The Banality of Adams
Does the backlash against Gerry Adams begin now that the peace process is seemingly firmly embedded? On UTV's Gerry Kelly Show Adams finally used a form of words that Unionists had been demanding for quite some time: "the war is obviously over". According to the Belfast Telegraph the significance of that phrase is that it may be seen as bringing to a close a long episode in political and media duelling between Sinn Fein on one hand and journalists and other politicians on the other. Unionists have for years demanded the IRA, and Sinn Fein, use the explicit words, and Adams was asked the 'Is the war over?' question on hundreds of occasions by journalists.
But in other coverage Adams comes in for a severe slagging. Brendan O'Connor in the Sunday Independent claims that "the one downside to this uneasy peace we enjoy is that, unencumbered by having to deal with the Situation, and unencumbered by weapons, Gerry is now free to roam the world as a kind of Bono/Nelson Mandela/Pope John Paul II figure, preaching a vague message of peace, love and understanding". On the other hand Lindy McDowell in the Belfast Telegraph reckons that "the days when Gerry was big box office would appear to be over. The cameras have moved on. These days Gerry is to the roll call of important international statesmen what Rebecca Loos is to the pecking order of mega-celebrity".
Our Indo scribe then turns his attention to Adams's latest book:
"This book," according to the press release, "marks a significant point in the development of political life in Ireland. In the book he imagines an Ireland in which the 1916 Proclamation is seen as an historic document in the mould of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and the Freedom Charter. He looks to the protection of tradition and culture, the defence of rural communities, the special importance of children and women, and the need to liberate the individual while instilling a feeling of community and protecting the environment. He sees every single person as change manager and is strongly internationalist in his perspective." Sort of Deepak Chopra meets Bono meets Jesus.
And there's more:
Did you know, for example, that Sinn Fein was responsible for everything from the unions to the GAA to the development of industry in Ireland? Me neither, but apparently, 100 years ago "was a time of renewal and rebirth in Ireland. Sinn Fein was the political expression of that dream, which blossomed in Conradh na Gaeilge, Cumann Luthcleas Gael, the trade union movement, na Fianna Eireann, the cooperative movement, the development of Irish industries and agriculture, Inghinidhe na hEireann, Cumann na mBan, the movement for women's suffrage and the Irish Women Workers' Union of Ireland." Presumably they invented the Catholic church as well.
You read on and you realise that Sinn Fein can essentially be whatever you want it to be. It was made up of sugar and spice and all things nice. "The tributaries of separatism, anti-sectarianism, feminism [did such a thing really exist 100 years ago?], cultural revival, socialism and the physical force tradition flowed into the river of Irish republicanism." I actually won't trouble you or myself with any more of his waffle. Because that's all it is. Waffle. Gerry Adams is no longer the guy who can deliver the weapons, so now he's just a common or garden politician who must be judged on the same standards as the rest of them and, to be honest, he doesn't measure up very well.
Let's face it, we take it for granted that all politicians are full of s**t. The thing is, Adams's s**t isn't even good s**t. Adams makes Bob Geldof look like a highly evolved political philosopher. His book makes The Da Vinci Code seem like a deep political tract. It's a load of meaningless crap that even when it does stray into sense doesn't make any sense. Making the 1916 Proclamation a reality? What the hell is he talking about? By the way, when the United Ireland comes, he thinks we should have our own currency too - not sterling or the euro. Our own one. Because in between banging on about how internationalist he is, Gerry likes to point out that he doesn't believe in the EU, despite the fact that he and his party are happy to take up space in the European Parliament, space that could be taken up by people who don't disagree with the whole project.
The DUP should learn from Sinn Féin
Liam Clarke in the Sunday Times has an interesting piece showing how Sinn Féin are much better at managing a complete volte face in terms of publicly declared core positions or principles and yet appearing to remain credible. The piece is worth reading in full but here are a couple of key paragraphs:
Sinn Fein has often snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. In the years since 1969 the Provisional IRA, supported by Sinn Fein, has set out to drive the British from Ireland vowing it would never stop until there was at least a declaration of intent to withdraw. It has now stood down and disarmed even though British soldiers remain on Irish soil and the border is not only intact but guaranteed by an international treaty. The right of Northern Ireland to exist as a separate state is accepted in the Good Friday agreement, a document that republicans present as the key to progress.
This could easily be seen as failure but, unlike Paisley, Sinn Fein never speaks of sellout. Instead, it redefines success in terms of the best achievable outcome given the circumstances.
That is not the unionist way, or has not been so far. The unionist strategy has been to play a zero sum game, resisting every change that is proposed and embracing defeat. As a result of their inability to tack to the wind they have found it very hard to formulate demands.
Dáil Plan for Northern MPs fallout
It seems like Bertie Ahern's very modest plans to give Northern Ireland's MPs an input into the Dáil have been scuppered by most of the opposition and his own PD colleagues. The Irish Times editorial yesterday argues that the proposals were "ill-advised". The writer speculates that maybe " Mr Ahern was 'going through the motions', publicly delivering on a political commitment that had little chance of success. If that was the case, trust between Mr Ahern and Mr Adams will be damaged. But then, the rot started long ago with the Northern Bank robbery".
Meanwhile, in the same paper we have the authoritative opinion of Senator Martin Mansergh telling us why Fianna Fáil has no intention of organising in Northern Ireland in the short or medium term. Essentially the line is that the peace process was initiated by a pan-nationalist front of Fianna Fáil, the SDLP and Sinn Féin as symbolised by the handshake between Albert Reynolds, John Hume and Gerry Adams on the steps of Government Buildings on September 6th, 1994, after achievement of the first IRA ceasefire. Mansergh quotes Bertie Ahern as saying that the purpose of the relationship was "to bring all strands of nationalist Ireland to our peaceful republican analysis and to arrive at the implementation of a historic settlement with unionism and the British people". The onus on him in leading that relationship was to remain above party politics.
Cowen's Budget
John Drennan in the Sunday Independent reminds us of the significance of budgets; it is about more than economics and finance and that "its real importance lies in its status as one of the last acts of political theatre which sets the agenda for government and society". Cowen, reckons Drennan, might just be able to fashion a budget that could rescue Fianna Fáil. Noel Whelan in the Irish Examiner tells us to look at what Brian Cowen said to the FF Ard Fheis last weekend if we want to know what's in the budget. There will be some kind of package on childcare and a big hike in child benefit and he will move against some of the special tax incentives that enable top earners to pay hardly any tax at all - a timely reminder of this fact appears in the Sunday Times under the headline "Super-rich use loopholes to avoid paying taxes".
Trade Unions and local pay bargaining
The Sunday Business Post looks at some emerging differences between different unions over the question of whether there should be a local bargaining clause inserted into the next partnership agreement in addition to the centralised pay norms. The IBOA, Amicus and the TEEU are leading the charge. In the public sector the Irish Nurses Organisation support it but Impact are resolutely opposed, seeing it as a "non-runner in the public sector". SIPTU, quite predictably, won't be drawn on the issue.
Finally, there is a good feature on the Ferns report and its aftermath and implications by Fintan O'Toole here and, also in the Irish Times, a useful summary of the way some of last Sunday's papers handled Liam Lawlor's death in Moscow here.
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