This week the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland visited for the first time in 80 years. It should have been a moment in the sun for unionism. However, the warm engagement between King Charles III and Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill - as DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson stood awkwardly to the side - drew the most attention. If unionism wishes to retain the union, it should take heed.
Reports suggest that after having jested in public with the first minister in waiting, the newly proclaimed monarch then proceeded to quiz DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson in private over the party’s stance on the Northern Ireland protocol. In response, Donaldson said he felt the situation with the EU could be resolved, contradicting his claims of a few days earlier that he felt under no pressure to re-engage with Stormont and furthermore that his party will not do so until action is taken to resolve the issues created by the protocol.
It would seem the party leader was not so confident as to share such an absolutist approach with King Charles, who spoke empathetically about the implicit need to deliver for all inhabitants in Northern Ireland.
The DUP went full-grievance-mode — discarding the President’s penchant for political neutrality so as to score cheap political points against the Irish head of state
Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey, who remains in post as speaker until a new Assembly is formed, gave a fitting welcome to King Charles and a touching tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, remarking on her efforts in peace building and reconciliation, and delivering part of his speech in Irish — a language the DUP continues to oppose. The diplomatic prowess of Sinn Féin further solidifies the party’s transformation into a slick forward-looking progressive party, willing and ready to step out of the trenches. The same cannot be said of the DUP.
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Contrast the language and actions of nationalism over the past week with those of unionism toward President Michael D Higgins over the past 12 months. Controversy erupted last September when President Higgins declined an invitation to a service commemorating partition, following which, the DUP leader lambasted Mr Higgins’s decision, claiming that the decision not to attend “set back North-South relations”, and was of great offence to unionism.
The party maintained this discourse for months, using it as a political stick to further their own agenda, and to undermine the efforts of Mr Higgins in advancing reconciliation across the island. The irony, of course, is that the DUP actively collapsed the North-South institutions under the Good Friday agreement and have kept them down for over a year now.
Mr Higgins’s decision not to attend the service marking the partition of Ireland need not have been so controversial; In 2016, Mr Higgins withdrew from a commitment to attend a dinner at Belfast City Hall marking the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, reasoning that there was no longer cross-party support for the event, as unionists would not be in attendance, and he, therefore, did not wish to become embroiled in “political controversy”. Unionist representatives also refused to attend a commemorative service marking the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin that same year, the DUP’s Christopher Stalford described the legacy of the Easter Rising as “a poisonous one”.
Unionism has retreated to the trenches, led there by the arch opponents of the Good Friday agreement
The commemoration of the partition of Ireland proved equally as sensitive and required a careful navigation of the innately political nature of the historical event. Nevertheless, the DUP went full-grievance-mode — discarding the President’s penchant for political neutrality so as to score cheap political points against the Irish head of State.
Negative politics steeped in sectarianism is a tactic which is no longer working; unionism continues on a downward decline, with expectations that the census results due out next week will illustrate that Northern Ireland well-and-truly is no longer a Protestant state for a Protestant people. Unionism has not only lost power, but it has lost sight of the benefits of reciprocation and compromise. The recent passing of David Trimble brought into sharp focus — if only for a moment — the achievements which can be gained from stepping outside of one’s own political agenda.
Instead of living up to that example, unionism has retreated to the trenches, led there by the arch opponents of the Good Friday agreement: the DUP and TUV. That in 2022, these parties still vehemently oppose recognition for Irish language rights and refer to nationalist parties and the Alliance Party as a “pan nationalist front”, is a testament to how regressive and intolerant they are to their neighbours, while nationalism reaches out in the spirit of reconciliation.
King Charles deliberatively beelined for the President at this week’s service in Belfast. It was not merely a gesture, but a signal of intent, and of purpose, in strengthening British-Irish relations. Next month, there will be a large-scale conference in Dublin on Ireland’s future, while in tandem, the Seanad is holding a public consultation on the future of this island. These conversations are happening at-pace, and while the DUP speaks of making Northern Ireland work, the party actively sabotages its own proposed aims.
When a vote on unity does come, the North’s rising middle ground will effectively be the kingmakers, and one thing is for sure — the actions of Sinn Féin this week will do more to appeal to this base than the DUP’s harking back to the good ol’ glory times. If the party wants to sustain Northern Ireland, then it’s time to come back in from the cold, and act in good faith to deliver equality for all communities. As the old adage goes: You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.
Emma DeSouza is a writer and political commentator