A progressive view of ‘A Long Road to Peace’
The Future of Unionism in Northern Ireland’
By David Rose

These days my political thinking is tinged with a fair dose of cynicism. I am cynical about:
1. A government that puts the wants of the Ulster Unionist Party ahead of society’s need for a functioning democracy.
2. An Ulster Unionist Party that continues to delude itself by believing it has a divine right to rule.
3. Sections of the media who hype up paramilitarism to sell copy; and
4. A Republican movement which by refusing to state that its war against the political aspirations of the pro-union people is over, fundamentally fails to live up to its own political ideology (once a nationalist always a nationalist?).

The recently published A Long Peace? The future of Unionism in Northern Ireland* has done little to change my mood.
Launched more in hype than expectation this booklet seeks to articulate a new vision for ‘Unionism’. The authors are undoubtedly genuine in their rationale and their ideas have merit. But as a Progressive Unionist Party member it irritates me.
My main objections relate to the conclusions drawn at the end. In my view they are long standing PUP ideas and I will explain why it irks me.
In the pamphlets closing paragraph the authors call for ‘Unionists’ to focus on a basic goal of ‘a peaceful, economically prosperous and politically stable Northern Ireland’. Then they finish by saying that a ‘more far-sighted Unionism will be needed’ if it is to achieve the objective. That is what David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson were saying from the mid 1990’s. At the time I agreed wholeheartedly and to prove it I joined the PUP in 1997. But the authors didn’t, and nor I suspect, will they. So what’s the game?

For me two questions need to be answered if we are to understand what is going on. They are:
1. What do the writers mean by ‘Unionism’?, and
2. Why have the media gone overboard about political thinking that has been around for over a decade?
To answer the first question we need to focus on the use of the term ‘Unionism’ and the second requires us to address issues of class.

Frustratingly the authors fail to define whom or what they are talking about when they use the term ‘Unionism’. Do they mean the pro-union people? Or is it the UUP and its supporters? I think they mean the UUP and that answer gives us an insight into a mindset, which despite its good intentions threatens to scupper democracy and peace in Northern Ireland.

The UUP mindset I am talking about is a product of fifty years of uninterrupted rule. As happens with all political elites that hold power for long periods they came to equate their survival with the fate of the country. Thus they and the class they represent (in this case those educated in the Independent Grammar schools) are unable to perceive a Northern Ireland ruled by anyone other than themselves. As this pamphlet ignores the reality of different unionist parties offering a variety of ideas, one must assume the authors are addressing their own political/social group. And the real issue is political survival.
I am irritated because that should not be my problem. Sadly it is because the government has suspended democracy to protect the interests of the UUP and its supporters. In my opinion by doing so it is endangering the prospects of achieving ‘a peaceful, economically prosperous and politically stable Northern Ireland’. And it will continue for so long as the UUP is perceived to be ‘Unionism’.

The media’s reaction betrays an unhealthy attachment to ruling class. This ‘new’ booklet was said to be ‘challenging’, ‘thought provoking’ and potentially ‘ground-breaking’. None of this was said when Ervine, Hutchinson, McMichael or David Adams first advocated identical ideas years ago. But then they came from the wrong side of the tracks. Thus I contend that far worse than a merely compliant media we have one that is institutionally socially sectarian. Little wonder working class loyalist areas feel ignored and disrespected.

In conclusion I recommend that The Other View’s readership get hold of a copy of this pamphlet. The ideas are admirable and the conclusions hard to disagree with. Though I challenge anyone to counter my claim that the real game is maintaining the UUP’s position by persuading it to adopt Loyalist ideas.

* Published by Slugger O’Toole. www.sluggerotoole.com

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