Recently, the papers have been covering the back and forth finger wagging between the DUP and Sinn Fein, a juvenile exchange that suits the school yard rather than the halls of government.
How perfect, then, that a tout was assassinated, and just in time to disrupt the peace process. Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein often sounds like a broken record with his claims of 'securocrat' dirty tricks, but too many coincidences may prove him right.
The late Mr. Donaldson was arrested years ago, charged as a Sinn Fein operative spying on the Northern Ireland assembly, just when things were getting up and running and heading towards direct rule. Paisley and his merry band were not happy, being forced to breathe the same air as the Shinners. Their lungs were spared with Donaldson's arrest, which brought down the power-sharing government in quick time and turned the clock back to good old rule from London. Just the way the DUP likes it, as luck would have it.
In December, when the peace process made another step forward, the biggest bank robbery in history went down, and immediately it was the IRA's fault. As expected, Gerry Adams was out and about, denying any IRA involvement while both England and Ireland blamed his troop. To date, those arrested in connection with the robbery have links to money laundering operations that are not IRA, but pure criminal enterprises. No one has paraded a definite IRA link to the crime. After the theft, the DUP ran screaming in horror, abandoning further efforts to get direct rule up and running again.
Yesterday, Mr. Donaldson was found dead, and the reports claimed he had been mutilated and tortured, and isn't that exactly how the IRA kills those who betray the cause? Oh, sorry, a bit hasty there. Turns out he was not tortured or mutilated in an IRA tout-killing scenario. Apparently the mutilation was only the result of a defensive wound, where the victim put up an arm to instinctively protect the head from the bullet.
And what's the fall-out? Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair are due to meet today to give the peace process are hearty kick in the arse to get it up and moving. What news of the DUP? Why, they're screaming and attempting to run for the hills, blaming the IRA and they haven't gone away and they're still a bunch of criminals and we'll not hold office with the likes of them in the room.
Who killed Mr. Donaldson? The official line these days asks, Who benefits from his death? Maybe Gerry Adams has it right. Maybe the folks who don't want home rule have something to do with it. It could be loyalist paramilitary, or it could be disgruntled IRA men who like the status quo.
Unlike previous derailments, the two governments are pushing ahead, essentially ignoring the horrified cries of the DUP. The only way forward is to push ahead, stepping over the road blocks that were placed to block progress. Do Ahern and Blair believe Gerry Adams more than Paisley? Our day will come, cry Sinn Fein - maybe it's coming?
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