Peter Robinson fails test of leadership in Northern Ireland

Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 12:16 PM

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Dublin : No matter how the two governments try and spin it the fact that Irish and British prime ministers Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown left the talks in Northern Ireland without reaching a deal is a huge setback.

Not fatal but a setback.

In the end the Democratic Unionist Party revealed their sectarian thinking that nationalists were not entitled to an even share of power, that concessions from Sinn Fein did not have to be matched by concessions from their side.

Sinn Fein signed up to accept a new police force in Northern Ireland. The DUP agreed if they did so that policing and justice would be handled in the Northern Ireland Assembly rather than in London.

That was three years ago at the St. Andrews Agreement and it was expected to be implemented three months later.

It never was because the DUP decided they wanted to grab the concession by Sinn Fein and pocket it.

So all the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put this particular Humpty Dumpty together again it seems.

There are still efforts underway to set up a schedule for the transferring of powers but it looks very likely that Peter Robinson has decided to wait past the British general election because he believes he will have a stronger hand with the Tories.

Robinson has proven an abject failure as a leader to date. His inability to bring his party in behind the agreement that saw them attain government is a crushing blow but hardly surprising.

The questions abut his wife's behavior and his own in knowing about dubious loans to her young lover but not reporting them may bring him down anyway.

That may well be a step in the right direction . Lead, follow or get out of the way Peter .

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Realist | Jan 31, 2010, 10:38 AM EST

The DUP stance on Policing and Justice is entirely understandable. They simply require wider community confidence. By way of comparison, the same community confidence that led to Sinn Fein delivering IRA decommissioning on 25th September 2005 after commiting to it in the Good Friday Agreement in March 1998 - over 7 years later.

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seanomelbourne | Jan 28, 2010, 06:20 PM EST

Poor WATCHMAN what can one say about his crocodile tears. Sinn Fein and the DUP(ES) signed on to devolve policing and justice and yet again the DUP want to move the goalposts as Trimble and Paisley did before him.There's not much playing field left.Is the DUP trying to push republicans back to civil unrest to justify there perverted N.I. statelet

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Buffalobrave | Jan 28, 2010, 06:21 AM EST

citizen69; Peter Robinson and the DUP do not have the courage or backbone that is required for leadership. Besides, by sharing power on an equal and fair bases would negate the very reason they insisted on the state being created in the first place. The DUP never intended to share power with anyone outside their narrow circle. The don't have the maturity required to act in such an adult way.

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saveiris | Jan 28, 2010, 05:52 AM EST

OO rules again. It is a deal breaker and Warenpoint isn't Wotten Basset - this is NI for all to see including Brown. Let's wait for his proposals.

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Watchman | Jan 27, 2010, 06:09 PM EST

Yes, the hell with the Prods, I say. We should be tarred and feathered and dumped in the Irish Sea wearing shackles like the ones they used to restrain Wolfe Tone. We all should. Every last one of us. Oh, I know, it may seem a bit extreme now, but in the end you'd feel better for it, and that's what's important. You know it makes sense.

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Rebelforce | Jan 27, 2010, 05:13 PM EST

So this is what it all comes down to for northern unionists? The right to tramp sectarian parades through Catholic neighborhoods where they are decidedly unwelcome? This is the issue they're going to use to collapse the peace process? Obviously, the message unionists are sending to Nationalists is very clear: David Cameron is OUR man. We'll bide our time. We never seriously wanted peace or equality with you anyway.

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citizen69 | Jan 27, 2010, 04:48 PM EST

Mr O'Dowd yet again sees only the nationalist side of NI politics, obviously Unionists aren't Irish enough for him or IrishCentral, where it seems the only type of Irish welcome is of the Nationalist Catholic variety. Yes Peter Robinson has questions to answer on his private life... But let's not mention Gerry Adams' family life where questions also need answered, eh Niall?

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