Alex Kane is an Irish News columnist and political commentator and a former director of communications for the Ulster Unionist Party.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly with members of the Northern Ireland Executive at Stormont Castle (Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye)
I wonder if there is a sweet spot in the middle at which all of the parties could meet and agree to govern in common cause?
It seems a fair enough question to ask right now, especially when you bear in mind that the assembly has been more down than up since the first executive in November 1999 and when there seems to be a general view among the public – voter and non-voter – that the chances of stability, let alone permanence, are pretty slim.
So, how do we stabilise it? It’s clearly going to be pretty difficult if SF seems determined to focus on building an all-island economy, which I know you support, Brian, while the DUP is waiting for Rishi Sunak to introduce legislation which somehow copper-fastens NI’s position within the UK.
Both of those strategies might best be described as ‘ourselves alone’ strategies, because one appeals exclusively to electoral/constitutional nationalism, while the other appeals exclusively to electoral/constitutional unionism.
And since it’s against the success or otherwise of those strategies that unionist and nationalist voters will determine who to vote for, it is very unlikely that SF or the DUP will be searching for an approach that would be viewed by their voter base as a ‘softening’. In other words, we started day one of the rebooted assembly with precisely the same chasm between the DUP and SF as there was in May 2022, or March 2017 or – go on – pick any date of your own choosing.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson with Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill (Liam McBurney/PA)
The political/electoral middle ground – Alliance – did well in May 2022. Indeed, it has done well at every election since Brexit. But that doesn’t actually matter. Real power in this assembly lies with SF and the DUP. It is they, together or separately, who will determine what happens. My gut instinct is that both of those parties will actually grow over the next few years, primarily because both of the constitutional blocs will focus increasingly on the UK vs united Ireland issue.
None of this means that a border poll will necessarily be called within a decade or, if called, that unionism will be on the losing side. But the border poll debate is on the table and it’s not going away. Unionism is prioritising ‘safeguarding and securing the union’ legislation because it knows the border poll issue will not be disappearing.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris present the British government’s ‘Safeguarding the Union’ command paper during a joint press conference at Hillsborough Castle (Niall Carson/PA)
And if SF finds itself in the next Irish government, as well as lead party in NI, you can bet your bottom Euro that it will be pressing a UK government – with Irish input – to set out the specific terms and conditions for the calling of a border poll. Again – and it’s only my gut instinct – I think it’s likely that a UK government would agree to do that. Alliance might find itself with a dilemma at that point, because the government might seek its opinion on the issue; meaning it might be required to give a clear yes or no.
The 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was marked last April
My fear is that accommodation between the blocs is now impossible through the existing institutions. My bigger fear is that accommodation between the blocs would also be impossible under direct rule or in a united Ireland.
So, is there a sweet spot?
My fear is that accommodation between the blocs is now impossible through the existing institutions
Celebrating the author of the Christmas Carol Charles Dickens birthday and his own love of the Irish audiences and beautiful surroundings. GETTY IMAGES
Charles Dickens, the great British novelist, was born on February 7, 1812. In 1858, the author of “A Christmas Carol” visited Ireland while on a book tour.
Dickens, a literary genius, is said to be the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. He created some of the most well-known fictional characters and his novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.
In August 1858, he visited Ireland as part of a book tour that also included stops in England and Scotland.
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Even in his own time, Dickens was a celebrity. Much in the same way that any reading by J. K. Rowling would have fans pressed against the door, Dickens’ fans packed theatres wherever he read in Ireland.
Dickens traveled by ferry and landed in Dublin’s fair city on August 21, 1858. He stayed at what was called then the Morrison’s Hotel, on Nassau Street. The old building with an iconic green dome is now a coffee shop.
He “wandered about it for 6 to 8 hours in all directions” and then took a carriage ride around Phoenix Park.
Dickens walked to the top of O’Connell Street to what is now called the Ambassador Theatre where he had to push through a crowd of fans to get inside. In front of a crowd of 3,000 more fans inside, Dickens read and acted out parts from “The Story of Little Dombey” and other selected readings. He said about his audience, “of their quickness as to the humor there can be no doubt.”
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Following his success in Dublin, he took the train up to Belfast, commenting on the ride, “Everything looks prosperous; the railway ride from Dublin [is] quite amazing; every cottage looking as if it had been white-washed the day before; and many with charming gardens, pretty kept with bright flowers.”
In Belfast, he read from “A Christmas Carol.” His fans packed into the house, “there was a very great uproar at the opening of the doors, which, the police in attendance being quite insufficient . . . it was impossible to check.”
Dickens was particularly popular with the ladies. In a letter, he wrote home, “Yesterday morning, as I showered the leaves from my geranium in reading Little Dombey, they mounted the platform after I was gone and picked them all up, as keepsakes.”
Before his reading in Belfast, Dickens visited Victoria Hall, Giant’s Cradle, and the coastal town of Carrickfergus, all of which still draw tourists today.
Dickens was further impressed by his Irish audiences. He said about his Belfast fans, “The success at Belfast has been of equal success here. Enormous! I think them a better audience on the whole than Dublin; and the personal affection [here], was something overwhelming.”
From Belfast, he traveled to Cork via Dublin. He dropped his bags off at the Imperial Hotel, still present today, on August 30. Dickens then read at the Athenaeum, now called the Cork Opera House. Before leaving Cork he kissed the Blarney Stone, which is a must for any tourist in Ireland today.
Dickens said about Cork, “Cork was an immense success. We found upward of a thousand stalls let, for the three readings. A great many people were turned away too, on the last night.”
Having completed his tour of Ireland, Dickens continued on to the next city, but he came back to Ireland for another book tour in 1867 and again in 1869.
In a move no-one could have envisaged when the Good Friday Agreement resuscitated Stormont 26 years ago, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill on Saturday became the First Minister of the North of Ireland.
In an emotional address to the Assembly – where Sinn Féin is now the party with the biggest number of seats – the new First Minster urged colleagues to make power sharing work “because collectively we are charged with leading and delivering for al of our people”.
She added: “As an Irish republican, I pledge co-operation and genuine honest effort with those colleagues who are British, of a unionist tradition and who cherish the Union. This is an Assembly for all — Catholic, Protestant and dissenter. Despite our different outlooks and views on the future constitutional position, the public rightly demands the we co-operate, deliver and work together.”
Sinn Féin also took the Infrastructure, Economy and Finance portfolios while the DUP — who selected Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister — opted for Education and Communities with Justice and Agriculture going to the Alliance Party and Health returning to Robin Swann of the UUP.
Junior Ministers are West Belfast Irish speaker and former world handball champ Aisling O’Reilly of Sinn Féin and Pam Cameron of the DUP.
There was a stir in the chamber when the DUP put forward Paul Givan — whose move to sink the Líofa Irish language bursary scheme led to the collapse of the Executive in 2017 – rather than opting to fill the Finance Department role. Sinn Féin’s Caoimhe Archibald, who had been tipped for Education, was then, after a break in proceedings to allow parties to consider further options, shuffled across by Sinn Féin to take the finance brief.
Last night President Biden led plaudits from Irish American political leaders welcoming the return of the Good Friday institutions. Recalling his brief stopover in Belfast last April, the President said “a government that finds ways through hard problems together will draw even greater opportunity to Northern Ireland”.
He added: “I look forward to seeing the renewed stability of a power-sharing government that strengthens the peace dividend, restores public services and continues building on the immense progress of the last decades.”
The DUP’s corralling of the education and communities roles struck a sour note with Irish language activists who see both departments as core to the demands of the Irish language community.
“Today should have been a day full of optimism and hope for the Irish language community but the overriding emotion is one of disappointment,” said Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh of Conradh na Gaeilge. “Outstanding commitments for Irish language rights, including the long-overdue appointment of an Irish language Commissioner, did not feature in any speech in today’s Assembly meeting. In the meantime many in the Irish language Community would have expected Sinn Féin to take either the Communities or Education portfolios, by extension in charge of Irish Medium Education or Language promotion and funding.
“With the DUP, whose track record in both of these Departments is well known, in charge of both, we now know we will face a battle a day to ensure equality and parity of esteem for the Irish language in the coming years.”
