Are Our Politicians Losing Their Grip?

A University of Ulster report that suggests that Northern Ireland’s politicians are “badly out of step with ordinary people“.

Interestingly, the research shows that a growing number of DUP supporters think the party needs to learn to compromise.

I’m slightly sceptical of this, and the claim that “support among DUP voters for power-sharing had doubled between 1998 and 2003″. Obviously, this doesn’t sit comfortably with the DUP claim that they’ve been elected on an Anti-Agreement ticket.

Which is it? Do the majority of people want working institutions in Northern Ireland, or do they prefer “The Jerry Springer Show” that the previous Assembly represented? Would they have voted for the DUP if they wanted peace?

Sectarian Headcount

The research also criticises the Good Friday Agreement for failing to move politics in Northern Ireland away from the traditional ’sectarian headcount’ model.

While there’s truth in that, I don’t feel there’s any way to move beyond that model when most people in Northern Ireland designate themselves Unionist, Nationalist or Other. And when the GFA was negotiated from these polarised viewpoints, it’s no shock that this is the form the Assembly took too.

The question I am asking - to anyone who cares to answer - is are we ready to move beyond the failed politics of Unionist v Nationalist? I know I am. I know others who are. But are the majority of people on the street ready to come out and say to the politicians “Stop dicking around and make the Assembly work!”

Because, if this report is correct (and I hope it is), it hints at an attitude shift in hardcore Unionism that might eventually lead to practical, mutually beneficial solutions in this part of the Emerald Isle!

I just wonder if our politicians (particularly the hardcore) are brave enough to embrace the will of the people, or if they’ll find some way to twist the agenda yet again. I’d love to see the Jerry Springer-style politics put to bed permanently.