Dunloy hosts successful Question Time Debate

Sinn Féin held a very successful Question-Time style event in Dunloy earlier this month as part of the party's Céad Bliain centenary celebrations, entitled Am Ceist.

The event was chaired by John Robb of the New Ireland Group and the panel included Davey Adams, formerly of the UDP; Susan McKay, journalist and author of the book Northern Protestants; Alex Kane of the Ulster Unionist Council; author Danny Morrison; and regular contributor to the Irish News, Brian Feeney.

There was a variety of subjects discussed, including media impartiality, the future of the Orange Order, the role Sinn Féin (and the UUP) have played in Irish politics since their formation 100 years ago, and the fears that exist in the unionist/loyalist community.

Alex Kane felt that Sinn Féin had failed in the past 100 years because, in his opinion, "the Union is safer now than in 1920 or 1970". Davey Adams also felt that republicans had "sadly failed in convincing Protestants of the merits of a 32-County Republic". Brian Feeney insisted that Sinn Féin had been the major political dynamic in Ireland: "It's wrong to talk about Sinn Féin in the past tense — it's only the first 100 years," he said.

One audience member asked if the media had been guilty of engaging in Sinn Féin 'bashing' in recent weeks. Whilst Davey Adams thought that "the honeymoon period with the media was over", Danny Morrison questioned whether there ever was one in the first place. He argued that the media has always represented the status quo and cited the example of a BBC TV presenter forced by their superiors to wear a poppy, regardless of their own misgivings.

He said that you have a situation "where the media strongly criticises the IRA for only evicting three Volunteers but have nothing to say when the two British soldiers that shot Peter McBride are allowed to continue to serve with that army. Sinn Féin is put through the moral treadmill more than any other party." He went on to say that the British Government had a cheek in placing sanctions upon democratically elected representatives and said that by their own standards, massive sanctions should be placed on Tony Blair for the slaughter that is ongoing in Iraq.

Responding to a question about how the fears of the unionist community could be addressed, Brian Feeney cited the example of the Flemish in Belgium, some of whom refused to use the local fire station because no-one there spoke Flemish (they spoke French). To resolve this, the Flemish had to ring a Dutch fire station, who in turn rang the Belgian station, by which time the house had burned down. "The point I'm trying to make is that you will never alleviate the fears of unionists," he said. "There will always be a sizable number of unionists who will behave like the Flemish. That's just the way it's going to be."

Davey Adams said that Sinn Féin must start to "lay out their stall across the divide, it's about convincing people that you're sincere". Alex Kane said that unionists "have to learn to trust republicans. 90% of unionists haven't got to the handshake stage yet."

One member of the audience, who described himself as an Irish Protestant, said that the IRA never treated the working-class Protestant as badly as the unionist politicians: "They used the ordinary Protestant man in the street as a political football." Davey Adams supported this and said that a member of his family considered the old unionist politicians as "Tories with a sash on".

An interesting discussion on the issue of parades then ensued. Susan McKay said that the fire had gone out of the parades issue, "especially since the Orange Order allowed figures like Johnny Adair to be strongly associated with the Drumcree protest". Brian Feeney used the example of an illegal march in Whitewell the week before and said that quite often these bands are "fronts for UDA or UVF units that use parades as practice for drilling".

Alex Kane admitted that an element had come into the Order whose purpose was to cause trouble, saying "it was wickedly manipulated by politicians, especially at Drumcree". For him, the Orange Order should be about "religion, not 'Kick the Pope' songs", and he said that there many decent people within the Order who felt the same way.

Nearing the end of the event, Susan McKay said that the debate had been very healthy and that "unionists should emulate this within their community". Alex Kane echoed this remark and said that the very fact that he was in Dunloy and Jeffrey Donaldson had attended a similar event in West Belfast, had shown that a "small step had been taken" in the right direction.

John Robb thanked everyone who took the time out to come to the event and brought the night to a close.

Speaking afterwards, North Antrim Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan said:

"I think this was a very useful night. The panel provided some insightful, informative and thought-provoking answers. Although this was part of Sinn Féin's 100th anniversary celebration, that doesn't mean that we aren't broad shouldered enough to take the criticism as well as the praise.

"I don't think people should be frightened to listen to the views of others. The most striking thing to hit me during the debate is the need for discussion to take place within the unionist community. They should have confidence in themselves and their arguments to allow that to happen."