According to the Sinn Fein website:

“Sinn Fein has been in dialogue with all of the Basque political parties and in particular Batasuna. [Gerry has] also written to the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero.

Sinn Féin’s objective has been to promote conflict resolution and to assist in whatever way we can the development of a peace process.”

It’s a bit like one of those annoying ex-smokers running around trying to get everyone else to stop smoking too, isn’t it?

As you would expect, Gerry lapses into a bit of Provie-speak that wouldn’t sound out of place in our own peace process. “The government needs to respond creatively and stop political policing trails, etc, etc.”

Part of me is sceptical about this, but another part is thinking “Fair play to Sinn Fein if they’re serious about the political path.” Let’s face it, after the Denis Donaldson business, the party could have faced an almighty backlash from supporters who felt they had been duped into accepting a political solution. I’m glad that didn’t happen.

All counted, we have a slim majority (51%) of folk who think it’s time to sever the MLA salaries. 23% disagree and want to keep paying good money for no results. 26% didn’t give a toss and were probably here for the post about Paperdoll Heaven instead!

Anyway, I think it’s all academic. Stopping MLA salaries is a good idea, but it’s never going to happen.

The politicians will continue to run around in circles, chasing the same old issues but ultimately doing nothing productive. The DUP will drag the peace process out for years before grudgingly going into Government with Sinn Fein. And for some reason – science will one day explain – we will all sit passively by and watch as it all happens.

What an eye-opener!

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of Northern Irish politics, or its ‘personalities’, but seeing a man who refuses to talk to terrorists and criminals dressed up in his beret and toting a rifle is frightening.

What’s much more frightening is that the electorate are so blinded by their own biggotry that they can’t see this blatant hypocrisy staring them straight in the face. Yes, that goes for Loyalists and Republicans!

It has been famously said that Sinn Fein aren’t fit for government in the Republic of Ireland. Well, neither Sinn Fein or the DUP are they fit for government in the North. Both parties are populated by extremists who cannot empathise with the ‘other side’, and in all the years of this conflict they still haven’t matured enough to learn to compromise.

And yet – much more shameful – are the great biggoted masses who vote by flag and nothing else. What can be done about educating the public about political deceit and double standards? Or are these things sanctioned by the voters themselves?

Over to you….

What do you folks think? Will a loss of salary sharpen Unionist appetites for a power-sharing executive with Republicans?

I’ll confess to having a quiet smirk at the volley of responses to Hain’s threat/statement. Not sure if it’ll hold water, or if he’ll even act upon it (since he hasn’t given any deadline for progress). However, people need to be aware that there’s currently no penalty for political dithering – these arses could debate until the Apocalypse and still get paid for it. Over to you…..

Of course, the motives for doing this are Sinn Fein-led. They got their cake, but just as they were tucking into it, they discovered an extra ingredient that..erm…disagreed with their collective digestive system. “What’s this?” thundered Gerry (presumably) “They’ve slipped in an amnesty for army bollockses! Tony didn’t mention that before…honest…”

Except, of course, they must have known. For one thing, the British Government are many things, but they are not (completely) stupid. Don’t you think the brains at Downing Street might have expected an SF backlash?

Double Standards

Aside from the hilarious PR cock-up, the episode exposed the nasty side of Sinn Fein. All that talk of ‘spirit of reconciliation’ turned out to be completely one-sided. You forgive us for past attrocities. We reserve the right to dredge up any event by Loyalist groups or state forces, but just don’t mention the ‘Ra, OK? What happened to the election fodder of “Building An Ireland Of Equals”, Gerry? B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but what differentiates one set of killers from another? I thought we were putting the past behind us, moving on and growing up. The dilemma for Sinn Fein was, do they give up one of their trump cards – state murders of Republicans – to allow ‘the boys’ safe passage home? That must’ve been a hell of a decision to make.

But it’s not over yet. No. Hain thinks this will be back on the agenda as an anomaly that should have been dealt with at the time of the Good Friday Agreement. I don’t. Got the guts to kill for your cause? Then stay behind and take the consequences. Face the families you left bereaved across the courtroom and take the sentence you deserve. Only a coward runs away…why should we turn a blind eye?

Almost half of you believed this to be the work of the dreaded Securocrats, an evil, lurking menace whose sole intention is to snatch well-deserved power from the hands of Sinn Fein. Well, I don’t know about that. I almost felt sorry for Sinn Fein at the time the news broke, but part of me believes in Karma and that if they’re getting dirty tricks now it’s because they’ve played enough of their own.

A third of people believe there’s someone higher up in Sinn Fein whose identity was covered by the sacrifice of Denis Donaldson. Unionists would be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of this. Did you consider this might be fuel for dissident republicans to reorganise? I mean, if there have been agents in Sinn Fein pressing a ‘peaceful’ agenda, then that implies the leadership were duped into taking a political path. Yes, I agree that Sinn Fein should be put under instense scrutiny, their agenda is one-sided and unrealistic if you ask me, but at least it’s relatively peaceful. What happens if they lose control of that dissident element?

Stormontgate And The Collapse Of The Assembly

As you know, I don’t have a lot of respect/trust for the boys and girls in Sinn Fein. I heard an interview between Martina Purdy and Martin McGuinnes on the radio back when this broke.

When pressed as to why Sinn Fein weren’t pressing for an inquiry, McGuinness said something strange. He said that an inquiry wouldn’t suit Sinn Fein’s position (or words to that effect). What? What does that mean, exactly? I translate it as “We’re pretty sure there’s more dirt out there and we’d prefer if people didn’t do too much digging…” Very suspicious…

But what about the larger implications? We don’t have an assembly. We’re being governed by direct rule (remember water charges?).

Perhaps we needed Stormontgate to move the IRA toward disarming, but society has suffered in the meantime? The extreme parties are flourishing in a period of political uncertainty.

At least when the Assembly was running, the politicians were earning their money! We could see them and assess their abilities as real politicians – how they handled policies, the foot and mouth crisis, education, etc. They were finally accountable to us on real issues!

Stormontgate gave politicians a much needed reprieve from the need to prove themselves to the electorate. They went back to good old partisan politics, like putting on a comfy old pair of slippers. I don’t care how the Assembly was wiped out, we need it back, if only to watch how our politicians perform in normal society. Whether you agree with the posturing and point-scoring of the other major parties, the losers in Stormontgate are the people of Northern Ireland. Yet again.

Questions need to be asked. And I’m surprised that Sinn Fein are on the frontline.

After all, it does seem that the British Government is pulling out all the stops to make life easier for the party. We’ll shortly be welcoming back our old “On The Run” muckers. The Northern Bank and McCartney investigations appear to be on a go-slow. Sean Kelly walking the streets after a very shady re-arrest. Etcetera, etcetera.

Anyway, it was with some amount of glee that I read about Francie Molloy being suspended from the ‘thought-police’ party this week. Molloy, as you probably all know, opposed the review of public administration in Northern Ireland. Well, not all of it. He was in favour of 15 councils instead of 7. That’s still a reduction from the 26 councils we currently have.

Molloy’s concerns were that the 7 council model would be an effective re-partitioning of Northern Ireland and that the proposed reforms represented a “sectarian headcount”. And then he was suspended.

Now, I’ve long held that Sinn Fein are a control-freak kind of political party (almost like Mr. Blair’s crowd). You don’t make up your mind, it is made up for you. And never deviate from the position as you have been told it. The suspension of Francie Molloy adds weight to this notion.

Sinn Fein supporters should look at this issue carefully. Why should Molloy be silenced? What is wrong with voicing an alternative opinion? Surely this is healthy?

Ask yourself – when was the last time a Sinn Fein member publicly opposed the official party line?