'They have not the will to move forward'

I read David Calvert’s letter in the Lurgan Mail with a mixture of sadness and despair.

Once again it was tangible evidence that too many people in the Protestant community are so blinkered and so wedded to the past, they have neither the will nor the capacity to move forward.

Many of these people have served Northern Ireland well, and deserve credit for this - some of them almost paid for it with their lives. They forced their enemies to make concessions that people said they would never make. The UUP failed to do this and the battle entered a new phase. Saying “no” was no longer an option - we had to engage. Of course, this is not without risk, but both sides have taken risks. This has never happened before.

Too many people in our community still have not grasped the full importance of the Good Friday Agreement. It changed the political landscape in Northern Ireland forever. Nationalists have always understood this. They realised that Trimble, through the auspices of the Good Friday Agreement, handed them the initiative and they have used the impetus from this to push their agenda and forge ahead. Even now, some unionists respond by simply clinging to the past. Yes, we should look to the past and learn from it, but we should then use it as a tool to shape the future. Anything we get from now on we’ll have to work with it. We will get what we take or we will end up taking what we get.

The winds of change are blowing in Ulster, even in the last five years. You only have to look around you and listen to understand how much it has changed. In addition, the Protestant community increasingly no longer have the same values and ideals of their parents and grandparents. The old slogans and shibboleths no longer have any resonance for them. These are just new challenges that have been thrown into the mix, and they are very worrying trends.

The political situation in Northern Ireland is more dangerous than ever, simply because the Protestants are not aware they are in danger. The choreography to take us out of the United Kingdom is already in place, and we need leaders who are aware of this and blow the trumpet to sound a warning. This won’t be easy, as our people are so apathetic. Even of Gabriel blew his horn I doubt it would raise them.

The Protestant community needs to be united and mobilised to face the chill winds that are blowing in their direction and, with time, could blow them away. We need leaders who understand the peril we are in and are up for the challenge. The old certainties are fast disappearing and the rhetoric of the past is just not good enough. All this is doing is sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Just where this road will take us is impossible to predict, but its a road we have to travel because we can’t stand still. These are serious times that require serious remedies and some of our leaders are just not up to it.

I offer as evidence the continuing charade that passes for unionist politics in Northern Ireland. The UUP, who foisted on us the iniquitous Belfast Agreement, are offering the pantomine of yet another leadership contest, which is laughable, when one considers that they are now the mere poodle of the Conservative Party and will simply do what they are told. You only have to look at South Antrim in the last election to see that.

The TUV has no strategic plan to move us forward and, in their bitterness, continue to take out their frustrations on the DUP while offering support to the Ulster Unionists. Anyone who takes an interest in politics will understand the contradiction in this. Of course, they continue to deny this. But there is a mountain of evidence from the Dromore by-election, the European election and the Westminster election to prove it. They have nothing of any substance to offer and, sadly, have become more of a nuisance value to our enemies.

It has been said that history repeats itself, but this is not totally true. The enemy may be the same, the battle may be the same, but circumstances change and we need to change out tactics to deal with this. The TUV don’t seem to have the vision to see this.

The DUP working within the constraints of the Good Friday Agreement are working hard to claw back some of the ground we have lost. Unfortunately, it’s a well kept secret. They could do a much better job at getting their message across. For all our sakes, for the sake of our country, they have to.

I would like to thank David Calvert for his contribution in the past. He should now leave the stage to those who understand the needs of the hour, are up for the challenge and better equipped to build on the foundations that have been laid. If he doesn’t, then he runs the very real risk of being remembered for undoing all the good that he did. He deserves better.