The
recent Unionist violence conducted by various and
multiple offshoots of Unionism has led to a condemnation
of constitutional Unionism for firstly, its failure
to condemn the violence and secondly, for the widely
held perception that it actually condoned it. But
what's new?
Unionism,
irrespective of brand or leadership, has always
condoned violence when the need has arisen to protect
their bigoted and sectarian culture or simply to
get their way. Just look at the history of this
island as a whole or more relevant to today's events
the history of this little sectarian state created
by British Imperialism and maintained by pure ethnic
Orangeism.
So
why all the hulla balloo about this recent upsurge
in Unionist violence? Simple, it was down to the
fact that England hadn't won the Ashes by then and
there really was nothing else to report on! (After
England won the Ashes the violence here was moved
down the ratings on the 10 o'clock news). Anyway,
talk about stating the obvious. When the bully doesn't
get its way it will resort to other means to achieve
its goal and that is exactly what happens when so
called 'constitutional' Unionists fail through constitutional
means to achieve their goal. They resort back to
their 'muckers' within the Loyalist paramilitaries
(it used to be the RUC but according to the SDLP
that link is now broken!) to sort the problem out
for them and silently whisper their condemnation.
This
must lead to questions being raised over what exactly
do they mean when they describe themselves as constitutional
politicians and, more precisely, what do they mean
when they talk about democracy? Also, will they
be accorded that same political 'lets avoid asking
questions that would embarrass them and the state
called Norn Iron' respect by the media?
What
has happened recently is nothing new to the Nationalist
people (sorry but I find that the phrase Nationalist
community implies that we have quite a lot in common
with the Unionist community and that we just can't
see it..there are two peoples on this island, Irish
and British). So where do we go from here? Simple
and most likely answer is that we pick up the pieces
and go on with our lives and continue to allow all
those who claim to represent Nationalism/Republicanism
to keep their heads buried in the sand for fear
of upsetting a 'peace process' that isn't.
When
will the day come that those Nationalist/Republican
politicians learn that treating the symptoms will
not cure the disease and that it will not take a
bold step to declare Stormont a lost cause.
