A Tangled Web

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit



Remember that Chas n' Dave hit from the early 1980's? What a classic! The words are relevant to today's news that the Northern Ireland Secretary is about to begin another drive to achieve the enthronement of Irish separatism and, more specifically, armed Irish separatism at the heart of devolved government in a part of the United Kingdom.



Auntie Beeb tells us Paul Murphy 'will hold talks with the parties at Stormont on Wednesday, and they will concentrate on issues arising out of a review of the good Friday Agreement.' Naturally, the proceedings will have the endure the presence of Ireland's Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, because British ministers are not even able to cough so it would seem without asking the permission of ministers from a hostile, politically backward nation which insists on poking its foul nose into Ulster's internal matters.



Let's get one thing clear. The success or failure of these talks will depend purely on the degree of the DUP's lust for power. A far as Sinn Fein/IRA are concerned, they will only regurgitate the offers of yesteryear: the end of the IRA in return for 'a process of sustainable change' (aka the irreversible thrust towards a 'united' Ireland). Terrorists only ever completely disappear in the event of their aims being achieved, or their defeat by democratic opponents. Neither the DUP nor the Ulster Unionists should be within 400 ft of these talks: Direct Rule is proving popular with a majority of Northern Ireland's people. Why should their contentment be quashed to satisfy the demands of nationalist Ireland?