How to Suck Thumb and Not Influence People

A year ago today I set off for my week's holiday in Paris.  Before I left I spoke with the UUP's Alex Kane by phone and we discussed the ongoing refusal of Sinn Fein/IRA to work devolved government due to their childish fit of pique over the devolution of polcing and justice 'powers' (in reality it is nothing more than transferring the budget from London to Belfast as the police will retain operational independence).  On Tuesday I depart for two and a half weeks to India, and I'm wondering whether I'll be having a similar conversation one year on.

Sinn Fein/IRA are once again behaving like Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles (the scene when he couldn't find his 'froggy' in the bath).  Instead of the bearded barman or the butcher of Londonderry, this time we had a relatively insignificant hick in the form of 'national' chairman, Declan Kearney, wheeled out to make the customary threats.  He message that the political process will go into 'free fall' unless those power are devolved is just another example of how Irish republicans can both misread and misinterpret an agreement they signed up to.

This is not about the principle of sharing power with former IRA terrorists and whether those same terrorists should one day have that budget withing their grasp.  Regular visitors to ATW will be well versed in my opinions on both matters.  No, this is about the republican movement effectively lying to the rubbish that consitutes its support base in claiming that pressure would be brought to bear on Unionists in the event of slow progress towards policing and justice devolution.  The St Andrews Agreement makes no such provision.  It states categorically that it is for the parties of the Assembly - collectively - to determine when the move should take place.  Although I have no time for the DUP since they reneged on their promise never to share power with terrorists, on this matter I entirely agree with Peter Robinson. 

So what could the Provo excusers do?  Collapse the Assembly?  In a re-election atmosphere where the DUP could effectively claim it had called Sinn Fein's bluff it is highly unlikely to suffer the same haemorrhaging of support to the TUV as we witnessed back in June.  Ergo, it is more than likely that the DUP would again return as the largest party.  So where do the Shinners go then?  Bleating to the Republic's government who are busily trying to prop up their basket case of a country?  Bleating to the Americans who've just, yet again, experienced the reality of terrorism (make no mistake, Ft Hood was a terrorist attack in all but name) within their borders?

Sinn Fein have been brought up in an atmosphere of making threats whenever they couldn't get their own way fast enough.  Nearly twelve years after the Belfast Agreement and with completely different circumstances, dometically and globally, prevailing, such childishness no longer works.  It didn't work a year ago and it won't work now!