Another small step or a giant leap?
How I See It with Denzil McDaniel • Published 2 Feb 2012 09:30
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AT least we have a self-deprecating sense of humour.
There's a rugby player at an English club called Billy Twelvetrees, and the Irish boys in the team have nicknamed him "Thirty six."
Twelvetrees. Thirty six!
I suppose it is a trait of ours that we can laugh at ourselves, but only sometimes.
On other occasions, we can't seem to find even the slightest glimmer of humour. On the issue of flags, for example, there are people who can't wait to get up in the morning to be offended.
So, how would we react when First Minister, Peter Robinson attended his first ever gaelic football match?
Largely, with indifference it has to be said. Most people were pretty sanguine and simply observed it was another positive step to a more normal time.
Perhaps the Clontibret Kid could have donned his old berry and tried to stir up controversy as he entered the Athletic Grounds in Armagh; but even then, you reckon people would have seen the funny side.
So he restricted himself to a mildly amusing reaction to gaelic: Yeah, it was good. The first time I've seen a sport where I thought I would be safer in Stormont.
We've had Caral Ni Chuilin at Windsor Park watching Norn Irn and Edwin Poots at a GAA match.
But there's no doubt that Robbo's gesture at the week-end was the most symbolic yet in that regard. I still, after all these years, get it in the neck from some Unionists about GAA coverage in the Impartial.
Keith Baker, once of this parish, made an interesting observation on Twitter that on the same week-end, Robinson went to the gaelic match, there was a march to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and Ian Paisley preached his last sermon.
Bookmarks in history, eh.
One of the more interesting reactions to the Robinson move came from the DUP itself. Don't expect Gregory Campbell to be heading down to Celtic Park any time soon, but if has serious reservations, he kept them well in check and backed his leader.
How Tom Elliott must wish his UUP folk could end the decades-old habit of tearing themselves apart and be as self-disciplined as his adversaries -- or fellow-Unionists, or whatever view they have of the DUP.
There is, however, an underlying issue in the fact that the Ulster Unionists, who ruled the roost in this part of the world for years, are now finding the ground under them more than a little shaky.
There are many in the Unionist community, though by no means all, that have always been introverted and riven by insecurity, suspiciously mistrusting "the other side."
Many of them aren't quite sure what to make of changing times.
Even Basil McCrea, certainly one of more liberal UUP folk, professes himself still suspicious of the honeyed words of Gerry Adams. Though, of course, he's also suspicious of Peter Robinson's motives, so at least he's well-balanced.
In a week when Unionists put their case at a Sinn Fein event which was debating a future united Ireland, Robinson's move also showed how far he had moved his party forward to the end of a society of "them and us."
Symbolism and gestures are vital in all of this.
But we must also remember that there is still division and suspicion at the grass roots and more needs to be done in continuing to build the trust on all sides.
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