Stakeholder

The passing of Cathal Daly, Cardinal Prince of Rome, is a timely reminder of what is good about the Catholic Church. The late Cardinal was a humble but steely worker as a priest, pastor, and protector of the Faith and the Faithful. He, more than many of our politicians was first to acknowledge that over 1,000,000 unionists could not be coerced into an United Ireland and he also was a amongst the first to recognise the importance of Christian Churches uniting against the use of violence or the use of religious extremism to foster hatred and sectarianism. Along with Monsignori Murray and Faul, Cardinal Daly stood as a voice of reason against discrimination in all its forms

It is doubtful if the late Cardinal would have been too worried about the ill mannered snub from the First Minister; it probably would have brought a wry smile to his face- as indeed would the sight of the large number of duplicitous Catholic politicians clamouring the Cathedral’s pews to express condolences on his passing; a mere few weeks after some of those same individuals were practically calling for the dis-mantling of the Irish Catholic Church and the lynching of all its Bishops.  One supposes it’s in the gift of a Christian like Cardinal Daly to forgive both the sinner and the sin!

Cardinal Daly was an optimist and his successor Cardinal Brady made reference to the late Cardinal’s hopes for the future from a recent address to student clerics in Maynooth. In his autobiography ‘Steps on my Pilgrim Journey’; he wrote, ‘’the future which I see for the Church in Ireland is one which fills me with hope and expectation. I regret that I shall not share in its excitement’. Recent revelations about child sex abuse and its cover up within the Church would have greatly disturbed the late Cardinal’s humanity and spirituality.

Nevertheless even his optimism would have been dented somewhat by the cul de sac to which we have been brought by poor political leadership.  It is said when Ted Heath was approached for a comment on the death of Enoch Powell, he abruptly replied ‘De mortis nil nisi bonum’- (don’t speak ill of the dead).

The same could now be said of our moribund political government. Despite protestations to the contrary and the feeble attempts by the NIO to blow smoke up the ass of the public; the political relationship between the DUP and Sinn Fein is dead.

For ten years, Sinn Fein played David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists like a fiddle over a final date for decommissioning and now the DUP is doing to same to Sinn Fein over a fixed date for the transfer of Policing and Justice. The political sauce for the Unionist goose has come back to haunt the Republican gander.

Nonetheless, there has to be a strong electoral imperative for Sinn Fein to pull the plug on Assembly; however temporarily. They have won few political gains to notch on the bed post of Adam’s Connolly House boudoir. North/South bodies are barely visible; let alone increased; the Irish Language Act seems about as imminent as Gordon Brown winning the X factor and even if Policing and Justice powers were to be transferred the parameters set in their agreement with the DUP means that a Catholic/ never mind a Nationalist can hold the post! And let’s not even go near the meltdown of the education system.

The only face saving ministries are Conor Murphy at Regional Development and Michelle Gildernew at Agriculture. In fairness, the blame for the political short-comings of Sinn Fein cannot be left at the door of the Deputy First Minister. Even if its only perception, the public believe he at least is trying. Combine the inability to deliver to their manifesto with a somewhat rudderless SDLP because of the long-good bye of its leader and the overtly sectarian but politically legitimate opportunity to become the largest political party in the North; Sinn Fein may decide to strengthen their mandate at the polls.

Those who argue that Sinn Fein has nothing to gain from such a strategy because the Unionists would not serve under a nationalist First Minister are misguided and clearly don’t understand the motivation behind nationalism.  Nationalism grew when unionists would not share power; it will thrive when given momentum.

Perhaps Sinn Fein read the invocation from Philippians at the start of Cardinal Daly’s autobiography –‘let us go forward on the road which has brought us to where we are’.