The Other View

Vox Populi, Vox Dei?

By Davy McCombe

The present insecurity of the Peace Process the future of the Stormont
Assembly, decommissioning of terrorist weapons or direct rule from
Westminster upon suspension of the Assembly have been topics of discussion
and debate amongst the ordinary man and woman in the street. Opinions have
varied, and having been out and about in the countryside of Co. Antrim on
quite a few occasions during the past two weeks, I have heard many theories
and solutions to these current issues.

Firstly, I would clarify by stating these opinions are not my own, but
those of some 'hardliners¹ and others who would be "No"orientated, and some
who voted "Yes"in the referendum, but over the last two years have had a
change of heart after careful consideration of what has transpired in
relation to the concessions, perceived by them, that have been given to the
Nationalist/Republican constituency.

Secondly, the discussions and debates that I was 'privileged¹ to
participate in were amongst people varying from the 'wee pensioner¹ in the
Housing Executive domain to the land owner who had a nice little "nest egg",
and wanted vehemently to protect his interest.

Nevertheless, there was common ground amongst them all. They wanted to
protect their cultural heritage! They had watched the erosion of the Royal
Ulster Constabulary, a force in which they or some family connection had
served, and felt this went as far back as the abolition of the 'B¹ Specials.
The Specials to them were the backbone of community policing in days past,
and would still be effective in today's efforts to find an acceptable
'community police service¹. Indeed, the Specials knew those locally who
belonged to paramilitary organisations and could effectively deal with any
outbreak of violence from those quarters. That was the start of events
escalating so many years ago!

Another view from the 'pillars of wisdom¹ focused on the misguided
Parades¹ Commission – a body that should never have been established in the
first place because it was not needed. 'Didn¹t our forefathers walk the
Queen¹s Highway without permission from any body so long as notification was
given to the Police? Why then should these Sinn Fein Republican inspired
Residents¹ Groups have any say as to who walked what road, especially when
those who walked were God-fearing people going to and from their place of
worship'? This particular opinion reinforced their argument that no person
had caused offence to anybody in the past, and indeed many Roman Catholics
had stood watching and indeed enjoying the parades as they passed by. The
abolition of the parades comission was one necessity to achieving normality!

The proverbial "thorn in the flesh", however, and the reality that steamed
up most controversy was the Martin McGuiness and Bairbre de Brun scenario
whereby they could not swallow any person from an IRA Sinn Fein Republican
background having authority over them and their families¹ education and
health respectively. ³That man McGuiness, with his Bloody Sunday
connections, was nothing but a wee runt of a butcher¹s helper with no
backside in his trousers. Look at him now! Designer suits, new shirts
every day, (and he must be taking elocution lessons – no doubt at the
expense of we the taxpayers), and chauffeured around everywhere. Why,
Carson or Craigavon never received such illustrious treatment, and they were
real men!' Now, these were people of my own age group, who had lived and
worked in Ulster before 1969, and yet could not conceive any notion of what
the last three years had achieved for 'peace¹, following 30 years of mayhem
from both sides of the divide. The only conclusion to this fundamental
issue was the fact that if this was an example of power-sharing then they
wanted nothing to so with it.

Personally speaking, I am glad that I have a listening ear. Otherwise, I
could well have been drawn into many arguments that would have been
detrimental to this particular exercise in gleaning the innermost thoughts
of my acquaintances. Not only that, I may well have found myself being
'tarred with the same brush¹ as a 'Shinner¹ or a Lundy! And indeed, the
thought of burning on top of a bonfire in the Maiden City did not appeal to
me.

To 'Crown it all¹, if the reader will pardon the pun, was their strong
allegiance to the Crown and their British-ness. What I discovered to be
very evident in their minds and thoughts was the fact that Sinn Fein IRA
wanted rid of the British connection within the six counties of Northern
Ireland. Yet, in the Stormont Assembly their big salaries were not refused
when dished out in the currency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. 'Bare-faced two-facedness¹ was how I heard it described.
They were British – did Sinn Fein/IRA want rid of them as well? And on and
on it went.

No matter where I encountered the current topical issues of the day being
debated and discussed in the particular areas I visited and to those with
whom I had cause to associate, the current crisis was top of the Agenda.
David Trimble (a traitor in many minds), decommissioning (should have been
dealt with a long time ago), should have listened to Ian Paisley Senior and
we would have not been in this mess, bring back Stormont elections on the
first past the post system , no power sharing of any description, strengthen
the RUC , use lead instead of plastic bullets, no other country would have
withstood what we have had to endure over the last 30 years, the Union flag
and the playing of the National Anthem causing offence, illegal flying of a
foreign flag "The Triclolour", etc. etc. Not another inch - Ad infinitum.

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