It's just a shame things are unsettled in the north at the moment. I'm from the south but have served 17 years in the UK armed forces now. So I can see both sides. I've never completely understood the dynamics in the north but I do know one thing, devil makes work for idle hands. Give vast majority of people a job some money in their pockets and some hope for a better life for the kids and they'll drop the sectarianism in a heart beat. It was working very well after the good Friday agreement with industry picking up in the north. It's sad to think that the whole uncertainty with Brexit and the instability of the power sharing government and now the DUP cosied up with May and Co might undo a lot of the good work there.
Brexit is a factor but not a contributing one...the recent hardening happened because republicans were threatening us with 'special status' and border polls after surging ahead in the election before last, while unionism was divided and fighting amongst ourselves. Those threats were real enough to scare unionists into doing the unthinkable and it unified us for the first time in half a century.
That made hardliners where previously there were moderates...those threats were the cause of the DUP gaining so much influence. In our eyes, this is entirely the fault of republicans who just couldnt help but gloat when they thought they had the upper hand. With unionism so strong right now, they lost any hope of a border poll anytime within 20 years, possibly longer if the DUP can temper their religious fervour.
So even while I cant stand the DUP, Ill continue to support them because they the only thing between us and them. How england deals with it isnt really my problem...Im protecting my home at any cost and that cost is supporting hardliners. The moderates would have handed us to the south on a silver platter...thats why they lost every single seat they had and turned politics here into a two horse race. The moderates, once quite strong and gaining ground every year were all but utterly decimated in the last election. Every single seat bar one is now shared between sinn fein and DUP witha single independant holding a single seat...also a unionist I might add and quite hardline in her own right already I might add which effectively make 11 unionist seats and 7 republican...hardly a majority by any stretch of the imagination.
Just offering a different perspective. I know outsiders wont like the DUP but without them we are in serious trouble. Give us an alternative by all means...Im literally begging fer an alternative because the reality is already one of sheer desperation. If its a united ireland then we are lost and this will continue into another generation and thats the real tragedy here.
Outsiders and brexit and trump and isis...none of that were contributing factors. It may have influenced how other parties created their mandates, but the bottom line is that our hatred...or fear just to keep everyone happy, of a united ireland outweighs everything else. Personally, I couldnt care less about the EU or whether or not we join it or exit it...so long as I retain my right to stay british and live in the UK on british soil. And that means staying right where I am and defending against anything that threatens that by any and all means. The end justifies the means...theres a lotta truth in those words...unfortunately the means are not pretty but...thats how the cards fell when we threw the deck into the air.
The UK made patriots here, and highly decorated soldiers, and soldiers who did things nobody can know about, and some of their worst enemies who will never forgive them. All those things the british created here on this small and bloody patch of real estate. People like us are what ye might think of as a hangover from that less than ideal time in our history. We are merely a by product who will give up our lives to protect the Crown...even if they flat out reject it.
Ye see the problem now? When ye add in the little things, the bigger picture makes more sense. So even while I admit the other side got it worse than my side...well...its my side and wars are never fair or balanced. Ours is just dirtier than most and has lasted fer over 500 years ^
