FISKING HAIN'S LETTER....

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain must be desperate. How else to explain "HIS" PATHETIC letter in this morning's Newsletter?

It's a great laugh...try this out for size...

"Unionism has every right to be confident: confident in its place in the United Kingdom with the principle of consent secured by the Agreement, confident in its culture and confident in its politics and its politicians."

Who said we weren't confident Peter - we just don't trust Sinn Fein apologists like yourself.

"It also needs to be smart. In politics, as elsewhere, timing is all. November is the time for unionism to seize the initiative and it will get so much more by engaging and mainstreaming all parties in accountable, democratic politics in the Assembly and the Executive than it will by staying on the sidelines denying itself its rightful role in the Government of Northern Ireland.

Putting terrorists into Government is a price we will not pay Peter. Got it?

"I accept that in the past we were over-optimistic about the pace of transition within the republican movement and that led to understandable suspicion on the part of unionists.That is why we set up the Independent Monitoring Commission."

But at the time, those Unionists who exposed the duplicity of Republicans' were cold-shouldered by Government. It's only now that the Unionist electorate have moved away from the Vichy UUP that you are forced to write this pointless apologia. 

It is the IMC that tells us that the IRA is living up to its commitments: just read the last Report with an open mind.

Nope Peter- we can all see and read what the IRA is up to. The IMC is your creature, we never voted for it.

Unionism wants to see more movement.

Yes, we'd like to see Government stop pandering to terrorists of all hues.

But the real danger for unionism is if what was seen in the past to be justifiable concern and suspicion becomes a paralysing refusal to accept that their opponents are capable of change and are part of the body politic. There will be a real problem for unionism if the IMC reports in October that the IRA has done what it said it would,  following on from the quietest parades season since the 1960s and where Sinn Fein is seen to be co-operating more with the police at street level and still there is no political settlement.And the consequences of failure by 24 November will be serious.

The real danger for Unionism is believing a word you say.  And not so subtle threats won't work.

I am often told that unionism does not respond to threats. Quite right.
Neither do I. But unionism should recognise political reality.

Oh but your lousy Government does respond to threats. Republicans figured that one a loooong time ago,

But unionism should recognise political reality.
As the Prime Minster said in Armagh in April, having worked with the Irish government and with the parties for nearly 10 years on this, there will be nothing more that the governments can do. And the political focus in the Republic will switch elsewhere at the turn of the year.
Devolution will go into deep freeze and, frankly, I cannot see the circumstances in which it will be revived in the foreseeable future.
There will be no joint authority with the Irish government but north/south and east/west co-operation will deepen. Direct Rule will continue.
MLAs will lose their place as representatives of the people and while Ministers will, of course, continue to deal with MPs on constituency matters, the democratic deficit will be massive.
The real loss will not be the salaries and allowances.
It will be the loss of a generation of
local politicians who will be seen by the public to have failed.

Good. They will not have failed if they stand firm against your plan to bully them into selling out democracy

The next few months will involve difficult decisions for unionism.
It will mean engaging with people with whom most unionists would rather not.

Talk to terrorists is what you mean, so why not say it?

The prize is that local politicians will be able to decide local matters whether it is on education or rural planning or industrial de-rating or a host of other issues I currently have to deal with.
The future of Northern Ireland will be in local hands and that is as it should be.
Establishing locally accountable, democratic structures of government is not about what I want, or Tony Blair wants or Bertie Ahern wants.
It is about giving the people of Northern Ireland what they want and what they deserve.
And if this opportunity is taken, unionism's confidence in its politicians will be well rewarded.

Get the cheque-book out, eh Peter? But obvious there, your script-writers could have done better.

We will look back on Peter Hain as an excrementally poor Secretary of State, in thrall to the Republican agenda, and who tried and failed to browbeat Unionism into corrupting itself.

Two words Peter. No Surrender.

Comments

[Parcifal]

you are saying then that whatever steps Republicanism makes towards supporting the Police and/or giving up criminality, you won't believe it as you discredit the IMC.

[levee]

Hi DV, long time no see! Just dropped in to see what was new.

I must say, give old Hain a chance, would you? It's been a while since anything new was tried in ol' Norn Iron, and I'm actually looking forward to 24 November and whatever sadistic torture is in store for Unionist politicians (we really mean the DUP, don't we?)

"No Surrender"? Sounds like you're under the thrall of someone much less inspiring!

[David Vance]

Hi Mr Levee,

Very nice to hear from you, trust all is well with you and Mrs Levee.

As ever, ATW is a hotbed of moderation, reasonableness and luvvvvvve.

[levee]

Ha ha! You sound a bit too loved up, David. Dojn't get carried away now!

[Colm]

David is the Lovemaster of ATW and we are all his faithful groupies !

[Ranger1640]

Unionists are not naïve. The Unionists will see off B,liar and wave goodbye to Perm-a-Tan Hain. The republicans are in no position to maneuver as they said all the guns and bombs are locked up the IRA and is now an old bhoys club and they don’t have much favor in the good old USA. So why do Unionists need to hurry. That is why Perm-a-Tan Hain is making all the nice mood music to the Unionists.

The political situation in the UK is changing as B,liar is running out of friends in the cabinet and around the country so less republican influence in number10, and Perm-a-Tan Hain is scurrying around trying to make the Unionists go into power the Sinn Fein/IRA murdering scum.

By the way the realization has hit Labour and the Conservatives that the DUP will be the 4th largest party in Parliament and they need to be sucked up to. Note Gordon Brown making nice noises to the DUP.

So Sinn Fein/IRA wake up and smell the semtex they are not liked in the republic and good old George W Bush has little time for the Hezbollah side kicks and Tony B,liar is a is yesterdays republican poodle.

For God And Ulster