Part of the problem is that for many years many voters in Northern Ireland have become used to using their vote negatively. Too many have voted for the party who they think has the best chance of poking in the eye the party they see as the enemy.

The trick is is to persuade people to value their vote and then to vote positively for the future, not negatively for the past.
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There is a Taoist proverb which says "Life and death are the same thing".

In direct parallel the DUP and Sinn Fein are the same thing
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There is a Taoist proverb which says "Life and death are the same thing".
Reading the comments of the last few days on this article brings home very strongly that the DUP and Sinn Fein are the same thing in terms of promoting division, fear and hatred of a created bogeyman among THEMUNS.

Neither of these parties ever practices what the founder of liberal democracy, Francis Hutcheson, said - "That action is best that procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers"
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Eamon, I agree with your analysis on the collusion between the DUP and SF. But this collusion can only survive if they both get a continuing mandate.

It is clear that a majority of the electorate have run out of patience with the DUP/SF minority domination of the majority. These folk just have to believe that there is an alternative future and that it is as easy as voting for the middle (Alliance, really). The disillusioned voter has nothing to lose by giving this a try.
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The DUP and SF leadership do not have to love each other to collude in dominating the huge majority of people in NI.

It is clear that at least SF and the former Westminster government acted outside the general public's expectations for justice and the rule of law. They broke the trust that essential between the governed and their government. It remains to be seen if the DUP were knowingly complicit by ensuring they didn't know the details.

There is but one solution - http://whereareyoufrancishutcheson.wordpress.com/...

If you want to talk about fundamental rights you need to go back to the origins of liberal democracy, as laid out by the Father of the Scottish enlightenment, the Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University in the 18th century, Francis Hutcheson.

He foresaw the situation where the government violates the essential trust of the governed and suggests the solution
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There were many statement made by the leaders of DUP and Sinn Fein last week that have been the subjects of relentless (and predictable) challenges from the leaders of Sinn Fein and the DUP respectively.

There was one statement made by the last caller to the Nolan TV show that no-one has challenged. The caller was called Jude and his statement was one of abject despair; he was despondent that the political situation in NI would ever improve and advised those young people who could, to leave. This is a view that you, too, have subscribed to, Alex, at least on your more grumpy days!

I have to challenge Jude and you, Alex.

We are not living in the 1790s, when thousands had to take to the hilltops with pikes against un unjust self-serving minority. We are not living in the 1920s, when thousands felt so under threat from their own government that they formed armed groups and imported thousands go guns to protect themselves. We are not living in the 1970s, when thousands of people felt so disenfranchised and discriminated against that they formed one of the most successful anti-state machines waging a terror campaign.

Neither are we living today in Syria, The Ukraine, North Korea, central Africa or Palestine.

We are living in a Northern Ireland where every adult that wants one has a vote. We are living in a place where elections are overwhelmingly fair and accessible, where the results of the elections are accepted by the participants and where it is highly unlikely that the losers in an election will take to the streets in armed action.

I suspect that the despondent voices in NI include many who vote for the parties of division, mainly the DUP and SF. All they have to do to improve the political process and its outcomes in NI is vote differently. In comparison with our ancestors in the 1790s, 1920s, and 1970s here this way of effecting change is easy and anyone who does not try it should feel ashamed. They should feel equally ashamed if they vote for division or if they abdicate their hard won right and don't vote at all.

To answer the last question of your blog "Will we ever have a government and political process worthy of the name?" - Yes, yes and yes again! It will certainly happen one day. The right question is "Will we see the necessary change within the next four elections/"

Alliance is probably thinking things through before saying anything.

What could have caused such a rapid and complete U-turn in Peter Robinson's tactics in just 24 hours?
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There is no denying that Sinn Fein have won again in deals to look after their own.

The question for Sinn Fein voters is whether they are included within the boundary of "Ourselves Alone" or whether they are just used by the SF leadership to provide the mandate necessary to look after the real group of "Ourselves Alone", the inner circle of around 200 former activists.
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