Periscope - SDLP Should Quit Police Boards

By NiallO’Dowd

SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams is due back in the U.S. this week for a round of fundraising and political consultations. He will find a state of flux given the presidential election, but the reality is that whoever the U.S. president is after November 2, American intervention is now urgently needed in Northern Ireland.

It is a point Adams will no doubt hammer home during his various meetings here. It is becoming increasingly clear that the British government is either unwilling or unable to push Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party into a political compromise which has now been on the table for several months.

It is time the U.S. stepped forward again to try and bring about a formulation which can succeed in moving forward the entire process.

It is time because we are used to Unionists ducking and weaving when it comes to crunch time at the negotiating table. We even put up with it when it was David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party given that he had taken some historic steps, but the same does not apply to the Reverend Paisley.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair had an obligation of sorts to Trimble because Trimble had furthered the peace process, however, reluctantly. He has no such obligation to Paisley, who has obstructed and defied change every step of the way.

That is why it is surprising that Blair is not more definitive and strong with Paisley. There is no question that that the shape of the deal on the table is fair — complete IRA disbandment and Sinn Fein accepting policing, in return for British government concessions on demilitarization and policing and Democratic Unionists agreeing to share power.

Once again, however, the British seem very reluctant to push Paisley the final mile. The facts are that if a deal is not arrived at by Christmas then we can kiss this phase of the peace process goodbye. With British elections due early next year other priorities will become salient.

All the more reason then for Blair to present a stark choice to Paisley. Either get on board or the British and Irish governments will institute a form of joint authority, in return for the Sinn Fein concessions which will cut Paisley out of power.

Plan B, as Blair has called it, is becoming a viable alternative. Indeed, there are growing signs that Nationalists can play a role too in forcing the British government hand one way or another.

Last week policing board member Denis Bradley, a Nationalist, stated that his membership of that board had merely allowed Unionist politicians to continue with their obstructionist tactics.

SDLP participation on the police boards has allowed the governments to claim that cross community policing has at last become a reality. However, if the SDLP were to withdraw their members, the entire policing platform would collapse overnight.

It would be a drastic step, but it is worth the chance. Given that Blair continuously cedes only to Unionist demands, the withdrawal by the SDLP would likely force the hand of the British government and fashion a take it or leave package for Paisley and his followers.

Drastic action yes, but the SDLP desperately needs to redefine its role in the North. By taking such a courageous step on policing they would make themselves totally relevant again. 

It is time once again for some outside the box thinking as the North continues its seemingly inexorable decline into sullen stalemate.