A Rant about Politics

The European Union parliamentary elections are next Thursday. In advance of the elections, there’s been a lot of campaigning happening around Northern Ireland. And like everything here, the European Parliament elections are weighed down with local politics. Usually, I can tell if I’m in a predominantly Loyalist/unionist or predominantly nationalist area by the colour of the curbstones (painted the colours of the appropriate flag) or the flags flying on lamp-posts. Now, I can also tell by the political parties which have hung campaign signs in the area. There are no posters for Sinn Fein, the major nationalist party, in my neighbourhood.

On Tuesday, six flyers came through my door with the mail, expounding the virtues of various candidates. I read through them all, and was well intrigued by what I found. Every candidate refers more to the nationalist/unionist debate in their literature than they speak about EU issues. I don’t know a whole lot about European politics, but I am relatively confident that MEPs (ministers of European Parliament) will not have a great deal of say in whether Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdome or becomes part of the Republic of Ireland. The candidates devote an awful lot of space in their literature to this issue, however – and I, as a relatively ignorant observer, saw very little that convinced me of anyone’s actual ability to be a successful MEP.

To give you a flavour of the campaign rhetoric, I quote some pieces from pamphlets I have received.

Diane Dodds, candidate from the Democratic Unionist Party (the main unionist party), is running her campaign on the premise that only she can garner enough votes to edge out Sinn Fein. She says things like: “There are those who wish to destroy our government and rob unionists of the ability to control their future. We must not allow them to prevail.” She promises to “take republicans on, day in day out on every issue, not run away” and bring “control over decisions of nationalist/republican Ministers.”

Jim Allister is the candidate for Traditional Unionist Voice. He informs voters that this “is your opportunity to give your verdict on unrepentant terrorists [former members of the IRA who are now Sinn Fein ministers] at the heart of government.” “If you relish devolving policing and justice powers to an Executive and Assembly [the Northern Irish government] where the party of those who so brutally murdered policemen and judges holds sway, then Jim Allister is not for you.” Also, and the quote I find most interesting: he “is opposed to scarce EU resources being waster on a so called ‘Conflict Resolution Centre’” on the location of a prison where ten republican prisoners died during a hunger strike in 1981.

Surprisingly, I also received a short brochure from Bairbre deBrun (the name is Irish Gaelic), the Sinn Fein candidate. She too refers to localized politics, saying she will put “the interests of Ireland [not Northern Ireland] first in Europe” and that her election will be “a mandate for change and vote for Irish Unity.” Her brochure was written in both English and Irish Gaelic, which is another one of those sneaky political statements.

Even the non-sectarian politicians refer to local politics. The Alliance Party candidate, Ian Parsley (whose name is unfortunately just one letter away from the famous founder of the DUP, Ian Paisley) emphasizes his non-sectarian leanings. His slogans include “Sharing works – Segregation costs” and “Hope works – Fear costs.” He also promises to work “for everyone in Northern Ireland – regardless of who they are,” “to help build a united community,” and “to reach out to people of all parties and none.”

In the context of the European parliamentary election, most of this information is completely useless. It’s no wonder that people here are often disillusioned with the political process. Only 63% of registered voters turned out for the parliamentary elections in 2007. With increasing distrust of ministers of parliament across the United Kingdom, I doubt that figure will improve much next week. The political process here, of course, is much better than the “bad old days” of the Troubles . . . but it still leaves much to be desired.

Word of the Week: “Your man” or “your woman.” This is often used when someone cannot remember the name of the person they’re speaking about. It would be roughly equivalent to saying “whats-his-name.” The “your man/woman” in question could be someone’s brother, a historical figure, a politician, etc. For example: “I was listening to the radio and your man that reads the news said . . .” Or “I was out walking and I met your woman who sits at the back of the church on Sunday morning.”