Editorial

Good bye Good Friday
Elsewhere in this magazine, John McAnulty argues that the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) is effectively dead. It’s difficult to find fault with this observation. The political arrangement that was the GFA (as distinct from the cease-fires that still appear solid) is currently in Limbo and has little prospect of re-emerging in its intended format. The Agreement, if such it can be called, depended on the mutual acceptance of; full recognition of the 6-Co state by Sinn Fein and the SDLP in return for unionism agreeing to full nationalist participation in the administration of the region. Eventually, and in spite of very great attempts at appeasement by Sinn Fein, a majority within

Unionism has found administration-sharing too much to endure.
For some time now it has been the received wisdom that Jeffrey Donaldson is behaving in the manner of a spoiled and mischievous child. Supporters of the GFA ask, in exasperation, what might satisfy him? The reality of the situation is that Donaldson has in all likelihood never been acting out of pure petulance or bloodymindedness. He is after all, the protege of the greyest of all unionist eminences - the integrationist James Molyneaux - and his strategy is simply and effectively to restore Direct Rule. By constantly setting difficult or impossible hurdles for Sinn Fein, Donaldson is making a powersharing administration in Stormont virtually unachievable. The masterstroke from his point of view is that he has found a means of ending unionist divisions by opting for the lowest common denominator. While unionist politicians loved the pomp and drama (albeit parochial) that went with Stormont, most unionist voters are prepared to tolerate government from London while a sizable number of them clearly prefer it to sharing an administration with nationalists.

The reality of what is happening has now been identified by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams when in a recent interview with the Irish News, he called on the British and Irish governments to produce a “plan B” if unionists refuse to work devolution. This is a significant statement from the leader of a party that has been one of the Agreement’s principle supporters. The difficulty for Sinn Fein though, is that there is only one “plan B” that will end the unionist veto and that option requires removing the British government’s influence in Northern Irish affairs altogether. The enduring lesson of the 6-County state is that it is the union with Britain that allows unionist reactionaries,to maintain their intransigent position.

There is no point in muttering ‘we told you so’ to Sinn Fein. Moreover, there is absolutely no point whatsoever in looking to blind militarism for an answer to the problem. Another new departure is necessary and that can only come about be recognising and working with the politico-economic factors that gives dynamic to a radical democratic movement.

Brendan Ogle’s book
Going to press, we have had an opportunity to read an advance copy of a book written by former ILDA spokesperson, Brendan Ogle. This book - Off The Rails, the story of ILDA - comes at a time when there is evidence that a small but significant group of trade unionists in Ireland are striving to break out of the snare created by one sided partnership deals while simultaneously, more radical people are coming to the fore in British trade unions. It is much too early to talk of a new dawn in organised labour, but there is at least fresh hope. This hope would be greatly increased if the trade union movement heeded the advice at the end of Ogle’s book. He says that the union movement; “...needs once again to find it’s roots among the working classes, the socially disadvantaged and those most in need in our society; and it needs to start to bridge the gap between rich and poor in society...”. We agree - buy this book and learn from it.

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