Well, I couldn’t let this week pass without some comment on the restoration of the Assembley.
Is this the beginning of a bright new future for Northern Ireland? That was the burning question yesterday. It’s really too early to tell, but surely the signs are hopeful?
I’m not sure what to make of Ian Paisley in the role of First Minister. Let’s face it, the man made his career out of opposing whoever held this (or equivalent) role in the past. In bringing down just about every ‘moderate’ attempt at peaceful governance, Paisley was the anarchist, the mixer, the organ grinder. He effortlessly roused the passions of paranoid Protestants in bigotted tirades against Catholics/Nationalist or anybody who looked at him squinty.
And now he’s the head honcho?
Over the last few years, The Reverend Paisley has had plenty to say about the IRA and Sinn Fein gaining the trust of the people. Today, Ian Paisley still has a long way to go before he has my trust. Too many stunts, posturing and double-speak from Paisley have left me rightly suspicious of his intentions for this Assembley.
My hope for the future is that Paisley decommissions his bigotted rhetoric the same way the IRA put their weapons away. Is it too vain to hope that he has seen the damage he has done to Northern Ireland and that in this late stage of his career (and life) he wants to finally be a force for change?
I hope so. Peace be with you, people…
I detect a change of heart in The Reverend Paisly. He thanked everybody that voted for him, and he thanked everybody else too. So he has a new image. Who’d have thought that The First Minister would be a George Melly double?
Its early days the new democratic honeymoon period for Northern Ireland is well under way but even a sceptic like myself has to admit the signs are looking good.