Hell hath no fury like a DUPer scorned

The DUP’s hypocrisy has been well chronicled by Ulster Unionist supporters and those of other parties, but naturally enough it has caused particular angst amongst those who have left the party because of it. The irony is that these former DUP members are in many cases acknowledging an analysis which was being advanced by UUP commentators some time ago.

Thus we have the fulminations of Councillor Robin Stirling during a debate in the chambers of Ballymena Borough Council as it resumed its business for the year 2008. Stirling lingers on obscure points of theology the casual reader may choose to skim, but his identification of both political and religious hypocrisy is entirely accurate. The only slight irony is that when Stirling points out “we may recall that when David Trimble spoke of 'No Alternative' he was greeted by howls of derision and cries of 'Lundy! Lundy! Lundy! But who is the Lundy now?” and “he presented a bogus resistance to the Belfast Agreement and then stole it by an act of consummate treachery” he himself has undergone a Damascene revelation to the position the UUP held on Paisley’s real intentions all along (emotive language not withstanding)!

Alderman James Currie in response to Stirling’s motion (which what it lacks in brevity it more than makes up for in rhetorical flourish) points out “It's enlightening that Councillor Robin Stirling finds that Ian Paisley has done the same as David Trimble”. Neill Armstrong summed up the mixture of vindication and frustration which many Ulster Unionists feel:

“We took at least five years of utter dogs' abuse and now the DUP have fully signed up to our deal. We were upfront and honest with the people of Northern Ireland. In many ways it has been a very entertaining debate - it's good to see the DUP have followed us. We've done all the work and they've taken all the credit, as is often the way in life.”

The last word though should go to Stirling, who in his sense of betrayal has stumbled upon an entirely accurate summation of Paisley’s motivations.

"Dr paisley has suffered his lifetime from a virulent poison, the toxin of unadulterated, naked ambition. He had set his mind many years ago upon achieving his conception of worldly greatness."

Comments

Anonymous said…
Chekov,

Great name for your blog.

He is right. The same could be said for the SDLP and SF re accepting the PSNI and joining the Policing Boards.
Anonymous said…
In all fairness to Robin Sterling, his resignation statement offered an apology to the UUP.
Owen Polley said…
He did Michael. But he was among the most vituperative critics of the party for a long number of years. There was also a certain amount of self-interest in the apology.

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