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New (old) arrival… May 14, 2021

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
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As noted in comments…

Edwin Poots has been named as the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.

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1. Zorin001 - May 14, 2021

Likely bad news for Peter Robinson’s remaining acolytes like Emma Little-Pengelly. Bradley in as Deputy suggests either a deal between the opposite wings of the party or that the party itself is hopelessly divided down the middle, either way it’s an arrangement I can’t see lasting in the mid to long term.

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WorldbyStorm - May 14, 2021

Yeah, it seems deeply unstable. I’d never have thought it, and I presume they’ll do all they can to avert it, but the potential for a split seems if not likely, not at all impossible.

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Zorin001 - May 14, 2021

The Robinson apparatus has been very useful in bringing through members outside the old Free P base, a lot of whom would probably be me at home in the UUP, though the DUP becoming the centre of gravity within political Unionism made that inevitable.

If Poots rips that out it could be very troublesome for the DUP, there won’t be a massive pool of talent, nor a varied one, within a narrow North Antrim base.

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Zorin001 - May 15, 2021

It was never a wholly united party, there was always a great deal of friction behind the scenes going all the way back to Paisley and Robinson and their differing visions for the party.

The difference between then and know is back then the party would not have let divisions be seen in public and being fairly competent in keeping any spats or disagreements “in house”. It speaks to the collapse of party discipline during the Foster years that this was allowed to spill out into the public so openly.

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WorldbyStorm - May 15, 2021

Yeah that makes sense – I was praising the virtues of Feargal Cochranes book on the UUP on An Sionnach Fionns site but I wonder is there a similar work not on Paisley but on the DUP as a party?

https://books.google.ie/books/about/Unionist_Politics_and_the_Politics_of_Un.html?id=KnAyhBCnpLQC&redir_esc=y

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CL - May 15, 2021

The Democratic Unionist Party: From Protest to Power
Jonathan Tonge, Maire Braniff, Thomas Hennessey, James W. McAuley, and Sophie Whiting
https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198705772.001.0001/acprof-9780198705772

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WorldbyStorm - May 15, 2021

Thanks CL that looks good

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CL - May 15, 2021

” So, congratulations Edwin Poots. All that needs doing is to defend the Union, sort the Protocol, stop votes heading to the TUV, Alliance or UUP, hold the First Ministership in the DUP’s gift, keep Stormont alive, heal party wounds and re-connect with working-class loyalists. Should be a breeze. No party leader has a bigger in-tray.

Still, Poots is off to a good start: 19 DUP MLAs and MPs voted for him. But 30 will claim to have done.

The DUP’s desire to hold on to its past outweighed electoral calculations. Although sometimes politically pragmatic, Poots represents a traditionalist Free Presbyterian wing.” Jonathan Tonge. BT.

” According to the research, just under a third of DUP members (30.5%) are Free Presbyterians and slightly more (34.6%) are members of the Orange institution.

To put these figures in context, the 2011 census recorded that there were 10,068 Free Presbyterians in Northern Ireland – just 0.6% of our total population.”
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/inside-the-dup-domination-by-free-presbyterian-church-and-orange-order-laid-bare-30330698.html

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Bagatelle's Unminded Thoughts - May 15, 2021

Ye know about the libgen.rs site, right?

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2. gypsybhoy69 - May 16, 2021

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/sam-mcbride-rather-than-a-dup-lurch-to-the-right-this-is-about-toppling-the-old-order-3238033

Interested in other peoples take on this? I wouldn’t be too au fait with DUP factionalism

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yourcousin - May 16, 2021

If anyone knew, it would be McBride. Also what he’s saying makes sense. Poots is the revenge of the Free P, but he seems canny enough to know that the Campbells and Wilsons of this world are not enough one their own.

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3. CL - May 16, 2021

” The incoming DUP leader has said getting rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol will be his top priority in the coming months.
Edwin Poots said he is planning a showdown with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Michael Martin within his first 90 days in office to try and resolve the post-Brexit trade arrangements.
Stormont’s current agriculture minister also told the Sunday Life newspaper he will not attend north-south ministerial meetings until the protocol issue is resolved….
We need the EU to recognise this protocol is not fit for purpose. It isn’t working and it cannot work and therefore we have to go back to the drawing board….
While he said he is determined to get the issue of the protocol resolved, in the short-term he is aware that unionists may have to wait until the end of 2024 until the Northern Ireland Assembly can vote on whether to continue with the arrangements….

He claimed the Irish Government has “hugely damaged” north-south relations in its conduct over the protocol.
“They claim to be protectors of the Belfast Agreement yet they have allowed a coach and horses to be driven through it,” he added.”
https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/national-news/19306415.removing-northern-ireland-protocol-will-top-priority-says-edwin-poots/

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EWI - May 16, 2021

He claimed the Irish Government has “hugely damaged” north-south relations in its conduct over the protocol.
“They claim to be protectors of the Belfast Agreement yet they have allowed a coach and horses to be driven through it,” he added.”

Poots is of course well aware of the DUP’s strategy of pushing Brexit in hopes of undoing the GFA. These are not good-faith actors, and the reporting should reflect this every time rather than ‘he said, she said’.

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4. Bagatelle's Unkempt Thurible - May 16, 2021

Stalford is on Sunday Politics talking about how the DUP is going to employ Salami Slice tactics for dealing with the NI Protocol. It’s clear from his demeanour that he’s decidedly impressed with his own brilliance. Even though it’s equally clear he doesn’t understand the episode of Yes PM he’s ripping off.

Apparently he believes he’s still great chums with Arlene, despite, you know, not having talked to her since leading the charge for new leadership.

If Batman ever needs a credulous Boy Wonder, there’s few more credulous than Chris.

The DUP are looking like they are dead serious about driving NI into the ditch if they don’t get their way. What happens if in the next year Poots/Beattie/Allister alienate the under40/Liberal/Pro-EU Unionists and there’s a sudden large majority for a UI in the 6 counties?

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WorldbyStorm - May 16, 2021

They really don’t seem to have a strategy. It’s staggering how little they seem to care about that more moderate centre ground.

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Bagatelle's Unifiable Tapenade - May 18, 2021

I am quite perplexed.

And utterly fascinated.

I’ve seen enough of the various flavours of settler-colonialism in the US, UK, Ireland to comprehend its nature and its doom. The kinds of people that can create and maintain an empire are broken people. Able to blind themselves to unpleasant truths, so they do. Until the inevitable defeat of their untenable position Whereupon they choose annihilation over adaptation. The final and complete rejection of life itself.

There’s nothing to be done with them. The ending of The Voyage From Yesteryear by James P. Hogan is the extreme solution, but eventually one has to move on and leave them behind because they oppose any and all progress.

With Beattie, Poots and Allister I’d be putting money on SF #1, APNI #2 next May. Then where are we? That Johnson fecker is as likely to dump a UI into our laps whether we’re ready or not.

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5. CL - May 16, 2021

” Brexit minister Lord Frost has threatened that the UK could soon take drastic action over the post-Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland over concerns about violence and disruption….
” Protests have been occurring and political stability is at risk. Our overriding aim has always been to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. If the protocol is not protecting it, it is not working,” he said

Lord Frost issued the threat after meeting loyalist paramilitaries during a visit to Northern Ireland last week.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/northern-ireland-irish-sea-brexit-government-european-union-b935447.html

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