Saturday, December 06, 2008
Selfish Interests in Cameron NI initiatives?
The mating dance of the greater spotted Cameron with the Ulster Unionist Party raises some interesting issues. One of the eternal verities of The Situation in ‘Ulster’ or the ‘Six Counties’ or ‘Northern Ireland’ is that some words have a terrible charge of hidden meanings.
For example the phrase ‘Britain has no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland’ was part of the so-called Downing Street Declaration of 15 December 1993 endorsed by the last Tory Prime Minister, John Major. This implied recognition by the UK of dynamic semi-detachment was vital for the evolution towards the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. For those hostile to the Union it implied the possibility of peaceful evolution to detachment from the Union.
The Irish Times outlines some concerns about Cameron’s declaration of fundamental Unionism and the intention of the UU and Conservatives to fight every Ulster seat as one party.
We must presume that the Conservatives of 2008 have invested sufficient resources into their decision making to navigate the arguments that might arise from perceived contradictions between many interpretations of the Downing Street Declaration spirit and the declaration of ‘integrity within the Union’ in Cameron’s speech.
The Alliance Party (our NI bretheren) say the shrinking UUP dinosaur offers nothing for the Tories and point out the recent electoral deals the UUP have made with the highly sectarian TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice).
For example the phrase ‘Britain has no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland’ was part of the so-called Downing Street Declaration of 15 December 1993 endorsed by the last Tory Prime Minister, John Major. This implied recognition by the UK of dynamic semi-detachment was vital for the evolution towards the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. For those hostile to the Union it implied the possibility of peaceful evolution to detachment from the Union.
The Irish Times outlines some concerns about Cameron’s declaration of fundamental Unionism and the intention of the UU and Conservatives to fight every Ulster seat as one party.
We must presume that the Conservatives of 2008 have invested sufficient resources into their decision making to navigate the arguments that might arise from perceived contradictions between many interpretations of the Downing Street Declaration spirit and the declaration of ‘integrity within the Union’ in Cameron’s speech.
The Alliance Party (our NI bretheren) say the shrinking UUP dinosaur offers nothing for the Tories and point out the recent electoral deals the UUP have made with the highly sectarian TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice).
Labels: Alliance Party, Cameron, Northern Ireland
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