"A true Irish party should represent all Irish citizens."
These were the words of Fergal Crinion during the Fine Gael Ard Fheis taking place this weekend. In between motions on regulating e-cigerettes, joining NATO, directly electing a mayor for Dublin and support for same sex marriage is a motion to set up a working group to explore the idea of electing Fine Gael members north of the border with a view to contesting Assembly, European and Local elections.
Well then. This is a surprise. Although Fine Gael call themselves "The United Ireland Party" they are perceived by Nationalists as strongly partitionist. So are Fianna Fail "The Republican Party" but at least Fine Gael do not claim to be the champions of Irish Nationalism in the 26 counties.
It has long been my belief that the main political parties of the South should organise and contest elections in the North. I can also see the Labour Party merging with the SDLP at some point in the future but that's for another day. In the meantime I will be watching this development very closely.
If FF, FG et al decided to contest elections in the North, it would be the equivalent of providing political Nationalism with manna from Heaven.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it would have the effect of bringing more nationalist voters to the polls; at least at the first outing thereby increasing the Nat share of the vote.
Secondly, it is highly unlikely that any of them would win a seat but their transfers would be priceless, especially in areas such as FST, WT, MU and NB where the nationalist vote is only a hairs breath away from depriving Unionism of seats.
Thirdly, according to the census figures; 11 out of the 18 AA constituencies already have a clear Nationalist Majority or are on the cusp of having one due to the demographic shift in the younger age categories. FG and FF contesting seats here would clearly speed up the geopolitical shift in these areas.
Finally, FF and FG coming into the frame would most likely (given the reasons above) speed up the process toward Nationalist domination of The Asembly, Westminster, Europe and local council.
I am firmly of the view that while people focus far too much on the so-called ‘national question’ they are missing what will surely be a dramatic event in Northern Politics – Unionist s losing seats and power to Nationalists – and the destabilising consequences thereafter.
The benefits to Irish Nationalism upon the arrival of FF/FG to the NI political scene are enormous. I only hope they hurry up and get organised !!
I agree it would encourage a greater Nationalist turnout. I think the main reason for this would be a proper choice in terms of left (SF/SDLP/Labour), centre (FF) and centre right (FG).
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