Abdication Of Responsibility

An abdication of responsibility. Those were the words used by the American Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss describing the failure of Unionist politicians to take responsibility for the riots of the 10th and 11th of September.

Sitting here watching the coverage on UTV, then BBC Northern Ireland, the emotions are strong this evening.

1. Hatred. Watching the gangs of teenagers mercilessly and relentlessly pelting police with whatever came to hand. Those brave children, their faces masked hurling missiles at police before dashing back to the cover of the mob. Those whose faces we did see were contorted into deranged pictures of pure venom. Oh, hard not to feel hatred toward those numbskulls who sacrifice the peace of the country for an evening of recreational rioting.
2. Anger. Rage at the leaders of Unionism. Now, on the eve of some serious IRA decommissioning, they decide it is time to make some twisted belated point about appeasement.

   Not one single heartfelt condemnation among the Unionist/Loyalist/Orange leadership. Instead the people who denounced Sinn Fein/IRA tactics have decided to ape them. Talk about your moral high-ground!

3. Despair. Is violence the past, present and future of Northern Ireland? What kind of people teach their children hatred with such venom? What kind of politicians can excuse evil, murderous behaviour on the basis of past atrocities?

   Suddenly the problems in Northern Ireland engulf me and make me feel like an insignificant, peace-loving insect. The middle ground in Northern Ireland has no voice, no unity, no body. Without a strong leadership from the middle, our peace process will be dominated by polar opposites forever struggling against each other. How long must we wait while one side makes apologies for the actions of terrorists and the other gloats smugly from the sidelines?

4. Pity, Laced With Self-Righteousness. My heart goes out to those people in Newtownabbey who lost their livelihoods when yobs burnt out virtually every small business in the area. But as I’ve said before, you get what you vote for. These are Unionist/Loyalist areas. Paisley and Empey can talk all they like about disenfranchised loyalism, but all I can see is a licence to vandalise and destroy.

   I sincerely hope the business owners in these areas get back on their feet and that people made jobless by this wave of brutality find employment again soon. But I have a word of advice for those victims: Be careful who you vote for next time! The middle ground might not sound as exciting, but it’s a damned sight safer.

5. The Comical Interlude. Oh God, I needed some humour after this, and boy did I get it! The delightful double-act of Dawson Bailie and ‘friend’ on the news this evening. Bailie, for all his leadership, was mumbling, incoherent. Caught by a BBC news team, he refused to be interviewed but couldn’t resist rising to the bait to respond to the interviewer. While he was struggling, some wee mucker walked on-screen and introduced himself and started telling Bailie what a great fella he was. Much of wee mucker’s conversation was difficult to follow. I don’t speak that particular dialect of thick.

   This is the calibre of Orange leadership? Bailie summed it all up: “Blame the Secretary of State. Blame the Police Service. Blame the Government. ” Oh, the unholy trinity! Blame Sinn Fein. Blame the weather. Blame green M&M’s. They started it.

This last few days have been a slap in the face for the regular Northern Irish people. People like my wife and I trying to raise a family according to decent principles.

The truth is – as many of you know – we don’t care who governs us. Right now, the devil we know is the government of the United Kingdom and that suits us fine. We don’t care about marching. We love to go for walks, but don’t find it necessary to take our pipe band with us.

What we want is to raise our families in peace. I’m thirty next year. Will I see sixty? Seventy? Eighty? I don’t know.

What I do know is that I refuse to spend it in conflict with my neighbours. And I will use this blog to try and inject a bit of common sense into the partisan ramblings of Nationalists and Unionists until I get sick of it all and move to somewhere less tempestuous!

Thank you and goodnight!