The Leadership Vacuum in Unionism

Editorial

The vicious Loyalist violence last weekend in Belfast and elsewhere throughout Northern Ireland proves once again that when it comes to leadership, the Unionist community is deeply lacking.

Both of the party leaders, the Reverend Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sir Reg Empey of the Ulster Unionist Party, were mouthing platitudes about how the violence was inevitable given the current political circumstances.

This is an incredible abdication of political responsibility given the fact that the weekend riots were the worst since 1996 and the furor over the Drumcree Orange march which brought Northern Ireland to the brink of chaos.

Alas, it was not surprising that the Unionist leadership once again failed the test on foot of this latest disaster. Apart from a brief period when David Trimble accepted and worked the Good Friday Agreement, Unionism has played the tired old refrain over and over again of not an inch.

How that has impacted a new generation of young Protestants can only be imagined. Once again they are being inculcated to believe that smashing Taigs is the only way forward, and mindless violence can somehow turn back the clock.

Meanwhile, the massive structural problems in the Unionist community, the dreadful ghettos in Belfast and elsewhere, where young people are brought up without hope or opportunity, seem not a concern of their major political leaders. Demanding a march be forced through a Nationalist area, it seems, is the full extent of their political direction.

Clearly, neither Paisley nor Empey had the courage to face up squarely to the fact that the complete lack of leadership in their community played a major role in last weekend’s riots.

The fact that the Loyalist kids who created much of the trouble were urged on to the streets by leaders of that supposed fraternal organization, the Orange Order, is a very sad commentary in itself. The Orangemen were protesting the fact that they were not allowed to coat-trail a parade through a Nationalist area where they were not wanted.

It was strange that the only leadership being shown was that by a policeman, Sir Hugh Orde, the Northern Ireland police chief. Orde pointed the finger directly at the Orange Order, and later provided indisputable video evidence which showed many members of that institution inciting riots and getting directly involved themselves.

Orde, noting the fact that 50 men under him had been injured and that live fire and blast bombs had been aimed at his men, stated that the leadership of the Orange Order bore a great responsibility for what happened.

Of course, the Loyalist paramilitary honchos were also involved. The fig leaf that the UVF and the UDA are still on ceasefire becomes more transparent every week.

It is time for Northern Secretary Peter Hain to call a spade a spade. The Loyalist ceasefires are a joke. It is only when these issues are confronted head on that progress can be made.

There is no way back for the IRA on decommissioning; there is also no way back to the supremacist days when Orangemen and their political lackeys ruled the roost. That message needs to be reinforced by Hain and others.

On the Nationalist side there has been an acceptance of the hard and bitter truths, such as there will be no united Ireland overnight. Unionism, no matter how hopeless it seems, must be engaged.

It is time the same reality struck on the other side and young teenagers were given a glimpse of a better future than just looking for Taigs to beat up.