Denis Bradley: We can’t leave it to Sinn Féin to make the case for Irish unity
Civic unionism must engage in the debate about the future of this island
Sinn Féin is the red rag to the unionist bull and a Border poll at this juncture is the wrong policy in achieving the proper and mature unity that is needed
Ian Paisley jnr was very fond of my Aunt Fanny. I used her frequently in articles and speeches as a doyen of old time attitudes and insights. I think Ian was at an event in Washington years ago when I described how superstitious Fanny was. She thought, for example, that it was bad luck to tie one shoe before putting on the second shoe. She scolded me many a time for doing it. She wouldn’t have taken it well to be told that the custom probably arose from the fear of having to flee the law in a hurry. Not easy to run with one shoe off and one on.
Her shoe story is pretty analogous with the state of Irish politics. If one shoe is the Belfast Agreement and the other is Brexit, we are in a bit of a dither as to the best way of tying our laces. That is not a criticism: it is just the way things are and it is the way they are going to be for a time. The most revealing example was the tizzy Sinn Féin got itself into in the recent negotiations with the DUP. Would they, could they, should they, make a deal? Caught between Brexit and the Belfast Agreement. It was painful to watch. Had the DUP not rejected that deal and let them off the hook, Sinn Féin might have been left with some egg on its face.