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Brendan Hughes

Brendan Hughes: Row over NI centenary stone raises questions for Stormont parties

A political row over a stone at Stormont will no doubt have many people rolling their eyes.

At a time when Northern Ireland has no government, it is galling that yet another dispute over symbols takes centre stage.

During a power-sharing stalemate and cost-of-living crisis, the plan to mark Northern Ireland's centenary may understandably be dismissed as a trivial distraction.

Read more: Brendan Hughes: Brexit NI Protocol legal action reaches end of the road

But the reaction of the parties to this long-running disagreement raises some questions over the approach of both unionism and nationalism.

For the past year the DUP has defended collapsing Stormont in protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol by stressing the "fundamental need" for cross-community consent.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said in a recent rallying address to party members and supporters in Co Fermanagh that a "one-sided approach was never going to work".

He added: "We need a deal that unionists as well as nationalists can support."

But when it came to a centenary stone, the DUP was happy to push through the plan without the support of the Assembly's largest nationalist party.

Sinn Féin vetoed an initial request when it was proposed in 2021 by unionist parties to the Assembly Commission, the body which manages Stormont and usually comprises of representatives of the five main parties.

However, it was approved on Monday at a time when Sinn Féin currently has no representative on the panel, which operates by consensus.

John O'Dowd stepped down last year to become Infrastructure Minister and the party has been unable to nominate a replacement due to Stormont's collapse.

The stone decision was criticised by Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill.

She said the public would be "absolutely aghast" that unionist parties were focused on a stone in the same week the Assembly failed to elect a Speaker to progress organ donation laws.

The decision also highlights differences of opinion within nationalism.

In vetoing the first request, Sinn Féin argued the stone - which is set to be in the shape of a map of Northern Ireland - "reflected one political perspective".

But the SDLP, which continues to have a representative on the Assembly Commission, allowed the proposal to go ahead.

The party said it is "important that we find a way of reflecting the stark experiences of partition, the formation of Northern Ireland and its impact on people".

But it added: "In a spirit of generosity, we were therefore supportive of a proposal which comes at no cost to taxpayers and clearly has a great deal of meaning for unionists."

The unaligned Alliance Party also allowed the stone, which will be paid for by unionist MLAs, to progress.

An Alliance spokesman said: "While we respect everyone has a different view on partition, this stone is a simple historical marker to commemorate a significant event."

Some republicans argue there is already a disproportionate scale of unionist symbols at Stormont. For instance, every day MLAs must drive past a statue of Edward Carson, regarded as a hero within unionism.

Others will say if unionists want to put their hands in their pockets for what looks like a gravestone, then what's the harm?

Sinn Fein previously vetoing the stone will for unionists add weight to their accusations of intolerance and disrespect of unionist culture and identity.

And while the DUP's rivals rail against them for blocking power-sharing, the stone dispute draws attention to how parties on all sides have been willing to use Stormont's in-built vetoes when it suits them.

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