Old habits die hard here in Northern Ireland. Some of the more dangerous habits have been kicked, but deep rooted attitudes are proving a lot harder to shift.

BY COLIN WILLIAMSON
There is no doubt that we live in a far more peaceful and stable state, but it would seem that the main protagonists in our political pantomime just can’t help themselves when the opportunity arises to indulge in a bit of good old fashioned tribalism.
An examination of the actions and words of those who sit up on the hill at Stormont reveals a host of contradictions. In political terms, talk is cheap and change is expensive: Northern Ireland’s leaders seem unwilling to pay the price of true reconciliation.
The recent DUP conference was a snapshot that revealed so much. Peter Robinson took to the stage and spoke grandly of “all of us” together, a bold statement of intent for a future where the unthinkable prospect of Catholics voting for the party founded by the self-styled scourge of Rome, Ian Paisley, could become a reality. Contrast this with the performance of his right hand man, Finance Minister Sammy Wilson, who kept the party faithful happy by reverting to low brow jokes at the expense of Republican hunger strikers. Clearly money doesn’t buy taste.
Robinson himself is not averse to falling back behind party lines. The recent arguments surrounding the proposed reforms to the prison service produced his extraordinary threat to resign if royal symbols were discarded.
Sinn Fein like to play the game as well. Niall O’Donnaghaile was swept into office as the youngest ever Mayor of Belfast. The fresh faced First Citizen promised to represent all the people of the city. Clearly this didn’t extend to a young female army cadet whom he snubbed at a Duke of Edinburgh awards presentation.
Sinn Fein speak of ‘The North’ or ‘the six counties.’ Unionists have claimed the title of ‘Ulster,’ ignoring its three southern counties. The city of Derry/Londonderry looks destined to remain ever thus whilst the naming arguments continue. Debates rage about the use of the Irish Language and Ulster-Scots. The Union Flag v The Tri-colour, St Patrick’s Day v The Twelfth, Lily v Poppy: symbolism and language are the new weapons of combat and our politicians are all too keen to wield them on the front line.
All the while we are experiencing the worst economic downturn in a generation. People have taken to the streets to voice their concern about those things which really affect our lives: jobs, pensions, health and education. The paraphernalia of sectarianism may still influence the politics of those in office, but they need to realise what really matters to us.
We live in a culture of fear, perhaps no longer of guns and bombs, but of change. The retreat behind out-dated values is the safety zone for our big political parties. To talk of change is one thing, to act on it is to risk losing the loyal core.
The leap of faith needs to come from voters. We too can fear change, resorting at election time to addressing ‘the constitutional question’ rather than real world problems. It will take a leap of faith, but it’s ours to make. In one of the great paradoxes of life: where we lead, our leaders will follow.

It’s always been this way, hasn’t it Stephen?  You’ve always tried to do a good job, making sure everything was done right so it came out just perfect.  Unfortunately being a minister is just like playing sports at school, and this time you were the last one picked for the team.

BY BEN FINCH

So finally your chance came.  You worked towards this for years.  You became a councillor at 22, a doctor in international relations at 29, MLA and Mayor (double-jobbing, naughty naughty) at 26 and then your chance to shine arrived.  You became Minister for Employment and Learning.  You had been giving your opinion on university funding for such a long time.  You had the expertise.  You were going to do this right.

But you were the last one picked, no-one else wanted because it’s like the wrong grail in Indiana Jones that turns everyone into skeletons.  They’d all committed themselves to a freeze in tuition fees.  You hadn’t, you were open to suggestions, reasonable, and pragmatic politics.  Just as we’d expect.

But now it’s like those first few weeks at school when you’re forced out onto the pitch on a freezing cold, wet Saturday morning.  You’ve trained with the rest of them, you’re feeling fairly confident.  But now they’re kicking the ball around you and you can’t respond.  Suddenly papers you’ve tabled on fees, but decided not to discuss are leaked with a different spin; £3,290’s the favourite, not your recommended £4,500.  And to make things worse, sources claim it’s only to cover for some debacle with the DUP and Red Sky.

The ball’s been passed around you.  But it’s all right, you can track back.  Keep a cool head, chase it up and you’ll make the tackle.  But their best players are working in partnership and before you know it they’ve played a through ball that leaves you for dead.  The Cloyne inquiry’s been announced, there’s been violence on the streets.  Suddenly, the first minister and his deputy announce, without informing you, their commitment to capping fees.  You panic, you don’t answer your phone, a spokesperson for DEL utters a wry laugh when they hear no-one’s answering.

So go to the BBC, they’ll help. Just don’t appear flustered.  Get your message across clearly and calmly and you’ll stop them scoring.

“This is good news for students isn’t it?” asked the Beeb.

“Well discussions are still ongoing and no decision’s been taken yet.” Well said Stephen. Well said.

“Oh, so OFMDFM have jumped the gun?”

“Erm… No… Just… No decision’s been taken yet.”

Hard lines, you’ve been outplayed.  Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness didn’t say freezing fees was official Stormont policy, but they may as well have.  Any increase will now be seen as a major U-turn and on your head be it.  It’s the sort of thing that affects every family in the land, and they’re all struggling enough as it is.   You may as well call it full time, announce that the cap on fees is staying and figure out the details later.

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness today restated the pledges in their election manifestos to keep tuition fees at the current level.

BY BEN FINCH

Speaking at a press conference they confirmed fees would be maintained at £3290 for students beginning courses in 2012. They stated that the only rises would be in line with inflation.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster Stephen Farry, Minister for Employment and Learning and Alliance MLA, said: “We haven’t come to any firm decisions.

“We need to be clear what the funding regime is going to be.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) said: “Discussions are still ongoing at DEL, there’s lots of detail still to be worked out.” It appears today’s statement was made without the knowledge of the department. DEL is the department responsible for universities.

Farry denied that Robinson and McGuinness had “jumped the gun.”

Jason O’Neill, president of QUB Students’ Union, said: “It’s fantastic to hear an official announcement from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister that fees will be kept at the current rate.

“This will ensure that Northern Ireland can maintain it’s place as a region in the UK which has the highest proportion of students from low income backgrounds.

“Now the onus is on the executive to ensure that £40m shortfall in the DEL budget is filled so that the provision of higher education is kept to a high standard.”

Queen’s were not prepared to make a statement. The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister were unavailable to comment.

BY MARK STEVENSON

It is wise to note that within a deeply divided society such as Northern Ireland, integration is central to the concept of peace, and dividing children into tribal camps is not useful to the current process of reconciliation. It introduces the idea of “us” and “them”, Protestants and Catholics. This is surely against the concept of community spirit. Children should grow up meeting a wide variety of friends and companions. Sadly, the current segregated education system can prevent this from happening.

It is absurd to label a child as being ‘a Protestant child’ or ‘a Catholic child’. Rather, they are ‘children with Protestant or Catholic parents’. State schools are seen as being Protestant schools, in contrast to clearly defined Catholic schools. Most, if not all, small children have no idea of their theological view, and are oblivious to some key religious terms. Religious schools in Northern Ireland are dehumanising to children. Rather than being seen for who they are, most children are labelled as either Protestant or Catholic.

Some have argued that segregated education in Northern Ireland promotes a strong moral ethos and foundation. This, however, follows the disputed presumption that religion is a strong source of morality. Even if this was true, most children do not graduate from these segregated schools as highly pious individuals. This being said, if children were educated together there lies a greater possibility for young people to all follow a helpful shared ethos, contributing to a strong sense of community.

Peter Robinson’s comments were perhaps surprising in stating that he does not object to religious or segregated schools per say, but holds reservations as far as funding is concerned. I would go further and argue that children should be educated together. Some people may say that it is a matter of free choice, but is it really? It is less the choice of the children who are generally apathetic to religion and much more the choice of their parents and the churches who impose or even demand these choices.

BY CONNOR DALY

On Friday 15th October, First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said future generations would be unforgiving if the current generation failed to address the issue of segregation. For Hain, not only does segregation do little to build positive relations between Northern Ireland’s divided communities, “The cost of a separate education is horrendously high.” The community, he said, would benefit if integrated schools were to replace costly smaller schools – Catholic and Protestant, in areas where they are not viable and “too small to provide the standards and opportunities that their people deserve.”

“If you were able to have a shared future in education you’d make considerable savings by integrating schools, which would then allow you to reinvest that money in raising standards.”

The thing that always struck Peter Hain as Secretary of State, he said, was that although grammar schools in Northern Ireland produce the best academic results than anywhere else in the UK, “actually, lower down the achievement ladder, performances are relatively much poorer than in Wales, Scotland and in England, and I don’t think that’s an accident. I think that’s a product of a segregated education system.”

Asked how important it was that the current Westminster government honours the fiscal commitments made at the time of the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, Hain said “It was not an accident that we achieved that historic settlement” at at time when there were more jobs in Northern Ireland than ever in the state’s history. Young people had opportunities, he said, and there was record investment in all the different public services. If Northern Ireland is badly hit economically then that would be hugely damaging to the province as a whole.

“The thing that worries me most is that there is increasing evidence that a lot of the young people drawn into dissident IRA activities are without jobs, don’t have the employment prospects or opportunities than before the global banking crisis existed.” If the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government “is going to make that worse by cutting public investment in such a savage way they said they would do then that is not only going to hit the economy badly” but it would also spur on recruitment to such groups.

On David Cameron’s Northern Ireland policy, Hain told The Gown “I’m not sure that David Cameron really understands Northern Ireland. We know that the future of the island of Ireland was settled years ago, and that is that it remains as it is until a popular referendum decides otherwise.”

“I don’t think he really gets Northern Ireland.” The “ill-judged attempt to organise in Northern Ireland” through a merger with the Ulster Unionist Party, he said, was as damaging to the UUP as it was to the Conservative Party. “I hope the current Secretary of State (Owen Patterson) is on a fast learning curve because he’ll need to be” if he, in Hain’s opinion, is to move away from the old politics of the Conservative Party “that never understood Northern Ireland.”

A lot has happened in Northern Ireland even from immediately before and after the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, and for Hain this process will deepen over time. As time goes on, a lot of the old divisions will not so much as disappear because there will still remain a lot of bitterness about the past on both sides, but he predicts a lot of those hostilities will become irrelevant. Politicians “Shouldn’t be looking over their shoulders at old battles and divisions.” Martin McGuinness, he added, “has gone out of his way to reach out to unionists and he deserves credit to that.” Northern Ireland now has to confront its real issues and create a stable and prosperous society.