DUP THREATEN TO BRING DOWN STORMONT

Pictured: Jeffrey Donaldson (lead candidate for DUP leadership)

According to the Sunday Life, the news has surfaced this morning that the DUP would force an Autumn assembly election unless there are significant changes to the Irish Language laws.

Firstly, the people of Northern Ireland need to make their views known and make the DUP understand that this country cannot go through another nasty spat over essentially agreed decisions that the DUP feel that they can use as a ransom tactic to bring down Stormont.

There is a real sense of arrogance, as there always is, with the DUP and this statement. Anyone with even the newest of political minds will recognise that in doing this and acting in this way the DUP are only damaging their own political campaign and election results.

Edwin Poots leaving the DUP HQ before his resignation was announced

The last week has been arguably the worst in the 50 year history of the DUP, first founded by Dr Ian Paisley in 1970. Edwin Poots’ leadership election victory was the first of its kind for the party and if they were sensible the party officers would ensure that it would be the last. The only revelation from the leadership election was that the DUP is split right through the middle. The tight split in the voting of the election further emphasises how divided the current largest party in the NI Assembly is.

I’m trying to be impartial and unbiased here but come on, the shallow nature of the DUP is astounding. After a few months of the executive being up and running, they couldn’t wait to batter Sinn Féin when the party made a clear mistake last Summer. I'm not saying that Sinn Féin were correct in their decision but other parties criticised the party but used less forceful and aggressive language to convey their argument.

Front page of Sunday Life (Sunday 20 June)

It follows a common theme with the DUP in recent years. They can’t wait to batter those they are in a power-sharing government with. How can you jointly lead almost 2 million people, if 5 party leaders can’t be on the same page and work to make Northern Ireland as a whole a better place if you can’t put political point-scoring aside and grow up!

There will be people that would argue the contrary and say that the other parties are as bad. As I mentioned all the parties are responsible for this point-scoring culture that now exists at Stormont, but the only way that we can change that culture is if the people who lead our country act their age, get over themselves and do what they get paid and were elected to do!