Jenny McCarthy on how criticism of the DUP has gone over the top
I do not pretend to be an expert on the complex and difficult politics of Northern Ireland.
I do know that many people on both sides of the sectarian divide in the province have said, done and supported things which I consider shocking.
I also know that, thanks to heroes in both communities, there has been massive progress in building a society in which people who would once have refused to speak to each other can work together and have done so.
There is an incredibly long way to go but the peace process has made enormous strides. Part of this is that people who were once terrorists - on both sides - have laid down their arms and worked for peace in the province.
And if we are trying to build normal politics in Northern Ireland, that means that MPs from the province who have been elected to Westminster's parliament should not be treated as pariahs or second class MPs unless their behaviour clearly justifies such treatment.
There is an article by Jenny McCarthy on CAPX about how some people have been writing about the DUP,
"Criticism of the DUP has plunged into outright hypocrisy,"
which makes important points about this. She writes that
"Journalists who should and do know better wrote about the DUP exactly as if it were the roaringly sectarian Paisleyite party of the early 70s, rather than one that has been sharing power with Sinn Fein at Stormont for the last ten years."
"What kind of deal can be thrashed out between the Conservatives and the DUP, and when? I do not know, but these talks have already exposed a chasm in both empathy and understanding between England and Northern Ireland. What is depressing" ... "is how few opinion-formers in England have even the honest inclination to try and bridge it."
I do know that many people on both sides of the sectarian divide in the province have said, done and supported things which I consider shocking.
I also know that, thanks to heroes in both communities, there has been massive progress in building a society in which people who would once have refused to speak to each other can work together and have done so.
There is an incredibly long way to go but the peace process has made enormous strides. Part of this is that people who were once terrorists - on both sides - have laid down their arms and worked for peace in the province.
And if we are trying to build normal politics in Northern Ireland, that means that MPs from the province who have been elected to Westminster's parliament should not be treated as pariahs or second class MPs unless their behaviour clearly justifies such treatment.
There is an article by Jenny McCarthy on CAPX about how some people have been writing about the DUP,
"Criticism of the DUP has plunged into outright hypocrisy,"
which makes important points about this. She writes that
"Journalists who should and do know better wrote about the DUP exactly as if it were the roaringly sectarian Paisleyite party of the early 70s, rather than one that has been sharing power with Sinn Fein at Stormont for the last ten years."
"What kind of deal can be thrashed out between the Conservatives and the DUP, and when? I do not know, but these talks have already exposed a chasm in both empathy and understanding between England and Northern Ireland. What is depressing" ... "is how few opinion-formers in England have even the honest inclination to try and bridge it."
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