Comments on: Are the Conservatives in Northern Ireland ‘Going Native’?

By: Some links… « Open Unionism

Some links… « Open Unionism — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:56:53 +0000

[...] Jeff Peel wonders if local Conservatives have gone native. [...]

By: A great party « Tory Story NI

A great party « Tory Story NI — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:25:55 +0000

[...] great party Posted on November 10, 2009 by torystoryni On his blog, Jeffrey Peel has picked up upon the statement by Deirdre Nelson that the UUP and the Conservative Party were [...]

By: Editor

Editor — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:02:45 +0000

David they weren’t really one and the same – except prior to partition. Post partition the UUP became a very parochial party and by the time direct rule was reintroduced the UUP was very much at arms length from the Conservatives. Worse still, by then the colonialist bi-partisan behaviour from both Labour and Conservative was beginnning to bed down as all of Northern Ireland’s parties became more sectarian.

I consider the UUP to be part of the problem of Northern Ireland’s political problems – not part of the solution. A halfway house arrangement where the UUP retains its sectarianism but attracts credibility through a relationship with the Conservative Party is, in many respects, the worst of possible outcomes. It shows that Conservative or UUP thinking hasn’t really moved forward and there is no real yearning to normalise our politics.

I went along with the UUP deal because I had hoped we could make the UUP go away and we’d at least have succeeded in establishing one of the national parties here. It looks like that was a pipe dream.

But I’m keen to watch things unfold. I have the greatest of respect for many within the local Conservative Party and many – most – are motivated by the right reasons.

By: thedissenter

thedissenter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:42:51 +0000

What is annoying is the lack of knowledge of the history of the UUP and the Conservative Party. For decades they were in fact one and the same. Even in the early 1980s the UUP retained representation on the grassroots body the National Union Executive Committee (NUEC) – one of the reasons this halfway house UCUNF is so unsatisfactory.

Wouldn’t try to interpret or assign a great deal of meaning to anything Deirdre Nelson says.