Brits do it, Nats do it, even elements of Unionism do it, let’s do it… Let’s end the bloody talks.
BBC News – NI talks: Discussions on restoring Stormont are over, government says
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67749088
Everyone – except the DUP, that is – say the discussions surrounding the restoration of local government are over.
With an improved offer of £3.3 billion on the table – subject to parties going back to Stormont – the DUP cut lonely figures today, as they continue to insist that talks are ongoing.
Jeffrey Donaldson must be feeling squeezed from every side at the moment. The UK government are prepared to throw a huge amount of cash at NI in order to get them back to work; every other party, apart from the one-man TUV, are urging him to get back to work; unions are planning the biggest day of strike action ever seen here, in protest at the witholding of money because of his refusal to go back to work; and Loyalists, the Loyalist Community Council and the Orange Order are telling him to ‘stand firm’.
The DUP, I think, believed they could successfully hold NI to ransom. That gambit has failed catastrophically. They will hopefully pay for this gamble at the next election, when their voters realise that food on the table and effective public services are more valuable to them than a party who stubbornly ignored the welfare of their own electorate, at a time when they were needed most.
The place for negotiation is at the table, not in the yard, shouting in. There is a genuine concern amongst Unionists, that a United Ireland is being forced upon them. But they need to remember that the DUP supported the NI Protocol, and only objected to it when they realised that what they voted for wasn’t what they wanted. Many believe that the main issue isn’t even the Protocol and Sea Border, but rather their refusal to serve under ASF First Minister. They should be ashamed of themselves. But they won’t be.
Hugh made a good proposal a few days ago on social media: the new £3.3 billion offer should be time-sensitive. If it hasn’t been accepted by a certain date, then it should be withdrawn, and Joint Authority from London and Dublin brought in. People here can’t afford to continue like this any longer.
Happy Christmas, from the North of Ireland.
Whistling In The Wind 
//The DUP, I think, believed they could successfully hold NI to ransom. That gambit has failed catastrophically.//
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//The DUP, I think, believed they could successfully hold NI to ransom. That gambit has failed catastrophically.//
But the ransom was offered them.
In cases like this it’s better to at least show the stick instead of the carrot. Just like the shameful bribery of V. Orban in Hungary – as soon as the bribe has been pocketed, he digs his heels in again on the next issue, looking for even more moolah.
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Ireland is taking the UK to Strasbourg over the Legacy Act. Whatever the merits or otherwise, this is not the action of a friendly neighbour.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-67769920
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I think the families of just about every victim that never got justice might disagree with you Peter, not to mention every political party here, well, up until recently anyway for some strange reason.
Who it might be an unfriendly act towards might be those sweating bullets about old soldiers testifying in open court by way of mitigation that ” he ordered me to” all the way up the chain of command.
The DUP now appear to be hoist by their own petard of 7 impossible demands that they have no hope of delivering but their core vote now require. To give in will split the vote and likely the party too. Priorities, priorities.
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”Ireland is taking the UK to Strasbourg over the Legacy Act. Whatever the merits or otherwise, this is not the action of a friendly neighbour.”
The UK Government started locking up Irish citizens in concentration camps. When there was resistance to this, they started executing civilians. When the representatives of the UK Government shot a man who was ferrying children to safety in Ballymurphy, the local Catholic priest went to see if he was ok. The priest was carrying a white piece of cloth to show he was not, in any way, a threat. When he saw what the British Army were doing, they summarily executed him. When my uncle, amongst others, went to try and help the priest they shot him as well. The bullet went through him, out his back and into the head of a 19-year-old behind him, Frank Quinn. Frank had a daughter, and another on the way – a child that was never held by their father because of the British Army.
This wasn’t World War II Nazi Germany. This was West Belfast in the 1970s. And the UK Government, after decades of collusion and cover-up, of accusing my uncle and Frank Quinn, and even Father Mullen, of being terrorists to justify the actions of their paid serial killers, are now declaring amnesty for any serial killers who murdered Irish citizens.
Is that the actions of a friendly neighbour?
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