Former Ulster Unionist councillor Harvey Bicker has joined Fianna Fáil. The ex-British soldier has not been active in frontline politics for several years. Whether or not one is a supporter of Fianna Fáil, it's certainly good news that those who formerly pledged allegiance to the British Crown are beginning to turn to the Irish Harp!
Friday, February 22, 2008
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8 comments:
whoopee el mat,
let's hope the trickle becomes a flood.
Let's hope not.
Unionists, by definition, are not supporters of a united Ireland - except under the unlikely circumstances which see the Republic re-united as part of the United Kingdom.
This isn't the first time a Unionist has become a nationalist (or vice-versa) - there was, for example, Ivan Cooper.
The Irish Harp has long been a symbol that unionists shared by the way. The symbol is not 'owned' by nationalism.
I doubt very much that Harvey Bicker's defection to Fianna Fail represents some more profound reconsideration of opinions within unionism on the border question, tempting as that thought may be for nationalists. Bicker is a fairly trivial character who is, I would be almost 100% certain in saying, unknown to the vast majority of people in the north.
Anyhow, isn't this really just a case of a conservative unionist changing his mind on the national question and joining a conservative nationalist party? El Mat, to progressives and social democrats like ourselves his midlife crisis on the border is irrelevant. Now, had Mr Bicker joined Labour or the SDLP…
I'd imagine it is more of an anomaly based on personal cicrumstances, rather than the start of a trend. It is, however, interesting.
"Now, had Mr Bicker joined Labour or the SDLP…"
...he would have been mad! ;)
Where has Eamonn Gilmore disappeared to, by the way? He's still alive I hope?
From his comments in the media, it seems this is just a case of a buisnessman who does a lot of business in the Republic joining a party there - maybe for the networking and lobbying benefits?
Reg-
Maybe Eamonn's working on internal organisation within Labour rather than (apparently) wasting his time criticising Ahern given the latter's seemingly concrete position as Taoiseach.
Tim-
You're probably right.
"Maybe Eamonn's working on internal organisation within Labour rather than (apparently) wasting his time criticising Ahern"
El Mat,
I was only joshing! Good point, though. Kenny seems to be wasting his time having a go at Bertie. Some of his statements are overblown to say the least and could do him more harm than good (as Pet Rabbit could attest).
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