In polite society one is usually
Michael Watts MRCVS
advised to avoid conversations that touch on sport, religion and politics. Me, I never claimed to be polite and am going for the hat trick here. Before I go any further I should make a couple of things clear. This is a free country, or at least about as free as they come, and you are entitled to vote for any party, you like, to spoil your vote or to go to the pub on polling day. That is your inalienable right, and I will go down fighting to defend it. I am not going to tell you what I way I did or did not vote the last time I had the chance, because that is my business and none of yours. In the same vein, in my book you are welcome to attend whatever church, mosque, synagogue or temple to which you feel drawn, or none, whatever tickles your fancy. That is another of your inalienable rights, and I will happily go down fighting to defend that one too. Me, I am a weddings and funerals type of guy, and even then as few of those as I can get away with without causing offence. Not, you understand, that that is any of your business.
Apart from those fortunate enough to hail from Northern Ireland, few outside of the ranks of the politicos, the chattering classes and the metropolitan elite have come across the Democratic Unionist Party [D.U.P.] much in their daily grind. They are one of a number of political parties whose bailiwick does not normally extend beyond the borders of six counties in north-east Ireland. Those with a background in the greyhound industry who have followed their slow but inexorable rise to power and influence in God’s Own Country may recall the implacable opposition of many within their ranks to the Winter Game. They had the right to protest about something on which they had strongly held views. Others had the right to follow a traditional sporting pursuit. Coursing is one of those Marmite issues – you either love it or loathe it. Anyway that is now all in the past, coursing in Northern Ireland having been outlawed by the Wildlife & Natural Environment (Northern Ireland) Act 2011. So be it. On a more recent occasion, representatives of a national sporting organisation travelled to the North West to make representations to one of the leading lights of the D.U.P on behalf of a greyhound stadium in Derry. Hardly had they arrived in the Maiden City when the gentleman in question announced that he had a moral objection to gambling and pretty much suggested that his visitors might like to close the door behind them on their way out. To be fair, his approach to the issue will hardly have come as much of a surprise to those who voted for him and few among them would probably have objected to it. I like politicians who do exactly what it says on the tin. When you vote for them you know what you are going to get. If you don’t like the look of what it says on the tin, you can always cast your vote elsewhere. That is democracy. The views of the D.U.P on coursing and gambling may be well known. Less clear however is the role of some senior D.U.P figures in a green energy project called the Renewable Heat Initiative which, rumour has it, is likely to lighten the taxpayers’ pockets by a sum not unadjacent to £480 million before its fires finally burn out. Even more opaque is the alleged involvement of the Party in the use of a loophole in the Northern Ireland legislation on political contributions to spend over £400K on advertising in an English newspaper on behalf of a controversial Scottish group that was trying to influence the outcome of last year’s Referendum.. There was no mention of any of that in what it says on the tin.
It is a matter history that in the last few weeks the vagaries of the electoral system have catapulted the D.U.P. to a position of prominence and political influence probably way beyond their wildest dreams. So be it. The people have spoken, and all that. The party’s meteoric rise to power has triggered a spate of articles in the heavyweight newspapers reminding readers in the most lurid terms of the fondness of some D.U.P. M.Ps for evangelical Protestantism and religious fundamentalism and the apparent belief of others that Mr. Darwin got it all wrong and that creationism should be taught in schools. .The alleged appetite of some within the Party for a return to capital punishment is one not unique to the D.U.P. It may suit the purposes of some in the mainstream media to blacken the D.U.P by portraying it as homophobic, opposed to same sex marriage, opposed to women’s right to choose on abortion and generally antediluvian, stuffy and unenlightened. Living in the back arse of nowhere I do not exactly qualify as part of the metropolitan elite so I what do I know? I suspect however that the folks back home who voted for them in such numbers knew exactly where the Party’s candidates stood on most issues and were comfortable with those positions. Like I said, it is a free country. You are free to vote for Lord Buckethead, a Monster Raving Loony or somebody who believes the earth is flat, if you so wish.
The problem, as I see it, is that this time around nobody was talking about a coalition, or a confidence and supply agreement or some sort of arrangement to bolster a minority government before the votes were counted. We now have a Government that has entered into a temporary marriage of convenience or cohabitation with another party. Those who voted for the Government did not see this coming. Nobody did. They now find the party of their choice in cahoots with another party with the policies of which they may be a lot less comfortable. In short, they may have voted Tory but they wound up with a lob lot that includes the “antis” as part of the deal.
On the day that Orangemen walk the length and breadth of Ulster in defence of their rightful civil and religious liberty, let us not overlook the civil liberties of those who wish to enjoy greyhound sport and even, Heaven forfend, a wee flutter once in a while, possibly even with glass in hand. Participation is not obligatory, tolerance is. Sermon over!
Twitter @GSUnderTheRadar
