  Similar rules seem to apply to Sinn Fein's special advisers, many of who mare also former IRA operators.   That doesn't automatically mean they're stupid.  However some got the job only because of services rendered as long ago as 30 years.  Compare the DUP which selects its special advisers on ability and they often run rings round their Sinn Fein counterparts.

Now Brian Feeney is certainly no fan of the DUP, which makes his assessment all the more significant, especially as he is the author of a standard history of Sinn Fein.

Mike Nesbitt & welfare reform

Mike Nesbitt MLA Took over the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party on 31 March 2012, less than three months ago, and he has had a rough introduction to his new role.  Today he has a short platform piece in the News Letter today (20 June) on the subject of poverty.  In the course of the piece he says:

While we accept that welfare reform is necessary, especially the need to make it simpler and fairer, I am concerned about the scale and pace at which it is moving.

Welfare reform is an initiative of the Coalition government at Westminster but is being driven forward by the Conservative Party, the senior party in the coalition.  It is therefore somewhat incongruous that Mike is now expressing 'concern' about the 'scale and pace at which it is moving'.

Perhaps Mike has forgotten that at the last Westminster election in 2010 he stood as an Ulster Conservative and Unionist - New Force (UCUNF) candidate in Strangford.  He lost out to the DUP candidate Jim Shannon in what was a disastrous election for his party but if he had been elected he would have been sitting today at Westminster taking the Conservative whip and voting for Conservative and Coalition policies, including 'welfare form' and 'welfare reform' at the 'scale and pace' about which he now expresses concern!