Events at Stormont
Northern Ireland which seemed for so long to be going somewhere, now seems on the verge of relapsing into the dark, though for some people comfortable days of the past.
Among the protagonists is the chief minister, a cuckold, a man who claimed to be unaware that his wife was having a relationship with a boy forty years’ her junior, for which she was paying handsomely – though with other people’s money. Amongst his cabinet colleagues are Sammy Wilson, living proof that sectarianism has transferred into racism, who also does not believe in man-made climate change. And then there is another minister who is a creationist, who rejects evolution. In most civilised nations such “colourful” souls would be left in Flat Earth Corner. And the whole power-sharing regime could be brought down by one side’s determination to perverse the rights of a religiously exclusive, male only clique to march through areas where they’re not wanted wearing bank manager outfits.
The chances for a successful resolution have not been helped by the involvement of outsiders, especially the Irish taoiseach Brian monkeyman Cowen, an individual who cannot be trusted and who talks out of both sides of his mouth.
So much also centres on policing and justice. The PSNI has made great strides to become a worthy professional police force, enjoying the respect of all. But the flat earthers aren’t happy with this. They want a return to the good old days of the B-Specials, with a proper police force who could be trusted to burn Catholics and undesirables out of their homes.
And then there is the prospect of a “grand coalition” between the UUP and the flat earthers, and worse still of a tie-up at Westminster between Big Orange and the Tories. David Cameron’s attempts to lay to sleep the ghost of Thatcherism would seem mere spin if he were to ally himself with such intractable bigots.
