It’s encouraging that the Belfast Telegraph is beginning to note the Zeitgeist made evident by the most recent general election results in Northern Ireland.
The paper, today, “launches a major debate on moving Northern Ireland politics away from tribal headcounts.” I gather the Telegraph will be featuring my own tuppenceworth later in the week. However, it is kicking off today with a contribution from Queen’s University Politics Professor Rick Wilford.
Wilford notes that a large percentage of the electorate wants a new politics beyond the tribal head-counting that passes for politics here.
He notes, “The General Election witnessed a depressing reversion to sectarian type given the attempts to engineer both unionist and nationalist electoral pacts.”
Well done to David Gordon at the Belfast Telegraph for this initiative. Perhaps it’s the start of a major sea-change in Northern Ireland politics. I live in hope.
I see Saturdays Newsletter reports that the UUP are now turning their attention to an electoral pact with the DUP. Their new found love of all things non sectarian and their talk of moving away from tribal politics on to national politics rings somewhat shallow now.
I wouldn’t rejoice for too long Jeff. We may be looking at the UUP in its true colours now, I just hope any new thought comes from the people rather than them
Richard, you may be right but, eternal optimist that I am, I do believe we’re seeing a shift in popular opinion away from the sectarian parties. Admittedly my perspective is a bit Lisburn/South Belfast skewed but everyone I talk with these days is of the view that none of the local parties is appealing – most utterly off-putting. There is also a view that none of them is capable of getting anything done given the sectarian stale-mate. At least the debate is happening.
As a passive reader of this it seems that the sectarian headcount thing has indeed a place but it’s in its death throws for being dominant.
At the last election I wanted to vote Tory but didn’t want to vote UUP. Alliance wasn’t for me, so the party most representing my views was the DUP. I didn’t want to vote DUP though as I was against headcount Politics (go figure there!) but with no suitable alternative, so I was not too unhappy when Alliance won in my consituency as to me it showed the beginning of the end of this type of Poiitics. I imagine others feel similar too.
I’m not sure you get it right too often Jeff, but you seem to be right on this one in my opinion ie the end of the tribal count being the only option. The Tele don’t usually jump in unless they see popular opinion moving first and then they try to judge where opinion will be and position accordingly. Next year’s elections will be interesting
I also take my hat off the Belfast Telegrah and David Gordon.
The question in my mind is whether this initiative is a sign of a real strategic commercial move by the newspaper based upon its own research or a kite-flying exercise which has only one week of guaranteed life.
Having made its own analysis of the results of the General Election, the Belfast Telegraph may well have reached their own conclusion that a very sizeable (possibly even a majority) of the population are now so disaffected by “tribal headcount” politics that it was necessary for the Newspaper to become more pro-active in supporting normal politics if they were to remain connected with this section of its readership.
If that is the case, we may yet see similar initiatives from the Newsletter and the Irish News.
Jeffrey, I look forward to reading your article.
My contribution is featured today.