There will be elections for the Stormont Assembly in Belfast on May 5, but it looks like the Democratic Union Party (DUP), the largest trade union party at the moment, will refuse to return. Sinn Fein looks set to enter as the largest party, thus gaining the role of first minister. Until now, this has always been the case with a trade unionist. The DUP said this was a “problem”. There are those who long for the violence they like to hint that the paramilitaries will rise up again and save the province. Fifty years ago, on March 28, 1972, the British government, realizing that trade unionism was incapable of handling the demand for change by giving political rights to nationalists, closed the Northern Ireland Parliament and imposed immediate rule. Brian Faulkner, the last trade union prime minister in the county, called it a betrayal. Tens of thousands of worshipers gathered in front of the statue of Edward Carson outside the Houses of Parliament in Stormont to protest. In 1974 the Sunningdale Agreement, an attempt to create a new regime with the participation of nationalists, was thwarted when trade unionists and loyal paramilitaries joined forces to stage a massive strike that brought Northern Ireland to a standstill. Immediate rule continued for the remaining years of the unrest, which only ended when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. The problem in 1972 was the refusal to share power and the recognition of the rights of Irish citizens in the NI, and the problem today is the same. Although the Stormont arrangements are based on a mandatory power-sharing coalition and the first and deputy prime ministers are in fact equal and equal, the DUP pretends to itself and its credible voters that because the post of first minister has always held one trade union, Northern Ireland actually had one more trade union prime minister. And that he was therefore still responsible for his beloved country with the right to say “no” again and again. A rude awakening comes and panic has prevailed. And so it is that DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, and, reluctantly, one of his MLA candidates, finds himself sitting miserably on truck trailers in low-traffic anti-Protocol rallies on the main streets of small towns in the Union. He has his Orange Card with him, so that no one doubts his devotion – and a lot, because paranoia is the predominant situation in these events. The Orange Order is once again trying to unite the trade union family. What is at stake is not just the protocol – it is the Good Friday agreement. Along with Donaldson, there are people who, without having anything constructive to offer in politics, seek to make up for it with religious religious rhetoric that portrays trade unionists as the most betrayed and victimized people in the world. Always. Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister (his party’s only MLA) claims that Northern Ireland has been colonized by the EU and is wanted by the Republic of Ireland. A senior DUP politician told a rally that if the government could defend Ukraine, it could defend the union. This was exacerbated by an exaggerated blogger who explained that while Ukraine was under siege by Russia, Northern Ireland was “[in the] “The UK is subject to the protocol and is under an EU jackpot.” There are warnings for strangers and enemies – including journalists and the judiciary. Except for Kate Hoey, who no one in Northern Ireland has ever voted for, they are all men. Manhood is next to piety when it comes to saving Ulster. Alistair slyly equates the prospect of trade unionism taking on the role of deputy prime minister with becoming Sinn Féin’s “best man.” The DUP was disappointed with Westminster’s reaction when it crashed the Stormont executive earlier this year. The government barely recorded the big move and there was the usual uproar over the exits when MP Ian Paisley Jr. stood up to mourn the prime minister’s ingratitude to his most loyal citizens. This week, the Foreign Secretary for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, said controls on goods crossing the Irish Sea must continue. The trade unionists love to demand the “initiation” of Article 16. Lewis pointed out that this would in no way mean the abolition of the protocol. In the last days of this, which may be the last Northern Ireland Assembly for the immediate future, bills that had already been passed were passed. They included one to provide women with further protection from domestic violence, one to prevent abortions from harassing women outside health clinics, and one to enable more parents to choose comprehensive education for their children. The DUP tried to stop most of them. It is not surprising that many of those who voted for trade unionists now look elsewhere or do not vote at all. Last week, as Prince Charles and Camilla were learning Irish dance in the Republic of Ireland during a merry-go-round tour, gunmen forced a man to drive a prank bomb into an area where an Irish government minister was speaking. Nationalist politicians were intimidated, their election posters were set on fire. After Ulster’s party leader Doug Beattie spoke out against the inflammatory rhetoric at anti-protocol rallies, the window of his constituency office was broken. Robbery. There are those who long for the violence they like to hint that the paramilitaries will rise again and save the province. They will not do it. They do not have the ability and the people do not want them. Northern Ireland never worked for all its people. Trade unionism has made sure it never does.
