Back Burner Again?

In the  present burning  crisis in N Ireland politics we may forget that in  N Ireland  inefficiency was purposely  built into the political, economic, cultural and other systems. So if in N.Ireland inefficiency occurs this is not because of a failure of  systems,  it is a sign that the systems are working admirably according to plan. Hence the present situation where every day is an Ash Wednesday and   great profits are made. 

When N Ireland was created as a separate political unit some unionists , possibly a small number, really wanted to give people a fair deal. Anyway let us  take for granted they did.  However, when plans were being made to govern this political unit the planners had one and a half million people from  whom to find the intellectual ability  to do it. It was a small number, but had potential enough  to give it a try, provided the planners recognised and maximised  the potential of the one and a half million. But they dealt with this reservoir of decision making talent by a kind of salami process.

First they eliminated nearly one third of the population , Catholics, from the significant decision making process.  This left two thirds of the intellectual pool. From the remaining two thirds they then eliminated the women from significant decision making. From the one third of the intellectual potential left they  chose those who belonged to the  masons and similar  orders and that reduced the intellectual pool further. From this , what one might unkindly refer to as the rump of the intellectual pool,  those who served in armed forces were  given preference over the rest, while  of course there could be reduction here also  if any of these had  to be eliminated on, as it were, the first count.

It was by this salami process slice by slice that the future rulers, including those who wanted to do the job properly and honourably  thought they might find  the intellectual vigour to run N Ireland efficiently .

Nowadays it is difficult to continue this salami system and so there is  a yet  untested pool of intellectual ability ready to emerge and indeed is emerging but not rapidly enough to meet the needs of the people. It is difficult because the  political unit was carefully  carved out so as to be governable  only by  by a single unchangeable  party, and emergency  patches have to be changed every few years or months.

Since  the sixties London has devised one pattern of government after another and all have failed because  the system was devised to be governed only by one unchangeable party .  You cannot do it any more than you can  make a wood pellet stove work by putting  paper and stones in it - it will flare for a while but  cost you lots of money after even a million attempts. During all the talks about political change no solution was allowed on the table except the one demanded by London , that is, rule from London with London-permitted devolution. No section of people in all Ireland had asked for that  solution. Unitary united Ireland, federal Ireland of two sections, united federal  Ireland with four sections, integration with Britain, Independent Ulster, return of Ye Olde Stormont, a resounding No was given to all of these , a resounding No for which Thatcher was blamed but  most probably quietly agreed to by Dublin just before Thatcher's  Fosterish OUTOUTOUT.

Let us  hope that this time neither Dublin nor London will be allowed to  put rational discussion  of all Ireland united -  within or without the EU-  to be put  again on, as it were,  another  back burner.