Unionist
Politics
by Feargal Cochrane
At the meeting in Belfast's Waterfront Hall on Saturday 27 May, the UUP's
ruling council backed their party leader, and agreed by 53 per cent to 47
per cent to reinstate the executive and return devolved powers to Northern
Ireland. 48 Consistent with the nature of Trimble's leadership of his party
during the peace process, he had got just enough support to continue at
every stage. However, the split within the party and the wider unionist
community was clear to be seen, and the reaction (both within the UUP and
the wider population in Northern Ireland who supported the Good Friday Agreement)
was one of relief rather than triumph. Everyone knew, not least those opposed
to the settlement, that Trimble had to win every time, while those in the
'No' camp only had to win once to jeopardise the future of the Agreement.
At the press conference in the Waterfront Hall after the vote was announced,
Trimble managed yet again to provoke negative headlines despite his hard-won
victory. In a throw away answer to the questioning journalists, the UUP
leader made disparaging remarks about Sinn Féin, illustrating that while
the structures of the Good Friday Agreement had been restored, the human
relationships still had some way to go. The message many nationalists took
from this aside was that Trimble's mask had slipped and that despite his
inclusive rhetoric, he remained the arrogant old-style unionist who had
walked triumphantly with Ian Paisley in Portadown during the Drumcree protest
in the mid 1990s. 'As far as democracy is concerned, these folk ain't house-trained
yet. It may take some time before they do become house-trained and I think
we do actually need to see the Assembly running so the checks and balances
that are there eventually bring them to heel . . . We are dealing with a
party that has not got accustomed to democratic procedures.' 49 Despite
such remarks, it is the political structures rather than the personalities
that are of long-term importance to the political future of Northern Ireland.
The events of May and June represent a significant achievement for David
Trimble's leadership of the UUP and for the leadership of his partners in
government. Only time will tell whether the structures survive. Much will
rest on the internal feuding within the unionist community and within the
UUP in particular. |
