For the first time since Stormont’s collapse, there is now clear cross-community concern that health crisis means that lives are at stake
by Sam McBride
Monday, 16th December 2019, 6:03 pm Voters deserted Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion, pictured second right next to Michelle O’Neill, en masse during the election (Photo: PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty)
Where there has been focus on Sinn Féin’s problems over the past few days, it has centred on Foyle – understandable because what had been Sinn Féin’s lead of 169 votes turned into a landslide majority of more than 17,000 for SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.
In a safe nationalist seat where the SDLP put up a credible candidate and nationalist voters could express their preference without any fear of a unionist victory, voters deserted Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion en masse.
Ms McCallion was widely regarded – even among some republicans – as simply not up to the job.Across Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin’s vote dropped by 6.6 percentage points, more than that of any other party. Pictured Mary Lou McDonald with Michelle O’Neill (Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty)
Less than two months after Martin McGuinness’s death, and amid SDLP allegations in Parliament of vote fraud by Sinn Féin (which it denied), she had narrowly defeated the veteran Mark Durkan in 2017.
It was a measure of her inability to make an impact that in two and a half years one of the things that she was most known for was publicly complaining about the size of her London hotel room when she first flew to Westminster.
Her result was all the more humiliating because Sinn Féin had thrown everything at saving her seat – its Ard Fheis was held in Londonderry and she was repeatedly featured on the platform. Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle O’Neill and even Gerry Adams went to canvass for her. The party put enormous effort into promoting her on social media, only to see her vote collapse.
However, while the Foyle result will reverberate within republicanism for months, there is another surprising seat where on one metric Sinn Féin actually performed worse.
I was seated beside Mary Lou McDonald in RTÉ’s studio at the Belfast count centre as the West Belfast result was announced.
The Sinn Féin president professed herself pleased at a good result for the party and, in what is the most predictable seat in Northern Ireland, the rest of us were sufficiently distracted by the dramatic events elsewhere to fully grasp what the figures meant.
In fact, although Paul Maskey retained the seat at a canter, with a majority of more than 14,000, his share of the vote (53.8%) is now the lowest Sinn Féin has achieved in West Belfast in any election since 1996.
As well as his own vote falling because of voters not coming out, votes leached to the socialist People Before Profit and the new republican anti-abortion party Aontú as well as Alliance.The one unalloyed success for Sinn Féin was North Belfast in John Finucane’s victory against DUP’s Nigel Dodds (Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty)
As recently as the 2010 general election, Sinn Féin was taking 71% of the votes in West Belfast. Lest Sinn Féin now try to claim that this was simply a personal vote for Gerry Adams, in the 2011 by-election after the then Sinn Féin president resigned his seat Mr Maskey was still taking more than 70% of the vote.
The one unalloyed success for Sinn Féin was North Belfast. But there John Finucane was not really standing as a typical Sinn Fein candidate, but on a single issue – Brexit – and was backed by the SDLP and Greens who stood aside in his favour.
On social media, Sinn Fein activists have been attempting to explain that away as a consequence of the party standing aside in three seats – South Belfast, East Belfast and North Down. That explanation doesn’t stand up under basic scrutiny.
Firstly, with the exception of Alliance, all other major other parties were also not standing in every seat.
Secondly, even assuming that Sinn Fein’s vote in those seats remained at 2017 levels it would mean only an additional 8,568 votes. That would equate to an improvement of about one percentage point, leaving the party’s vote still down more than that of the DUP.
The reasons for republicans moving away from Sinn Fein are likely disparate. For the first time since Stormont’s collapse, there is now clear cross-community concern that the health crisis means that lives are at stake.Some voters see politicians such as SDLP’s Colum Eastwood, centre, as far smarter, more articulate and less robotic than many Sinn Féin figures north of the border (Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty)
Other voters now believe that Sinn Féin’s Westminster abstentionism is archaic and untenable in the face of Brexit.
Still others simply want competent representatives and see politicians such as Colum Eastwood as far smarter, more articulate and less robotic than many Sinn Féin figures north of the border.
Whatever the reason, this is the third northern election this year in which voters have given Sinn Féin’s leadership a warning.
Nationalist commentator Chris Donnelly, a critical if sympathetic observer of his former party, noted on Slugger O’Toole that “were these results to be repeated at Assembly level, a quarter of the party’s seats would be swept away.”
John O’Dowd’s recent challenge to Michelle O’Neill revealed major internal discontent at her performance.
Two weeks ago Gerry Adams announced in a press release that Ms O’Neill – rather than Mr O’Dowd or Conor Murphy – would be Sinn Féin’s nominee for deputy First Minister.
If Stormont is now to return, do Sinn Fein voters trust her to take on the role and keep watch on the DUP?
The British election of 12/12/19 can without hyperbole be described as a seismic event in the history of the United Kingdom, and its tremors will undoubtedly impact Ireland. Three items put the impact of last night into perspective:
The Tory party has won its biggest victory since Margaret Thatcher captured a third term in 1987
The Labour party has suffered its worst defeat since 1935.
For the first time since partition, Northern Ireland has returned more Nationalist than Union MPs to Westminster.
So, what does this mean? First, it means that barring some utterly unforeseen circumstance that Brexit from an Irish perspective is done. With a clear majority in the British parliament, Boris Johnson can now push through the Brexit deal agreed to with the European Union which puts Britain’s Brexit border at the Irish coast and respects the Good Friday Agreement. If Brexit is to happen, then this is the best outcome for Ireland. You Brothers made this possible by having your U.S. elected representatives make clear that a Brexit border along the six counties would take a post-Brexit U.S./U.K. trade deal off the table.
The election also means the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has lost its position as kingmakers in parliament and is now effectively a Westminster non-entity. The victory of John Finucane, the son of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, over Nigel Dodds, the number two person in the DUP, by an overwhelming majority is a major blow for Arlene Foster and her party. The DUP will now be under pressure to restore the devolved government so they can have relevance. It is hard to see how having squandered the unique opportunity the DUP enjoyed in parliament for the past two years, not to mention her role in a still unresolved political scandal, Arlene Foster can survive in her leadership role. Given, as noted, that her number two Nigel Dodds has suffered a glaring defeat, the DUP will likely seek new leadership. The critical question is will they seek a new direction?
However, without wishing to vindicate Yeat’s observation, “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy,” we must be cautious. No sea change such as this comes without rough waters. Arlene Foster’s comment that “the pan-nationalist front has come to fruition again” may indicate that the DUP will retreat into its fundamental strategy of stoking fear and division rather than moving forward in engagement.
It is, therefore, imperative that we once again make the push for a U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland to serve as an impartial, stabilizing influence during the dramatic changes which lie ahead. As a fair agent, a U.S. Envoy would mitigate the fears of Unionists and preclude their retreat into the divisive comfort zones of the past. Much of the Good Friday Agreement has yet to be implemented; until it and its vision of parity of esteem for all the people of the North is realized, then the ghost of violence remains at the table. It is time for the administration to appoint the Special Envoy which was promised and seal its historic legacy in the cause of peace which is the Good Friday Agreement.
Catholics currently make up about one third of the PSNI [which has 6, 832 members]BBC NI. Belfast. Sunday, December 15, 2019 The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has called for a return to 50:50 recruitment in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Archbishop Eamon Martin was writing in The Irish Catholic newspaper, following a meeting of church leaders with Chief Constable Simon Byrne.
Catholics currently make up about 32% of the PSNI [approximately 2,186 Catholics].
The archbishop said he had “concerns” about the future balance of community representation.
The PSNI replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary in November 2001, and the 50-50 recruitment policy ran for its first 10 years until 2011.
It meant one Catholic recruit for every one person from a Protestant or other background.
Writing in the Irish Catholic, Archbishop Martin called for Catholics to consider the “noble vocation” and for communities to encourage and support them.
Archbishop Martin told The Irish Catholic: “Because Patten’s target of moving towards a police service that is representative of the society that it polices, I feel that in recent years it has reached a bit of a plateau and I would be concerned about that.”
Speaking about the current figures, the archbishop added: “It’s almost 20% short of the percentage of young Catholics who are out there.
“If you think of that age group of young people in Northern Ireland, almost 50% of those young people are Catholic and I think it should be a matter of concern, not just for Catholic communities, but indeed for the whole community.
“Because if we do not have a police service which is representative of the society that it polices, you immediately begin to run into accusations that the police service is not friendly to Catholic people, or you allow a vacuum to be created which allows others to exploit intimidation and fear in communities.”
Michael Kelly, the editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper, told BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence programme: “If Catholics are substantially under represented by the people who police the community, then that is inevitably going to lead to a breach of trust.”
In August, the current chief constable said that he felt the PSNI was “not yet back at the point” where it needed to reintroduce the 50-50 recruitment process.
Mr Byrne has said he wants money to increase police numbers to the 7,500 suggested under Patten reforms two decades ago.
In September of this year, ex-PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said officer numbers were at a “dangerous” level in the face of increased dissident republican attacks.
He also said consideration should be given to re-introducing the hiring policy to address low numbers of Catholic recruits, adding that it was “a shame” Catholic recruitment is slowing down”.
In September 1999, the report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, chaired by Lord Patten, signalled major reforms and the beginning of the end of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
The Police Service of Northern Ireland replaced the RUC in November 2001.
A new PSNI recruitment drive is to be launched in January.
December 16, 2019 Dear Friends in the Lord, As we approach the great celebration of Christmas, the birth of our Savior, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind you that today, December 16, all parishes in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn will offer the Sacrament of Confession from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Reconciliation Monday! There is no better way to prepare to welcome Jesus than taking part in this wonderful opportunity for reconciliation. To find a parish near you in our archdiocese, you can use the parish finder on our website here. Has it been a while since you last went to Confession? Not sure what to do or say? Don’t worry. We’ve collected a few resources to help you prepare for confession at our website, here. Or, you can just ask the priest to guide you. He’ll be happy to help. May these final days of Advent be a time of prayerful preparation for you and your loved ones. Monsignor Joseph P. LaMorteVicar General and Moderator of the Curia
