Over on his blog, Seymour Major brings up an interesting idea: that Fine Gael could be included in the UCUNF. I am intrigued, but think it a stretch too far.
The main problem is that the UCUNF is an explicitly Unionist project. However much some Conservatives may protest, their party has thrown in its lot with one side of the sectarian divide, and is now just another Unionist party. As I have argued before, Northern Ireland needs a party or parties which can transcend the Unionist-Nationalist divide. The UUP is nowhere near the stage where it could be described as a “post-Unionist” party, nor has it shown any inclination of moving in that direction. Indeed, in recent years they have obviously struggled with the temptation to outflank the DUP on the extreme. Fine Gael would suffer at the hands of its core supporters if it was seen to be taking sides with unreconstructed Unionists.
On the other hand, Fine Gael could easily be sold as a “post-Nationalist” party in the North if it were minded to make a few concessions to Unionist sensitivities. Its revolutionary past is ancient history in political terms, and as Seymour correctly points out it is a progressive-conservative party whose policies would be quite palatable to the moderate Unionist willing to think outside the box. Its potential appeal to moderate Nationalists shouldn’t need stating: it would be the first political party to be in government on both sides of the Border, despite Sinn Féin’s best efforts.
But to sell themselves as non-aligned in the -ism debate, they would have to enter NI politics alone, not through an alliance with an existing (i.e. compromised) political party. So would FG do it?
FG operating here alone would be a novel addition to our political scene and, I reckon, potentially quite a successful one. While some SDLP voters in urban areas of Belfast and Derry may well consider themselves socialists/social democrats and cherish their links with the family of global left wing parties (though a question mark surely hangs over even that!) I doubt that many party supporters west of the Bann or in rural areas of Armagh and south Down view themselves as being all that red. So, Fine Gael operating here alone would most likely see them fill the current vacuum left for a conservative nationalist party rather than make any major inroads into the Protestant vote.
Two additional points. First of all, there is no stomach in FG for organising up here. A moderate proposal for dipping a toe in the water and organising Young Fine Gael in the north was rejected by members of the party’s junior wing a few years back. Let’s face it, youth wings tend to be more radical and more enthusiastic for big ideas; if YFG couldn’t give a hoot about Northern Ireland then its unlikely there will be any hunger amongst the rest of the party grassroots – and especially during a recession.
Secondly, even if they did make the bold step and compete north of the border, Fine Gael would find it hard to be taken seriously as post-nationalist. I don’t say this because I think they are sectarian, but sadly because the harsh reality of our politics would mean that for some unionists their very name would be too much of a hurdle to overcome. However, if any party from the nationalist tradition was to have a cross-community appeal then I suppose FG have just about the best opportunity. In the years since partition they have consistently opposed militant republicanism – at times using measures no unionist administration at Stormont would ever have dreamed of – and have always had a decent record of getting Protestant members (Billy Fox, Ivan Yates, Seymour Crawford, etc) elected to Dail Eireann and local councils.
I have thought for quite some time now that a scenario in which the main parties from GB and ROI operate here alongside our own little NI-only groupings would give things the shake up that they need. Seymour’s suggestion is at the very least an interesting one. His recent postings, as well as Chekov’s at TTVOL, seem to suggest that quite a bit of thinking is still going on within the UCUNF camp about where this project is going and whereabouts it could potentially end up. I’m still optimistic that we are heading in the right direction, albeit slowly.
Comment by Johnny Guitar — June 16, 2009 @ 11:20 am |
Johnny,
How recently is “a few years back”? A lot has happened in recent years, both within FG and NI…
Comment by andrewgdotcom — June 16, 2009 @ 11:58 am |