I agree. To be fair to Paisley, he is representative of a certain type of nut in Ulster. If he is to achieve a workable settlement, he has to frame it in a way that appeases the hard men and women who are behind him. There is no point in him coming to the negotiation table with a position that would alienate him from those unionists who are every bit as racist as the 1960s white South African leadership.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
Thinking about Paisley and his speech last Friday (the "swallow hard" one) it would be the ultimate irony in Northern politics if the final settlement happened on his watch. Of all the figures in Ulster unionism, one would have predicted hell freezing over before fingering him as the one to do the business. It must be really difficult for David Trimble to see his auld enemy taking the peace process into the last few moves of the endgame, knowing that it could have been achieved long before now if Paisley had not been such a bollicks.