What Would Carson Think of 21st Century Stormont?
19 September 2012
Below is the text of Jim Allister’s speech delivered during yesterday’s debate on the centenary of the Ulster Covenant.
There is no more seminal event in the evolution and history of Northern Ireland than the Ulster covenant. It is the veritable cornerstone upon which Northern Ireland was built. Today, I would like to reflect on the determination and valour of our covenant forefathers. Faced with a British Government determined to push them out of the kingdom and contriving all sorts of devices to that end, they did not limply say, "Oh, what can we do? We better go with it because there might be a terrible plan B". No — there were no pushover unionists in 1912; there were no "roll-over" unionists in 1912. Thank God that there were not, because if they had had the quality of today's main leadership in unionism, there would never have been a Northern Ireland. Some excuse would have been found to reach an accommodation other than the creation of Northern Ireland.
Often, as I sit in the House, I ask myself what Edward Carson would think of this place. I think of that in the context of looking at core declarations in the covenant, such as:
"our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom".
The core and heart of the covenant was the retention, preservation and defence of that position. Today, as I compare that with the quality of citizenship evidenced and epitomised by the House, I find that, far from there being equality of citizenship on basic democratic values, such as the right that exists everywhere else in the United Kingdom to have an opposition and vote a party out of government, we have the very opposite. We have drifted and been prised so far away from the basic core values of equal citizenship that it is quite astounding.
It is all the more discomforting and disheartening to think that that was done by a successive generation of unionists and that they came to the point of saying that they would reward the terrorism of the IRA by guaranteeing those who are associated with it a permanent place in government so that they can continue to try to shuffle us out of the United Kingdom. Some who sit in this House today should reflect carefully on the great tradition and example that Carson laid down. Pushover, rollover unionism was no part of that.
I salute the memory of Lord Carson and Sir James Craig, and record appreciation for the stand that they took and the example that they set. I express the hope that, even yet, some might seek to emulate and follow the valour and determination of their covenant forefathers.
I pay tribute to a number of the events that have been organised to celebrate the covenant. I visited and was particularly impressed by the Orange Order's covenant exhibition at Schomberg House. It is an extensive and very balanced presentation of the whole covenant period. I would urge anyone who has not visited it to do so. As we look forward to celebrating all that, we do so with our heads held high and with a sense of pride in the traditions that have been handed on.
I will finish with one word of regret. On this momentous occasion of the 100th anniversary of the covenant, we have not seen the declaration of a public holiday in Northern Ireland. When the fiftieth anniversary of the covenant was marked, there was a public holiday. Why not now?
I think that I know the answer, but it is worth reflecting on.
