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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
February 2016 49
T
he outgoing government is showing
the same lack of vision on the North
as it has shown generally. In 2011, the
Programme for Government had a
total of 120 words on the North in its
64 pages. Significantly, 45 of these were on
security: “The threat from dissident paramili-
tary groups cannot be underestimated. We will
foster the continuing strong relationships
between An Garda Síochána and the Police Ser-
vice of Northern Ireland to deal with this threat
and we will also ensure the necessary resources
to deal with these groups”.
That reflected the belief that the Good Friday
and St Andrew’s Agreements solved the politi-
cal problems. The North is a security issue, to
be contained. Any continuing violence is patho-
logical in nature, rather than the result of from
political failures. It neatly mirrors the knee-jerk
reaction of much of the Fine Gael heartland,
innately fearful of violent Republicanism.
It reflected shifts in the Labour Party. At the
time the Programme was drawn up, Labour was
dominated by former Workers Party members,
who had come to the party via Democratic Left.
The Workers Party had been largely financed
from robberies and extortion carried out by
Official IRA members in the North. There is, of
course, no indication any of those who became
Labour TDs had any knowledge of these activi-
ties. However, media reports made them
increasingly embarrassing in the South.
When Democratic Left collapsed into the
Labour Party, it abandoned its Northern organi-
sation. It also further diminished interest in the
North: while the SDLP is theoretically a sister
party, the connection is increasingly distant.
Certainly, both government parties have an
innate hostility to Sinn Féin, which does not
assist relationships with a Northern Executive
where Sinn Féin is the second largest party.
Enda Kenny is certainly on the Nationalist
wing of Fine Gael – which sees Sinn Féin as
betraying the legacy of 1916. However, the
Taoiseach has never indicated the North was
among his political priorities.
Since the Programme for Government was
drawn up, there have been three Progress
Reports and one Statement of Government Pri-
orities. In three, the North has barely featured
– except as a security issue. The 2015 Report
marked a departure, with no
security concerns mentioned.
It did not, however, reflect any
greater engagement.
The Coalition has made little impact on the
North, except involvement in drawing up the
Belfast Agreement and its successor, the Stor-
mont Agreement, which brought Southern-style
austerity to the North. On an optimistic note,
there has also been ongoing growth in cross-
Border sharing of services. This has improved
the quality of life of many, particularly those, on
either side, who close to the Border.
There are questions about some Cross-Bor-
der projects. The Coalition has promised up to
£400million for the A5 project: the North’s larg-
est-ever road project, a dual carriageway from
Newbuildings, Co Derry, to the Monaghan-
Tyrone Border. The project has been
controversial, with the North’s High Court
quashing planning permission, and the plan-
ning process has restarted. No part of the
existing A5 is among the 50 busiest stretches
of road in the North, and a part of the proposed
route was submerged during December’s
floods. While the Coalition is generally per
-
ceived as hostile to Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin sees
the A5 as a flagship project: the SDLP is doing
its best to be as vocal in support.
Northern nationalists generally perceive the
Coalition parties as indifferent or hostile to
them. This is accompanied by amnesia regard-
ing the great majority of the Northern IRA
having supported the Treaty in 1922: and Fine
Gael’s amnesia regarding the 1922 Provisional
Government organising military attacks on the
Northern state.
Northern nationalists, to the extent that they
engage with Southern politics, tend to see
Fianna Fail as their party. The SDLP is theoreti-
cally a sister party of Labour in the Socialist
International: officially, it seeks support from
the three big Dail parties: in practice, it was
always closer to Fianna Fail, and many would
now like to become Fianna Fail’s Northern
organisation.
While Sinn Féin’s ministers in the North have
a working relationship with the Coalition, the
party feel it is hostile, and drags its feet on
some Cross-Border initiatives so as not to give
prominence to Martin McGuinness.
On balance, Unionist parties would prefer the
return of the Coalition. A DUP source told Village
it had no particular problems with the Coalition.
“They were sufficiently wrapped up in their own
problems”, the source said. “In talks, they have
been sufficiently anti-Shinner that it is useful”.
However, the source felt the two big Southern
parties have only slight differences on the
North, though was surprised at the anti-Sinn
Féin vehemence of some Fianna Fáilers. Ulster
Unionists lean very much towards Fine Gael,
some hoping to develop relations.
However, no party feels a re-elected Kenny
government would take any Northern initiative.
Zzzzzz
The government’s not that
interested in the North
by Anton McCabe
Enda Kenny is on the
Nationalist wing of Fine
Gael – which sees Sinn
Féin as betraying the
legacy of 1916 but has
never seen the North as
a priority
Fell asleep thinking of new policies on Parades policing
