Decent People - The Ulster Unionist Election Campaign

I pity David Trimble. Really, I do.

Constantly having your leadership challenged, striving for lasting peace but having to balance this with Party alegiances and political career. There was a time a few years ago that I truely believed that Trimble and the Ulster Unionists (along with their opposite number the SDLP) could secure peace for Northern Ireland. Trimble took risks and some pretty hefty leaps of faith for a Unionist.

That was then. Jeffrey “Daniel O” Donaldson started nipping at Trimble’s heels, riding a growing tide of Unionist opposition to the Good Friday Agreement. Trimble got caught on the back foot and was forced to take a harder line about the peace process and decommissioning in particular. However, Donaldson waged war on Trimble by challenging his leadership on a number of occassions. Although Trimble defeated him each time, it was by some very shallow margins.

Donaldson eventually left the Ulster Unionists, finally entering his natural environment with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in January 2004. His timing was hardly rocket science - the DUP had been regaining popularity in the intervening years for it’s uncompromising stance. Donaldson was merely siding with the winning team.

Since then, the Ulster Unionists (in my opinion) have been in political freefall. In an alarmingly short space of time, Trimble (who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 with John Hume) has fallen by the wayside.

Northern Ireland in recent years has fallen under the control of the hardliners. The DUP and Sinn Fein both have achieved stranglehold positions within the Unionist and Nationalist communities respectively. It’s almost treachery to consider the middle-ground alternatives of the Ulster Unionists or the SDLP, and there is no viable party to challenge the Nationalist/Unionist structure. The hardliners, particularly the DUP, have no real interest in resolving the situation in Northern Ireland. In fact, they have made their careers upon conflict. The voice of Ian Paisley echoes across the province with chants of “Ulster Says No” and “No Surrender”, but neither he nor his party have presented any sort of framework for peace. And still they vote for him.

As I was walking into work this morning, I saw an election poster mounted on a lamppost - “Decent People, ” it stated, “Vote Ulster Unionist”. Now, I’m not sure whether the UU are limiting their voter base or advertising the fact that they are decent people, but I hope the campaign works for them. I would hate to think it would alienate them even further from their voters.

Northern Ireland needs people like David Trimble. Although his leaps of faith have been rubbished (particularly since the Northern Bank robbery and the killing of Robert McCartney), we need people who are prepared to move forward. If we all dig our heels in like Paisley & Co, we’ll be fighting until doomsday.