Northern Ireland. A Two-Party State?

Last week on Twitter, there was a debate about whether or not the SDLP should have run a candidate in East Londonderry? SF supporters argued that their candidate would have won the seat, if only the SDLP had dropped out; this ignores the fact that the constituency has a clear Unionist majority and if nationalists were running only one candidate, it is likely that unionists would do something similar and still win the seat.

Perhaps I should keep out of the internal argument over whether or not the SDLP have a right to run in a seat where SF could win. As a unionist, this is none of my business?

That is one way of looking at this.

The Irish Tricolour, with its Orange block separated from the Green block by a strip of white, is a very good illustration of how some people want Ireland to remain, two communities going about their separate ways. In some ways our political setup and political choices reinforce this view, with our SF and DUP partnership running N. Ireland.

But is having a two-party state good for N. Ireland or for Ireland?

I wrote last year on Slugger about the symbiotic relationship between SF and the DUP, predicting the pressure for smaller parties to stand aside and allow a carve up. https://sluggerotoole.com/2023/05/30/does-a-symbiotic-relationship-suit-the-dup-and-sinn-fein/

The futures of the people of N. Ireland are intertwined. Despite the presence of peace walls and sectarian labelling of estates we are becoming more and more mixed, we are sharing workplaces and living spaces peacefully.

Nationalists and Republicans believe that Irish unity is coming soon – I have my doubts, but if a border poll is just round the corner, one section of our community will have to live with significant disappointment.

I suggest that the worst thing we could do is retreat into our orange and green trenches, this community needs a broad range of political parties that allow the differences between orange and green to merge.

Stark differences between orange and green make for an attractive flag, but living together in harmony requires something more subtle. A range of parties will allow our communities to focus on issues that matter to the people and to move beyond the constitutional conflict, perhaps even helping to build a cohesive and united Irish nation?

Arnold is a retired teacher from Belfast.