Sinn Féin currently faces a tough decision over whether or not to endorse joining the policing boards. While there are very specific reasons why policing in its own right will be hard for republicans in the 6 county context, some of the jusifications being given for endorsement are in themselves problematic. There seems to be very much a carrot and stick approach to policing. The carrot, evidently, is participation in a power sharing executive. However, when we get back to basics, this is hardly as enticing as it is made to sound.
Sinn Féin's primary partners in any such executive, based on current electoral strength, would be the ludicrously misnamed 'Democratic Unionist Party'. Let us not forget that it was their stringent opposition to basic civil rights that exacerbated the conditions which created the conflict in the 6 counties. While we all accept the 'moving on' argument, sharing government with such people surely cannot be easy. Especially baring in mind that SF are constitutionally bound to the quest for not only a United Ireland, but a Democratic Socialist Republic. How does this fit with a party who proudly espouse all the worst excesses of christian fundamentalism. How does a party that supports gay marriage sit down in government with a party whose representatives (Lord Morrow) campaign to overturn legislation which makes it illegal to discrimanate against homosexuals?
How does a party which has set its stall out so strongly against privatisation throughout the island, implement an administrative system with a truly myopic dependence on privatisation through the Public Private partnerships (PPPs) and the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)?
While in a party that is often viewed in the context of militant republicanism, it is tempting to view policing as a stand aone issue in simplistic constitutional terms, it is important to realise that there are broader problems based on the political and socio-economic objectives that SF has ostensibly tied itself to as a party of the radical left.
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4 comments:
Good blog.
A very good blog indeed
These are interesting points, but I was thinking, I could see the pendulum within Unionism shift back towards the UUP over the next few years. The DUP aren't by right the senior Unionist party in perpetuity. I remember in 2003 being at a post-grad conference organised by the Political Studies Association of Ireland (actually - cough - I gave a paper) but anyhow, there was a very interesting guy there from Belfast, a Unionist who argued that in fact there's a sort of centre ground in Unionism between the UUP and the DUP which can on occassion be swayed by pro-GFA arguments, and on occassion will bolt to the DUP. He predicted at the time that it was shifting towards the DUP, but that were SF to make serious political moves that would ultimately rebound towards more moderate voices in Unionism. Perhaps we're about to see that tested.
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