Fianna Fáil and t’North

There’s been a lot of comment over the past few days about the announcement that Fianna Fáil is to set up a committee to examine the possibility of organising in Northern Ireland. There has been particular interest in the implications for the SDLP, especially after Mark Durkan’s description of the move as a ‘positive development’ and his refusal to rule out a merger of the two parties.

It’s interesting that the general view has been to welcome the initiative and to predict an eventual merger between Fianna Fáil and the SDLP. But I wonder if all this optimism is a little premature.

Rumours of Fianna Fáil’s ambitions regarding the North have been around for a few years now, but although there are some members in Derry, nothing substantial has come of it. The current initiative is only to examine the options available, which might include closer links with a Northern party - obviously the SDLP. Standing for Westminster elections has already been ruled out, although whether this is due to republican principles or fear of offending Gordon Brown is debateable.

But the real puzzle is why on earth Fianna Fáil would want to consider coming North at all. Reasons might include:

· To damage Sinn Féin: It’s in Fianna Fáil’s interests to annihilate Sinn Féin in the South, which they are well on the way to doing. But why pursue them across the border? It would be far more difficult to take votes away from SF up here than it has been in the South, given different historical allegiances and the more impressive performances of SF politicians.
· To shore up the SDLP: Fianna Fáil in partnership with the SDLP or as a merged party would create a more powerful nationalist party in terms of resources and would position the new party or alliance as a 32-county entity, all of which could increase SDLP support. But against that is the question of whether Northern voters would not only defect from SF (see above) but would vote for a party with a history, real or alleged, of corruption and nepotism at local and national level.
· To deflect attention from the Mahon Tribunal: This is unlikely, as Southern voters don’t care about the North.
· To put republican principles into practice: Fianna Fáil is a deeply pragmatic party and would not act out of principle if they would lose votes or influence as a result. One of the most puzzling aspects of this move is the detrimental impact it could have on the relationship between the Irish and UK governments.

I’ve predicted before that Fianna Fáil and the SDLP will merge eventually, and I still think this will happen. But the SDLP is not yet in terminal decline, and the question of how a closer working relationship would benefit Fianna Fáil has still not been answered to my satisfaction.

In terms of the wider restructuring of NI politics, the announcement does make it a lot easier for Irish Labour’s Northern members to make their case to stand for elections to local councils, which they will do at the Wexford conference in November. Those who have argued against such a move due to the need to remain loyal to the SDLP must be feeling a bit shafted this week.

A girl called Lionel

I’ve read three novels by Lionel Shriver over the summer, and they were all riveting. Her main strength is telling a good story, starting from a strong ‘what if…?’ scenario.

Double Fault (1997) asks ‘what if you and your husband have the same career and one of you turns out to be a winner – and the other doesn’t?’.

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2003) has its roots in the Should We Have Children discussion. ‘If we don’t then are we depriving the world of a brilliant artist or scientist?’ says one of you. ‘But’ – adds the other – ‘what if we bring a serial killer into the world?’

The Post-Birthday World (2007) addresses another modern dilemma: ‘should I stay or should I go? And what would have happened in either case?’

The novels are not without flaws. Characters can be two-dimensional and writing style can be clumsy in places, although when carried along by the pace of events it seems to improve. There are also unconvincing plot twists in We Need to Talk About Kevin and in The Post-Birthday World, which I won’t give away.

So what is it that makes each of these novels such a satisfying and gripping read? There are two main points, I think.

First, women today have more choices about how we live our lives than did previous generations: not just in what we do, but how society treats us as a result. The ‘what if?’ questions have changed. Nowadays it’s quite feasible that a husband and wife might end up competing in their careers; that the decision to have children might involve giving up existing benefits in the hope of something more fulfilling; and that, as shown in The Post-Birthday World, a long-standing commitment to one man may be broken in the face of an overwhelming desire to be with someone else – or not.

Secondly, Shriver examines power within heterosexual relationships incredibly well. The modern context, again, has changed and grown more complex. Although all three novels provide many examples of power issues between couples, there are two particularly interesting examples of women being disadvantaged by dominating men: the husband’s views on bringing up Kevin prevail, and in The Post-Birthday World, one of the options involves Irina following an itinerant sportsman around, to the detriment of her own career.

There is also the local angle. Lionel Shriver worked as a journalist in Belfast, as Malachi O’Doherty has noted. Whatever about his point, it’s nice to see the peripheral NI references covered accurately and sometimes with humour, as in this example from The Post-Birthday World:

‘….all over the world, the incantation Northern Ireland had magical powers. With the potential to put commercial soporifics out of business, the topic could drive die-hard insomniacs into a deep, dreamless sleep within sixty seconds’.

Holiday highlights

Here is an account of my best moments in a recent holiday in Western Canada, to supplement Nick’s more detailed posts.

In Victoria and Vancouver we went to art galleries which included the work of Emily Carr, and in Victoria we visited her old house, which is preserved by the state. Born in 1871, she studied art in San Francisco, London and Paris before returning home, where her paintings were not well received. She did other things for years in order to support herself, and returned successfully to art in her sixties after being influenced by Canada’s Group of Seven artists. She’s an example to us all.

In the Royal B.C. Museum, we were amazed to find a brilliant exhibition about the Titanic. It was based around items found in the wreck, but included much more, such as accounts of the building of the ship, its launch, and the start of its maiden voyage in Southampton. I’m usually not very keen on ‘Titanic Studies’, despite my shipyard heritage, but enjoyed this one immensely. There is of course the question of what on earth the exhibition was doing in Victoria, but I decided not to go there.

We found Victoria rather staid, but arriving in Vancouver was a breath of fresh air. The waterfront areas were spectacular and there was a real buzz – we thought it would be a good place to live. One very touristy thing we did was to visit Grouse Mountain, where a number of activities are laid on including a fantastic chair lift ride with wonderful views over the city, not for those with a fear of heights.

But in the end Vancouver didn’t quite replace Sydney as our favourite city , as we still found examples of, shall we say, the Canadian failure to engage (aka ignoring people). Although not as bad as Toronto and someone did actually crack a joke with us at one point.

After several days in Vancouver we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train for a two-day journey to Calgary. This involved travelling through spectacular scenery, being stuffed with food and drink, fantastic service (no failure to engage here), staying overnight in a town reminiscent of Twin Peaks, and the batteries in my camera running out at the start of the most amazing scenery on the second day. It really was the trip of a lifetime - highly recommended.

And in Calgary I found some jeans that fit me – miracle! – in Eddie Bauer, a store I just love but which doesn’t have branches in the UK or Ireland. I obviously have a North American-style arse. As opposed to an arse the size of North America....when thoughts like this begin to intrude, I am well and truly home.