To ask Irish & Northern Irish MNers what your views on the DUP/Tory deal are?

[stumblymonkeyagain]

There are a couple of threads knocking around on this topic where people are commenting on the impact on the Good Friday Agreement and peace in Ireland/Northern Ireland.

As an English person I won't pretend to understand the complexities and how it feels to you but wondered if you could share so I have a better understanding of the potential impact from your viewpoint?

Do you think it will impact the GFA?

How are people in Ireland (the island of...) talking about it?

Gee, I wonder why a region of the UK which has suffered a violent conflict for 30 years, coinciding with the collapse of traditional industry, and has struggled to attract outside investment and develop a functioning private sector might need more per capita spend than other regions. So unfair.

I just find it all a bit depressing. That the Torres have basically bribed the DUP so they can stay in power; that the DUP have seemingly escaped any accountability over RHI etc; that we were told there was no "magic money tree" when it was for the NHS, education etc, but it suddenly appears when Teresa May needs to keep herself in power.

Do you think maybe the legacy of the troubles during which the British Army came onto our streets and shot innocents from both sides could possibly have an impact too Silent

Or is it all our fault and we should suck it up and be grateful for any crumbs tossed our way?

Silently

I have never voted DUP. I have also never got angry about money. If you read my first post on this thread properly you will see how I feel about the money.

So please quit throwing us all in the same pot. The DUP do not govern in my name. They do not represent me or my views.

I am angry that there is a lack of acknowledgement of the role of the UK government in the civil war in NI. I am angry that "the people of NI" who have no power and no control are being blamed for the actions of politicians.

And I am angry at the insistence on this thread that we are somehow asking to be saved, or feel somehow entitled when no one has said anything of the kind.

Gee, I wonder why a region of the UK which has suffered a violent conflict for 30 years, coinciding with the collapse of traditional industry, and has struggled to attract outside investment and develop a functioning private sector might need more per capita spend than other regions. So unfair.

I stuggle to see why when you've had massive inward investment, peace for 20 years and the better education system that the rest of the U.K. can afford, nothing has been pulled out of the hat during that time.

The Republic, with less investment, has preformed economic miracles during the same period. Why do you think that might be?

Gee, I wonder why a region of the UK which has suffered a violent conflict for 30 years, coinciding with the collapse of traditional industry, and has struggled to attract outside investment and develop a functioning private sector might need more per capita spend than other regions. So unfair

Nobody said they didn't. However its a bit much to get more than anywhere else and THEN whine about how poor you are. Austerity is over in NI now though, with 1.5 billion to waste spend

I am angry that "the people of NI" who have no power and no control are being blamed for the actions of politicians
'
You vote them in. How is that no control?

Maverick you're not wrong. TM only thinks she's a bloody difficult woman. Arlene's as hard as nails!

Tourism perhaps Silently?

Haha haveacupoftea. A mate of mine moved to Fermanagh a while ago and he told me when the RHI scandal broke that there's a saying locally- no-one fucks with Arlene.

Slugger O'Toole has taken a measured response to the deal and don't give much credence to the suggestions that peace might be jeopardised- I think that's a view shared by most people who live here. They also have a really good assessment of this 1.5billion and what it means in real terms.

We had no say in Arlene remaining after the RHI scandal broke.

And like I already said twice now, many people feel they have no alternative.

The recent return to tribalism is in a large part down to brexit. Which the people of NI voted against. Go figure.

Rockshandy, that's what democracy is about, you get the government the majority vote for. It's not a perfect system but there isn't a better one. The majority keep voting along sectarian lines and they get sectarian representation. You can't blame Westminster for that.

The division of the Island of Ireland happened nearly 100 years ago and the majority of NI residents are still happy with their sovereignty. Those who aren't were offered Irish citizenship over 20 years ago. Some movement is needed now.

36% of people in NI voted DUP. They may be the biggest party, but the majority of people did not vote for them. I didn't.

Tourism perhaps Silently?

It's not just tourism but if it were, NI is just as pretty. Why do you think it wasn't able to pull in the tourists?

Arguably it's the outmoded and unfair FPTP system that Westminster imposes that reinforces a (re)turn to tribal/sectarian voting. PR-STV creates a much more nuanced picture, as we see in the Stormont elections.

Well horse seeing as you live in NI, clearly you're just as responsible as the rest of us on this thread who don't vote DUP so you could always shout at a mirror instead of at us...

Westminster didn't impose a FPTP system on NI, it's been the way Westminster has worked since before the Island of Ireland was partitioned.

The Republic, with less investment, has preformed economic miracles during the same period. Why do you think that might be?

Well the Republic had significant investment from the EU, so your comparison isn't quite right. But:

No divided society. No need for govt to fight the battles of the troubles/civil war over again and/or attempt at reconciliation. Freedom to set corporation tax at a beneficial level to attract foreign investment. 80 years experience of self-government. Social partnership.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head!

I totally agree with everything Silently and AndTake have said. And I too am NI born and bred.

I think its enlightening that the rest of the UK are waking up to the parties the people of NI vote for and calling these parties out for the terrorist sympathizing, utter bigots that they are. I include SF in that btw, rather than just the DUP, but obviously the focus is on the DUP.

The UK are rightly fully horrified that NI vote for these creatures. And don't accept the special pleading and the 'but we have no choice' and 'you don't understand' arguments. I hope its prompted some self reflection (though that's probably optimistic).

More generally, it's obviously wrong to buy votes. It's also wrong to prioritize NI above the rest of the country in terms of spending, though I'm selfishly pleased about the difference that might make to family members. The DUP are clearly good at standing their ground and getting concessions, maybe we should send them in to do David Davies job.

Westminster didn't impose a FPTP system on NI, it's been the way Westminster has worked since before the Island of Ireland was partitioned

I'm not sure why you think this supports your argument.

NI hasn't done badly out of the EU either. Not to mention all the UK investment and peace and reconciliation type funding its had over the years.

You're on shaky ground if you start arguing that the Republic has done better because it got more money thrown at it. NI has been substantially held up over the years.

Although the Republic has received massive investment from the EU, NI received similar funding, plus at least equal amounts of funding from Westminster.

I'm talking about he last 20 years, while you've been self governing and had peace. Additionally you have the same levels of taxation as GB, which has had no problems attracting investment.

In a nutshell, the whole deal sits very very uneasily with me, but by god do we need the money. I fully understand other areas being angry about it, but at the same time you're kidding yourselves if you think Scottish and Welsh parties wouldn't have tried to get everything they can out of a deal too.

Read a tweet that left a bad taste in my mouth about how much this money could have bought the NHS. Not how much this will buy for the NHS in Northern Ireland - at least £250m is earmarked for that - but what it could have bought everywhere else. As if health care and infrastructure investment means nothing if it's in NI.

Not trying to belittle anyone else's anger, but it does make me feel as though we somehow don't count to everyone else.

Westminster didn't impose a FPTP system on NI, it's been the way Westminster has worked since before the Island of Ireland was partitioned

Um yes, so they DID impose it, just earlier. Keep up!

Well horse seeing as you live in NI, clearly you're just as responsible as the rest of us on this thread who don't vote DUP so you could always shout at a mirror instead of at us

Try reading more carefully. Did I say I live there?