DUP conference: Robinson upbeat on future
The First Minister wants to make the most of the DUP’s strength but there is little evidence that Catholics are changing their voting patterns from nationalist to unionist. Peter Cheney reports on the DUP conference.
The appearance of Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney at this year’s DUP conference was a first but the main story was found in its the branding as the ‘Party for Northern Ireland’.
Peter Robinson’s entrance sent the crowd into a frenzy of flag-waving as the backdrop changed from red to blue. “Can we see those flags again?” he called out, in a taunt against the Alliance Party.
Five years after entering government with Sinn Féin, DUP members appeared content with power-sharing but words of praise for republicans were rare. As expected, Gerry Adams was ridiculed for roaming “around the globe, lecturing people about creating a united Ireland.”
A confident Robinson set out his stall:
“I want to talk about the union, about jobs, about programme delivery and about reconciliation. I want to focus as much as possible on a vision of hope, of progress, of optimism and accomplishment: a future built on advancement, on prosperity and on positive politics.”
After marking the centenary of the Ulster Covenant, he called on his party to “challenge ourselves” and promote the union to new audiences. The DUP’s case is based on 52 per cent of Catholics indicating support for the union in the 2010 Life and Times Survey. However, in the same survey, only 1 per cent of Catholics defined themselves as unionists; 54 per cent answered nationalist.
Critics claim that Robinson’s real pitch is to UUP and Alliance supporters, who may be wooed by his moderate language. “Although we have been very successful, we must not be smug or complacent,” he remarked. “Just recall how quickly other parties have fallen from power.”
Nationalist commentator Brian Feeney has interpreted Robinson’s rhetoric as a message to his traditionalist supporters i.e. to back down on hard-line stances as he seeks to grow the DUP base.
The First Minister’s speech was particularly heartfelt when paying tribute to Channing Day and David Black. “Nothing can bring them back,” he stated, “but no-one can erase the lives they lived nor the service they have given.”
He was frustrated by Sinn Féin calls for a border poll and nationalist criticism of changes at Stormont. “It’s as if they believe I am hatching a cunning plan to return to the 1930s,” Robinson lamented. “I’ve been around politics long enough to know that if any significant part of this community is disaffected then none of us wins.”
Unionist unease at working with Sinn Féin was also acknowledged: “The answer’s simple: it’s really not about us; it’s about making life better for the people we represent.” History, though, would not be re-written with Robinson stating that “none of the problems in our society required a single life to be taken.”
With no election planned until 2014, criticism of other parties was lighter than usual. Instead, the media was blamed for a “diet of defeatism” and Robinson went on to list the Executive’s achievements, in the first step of his PR offensive.
Several of these have been listed at previous conferences e.g. no water charges, freezes on regional rates and student fees, free travel, and jobs from overseas trade missions. Others required support from the Coalition Government, including relief for Presbyterian Mutual Society savers and an end to 50:50 police recruitment.
Robinson took the greatest pride in talking up Belfast’s “impressive reputation as an IT hub and key financial trading centre,” the opening of Titanic Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre, the Irish Open, and Northern Ireland’s roles in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London 2012.
DUP conferences tend to have a family atmosphere and members demonstrated warm support for Sammy Brush with two standing ovations. Dungannon Borough Council’s vote to support the early release of Gerry McGeough (convicted of Brush’s attempted murder) caused deep offence. “He’s not only a victim but a hero,” Maurice Morrow said of his friend.
The DUP’s tight discipline gives it an advantage over many other parties but the party was also willing to allow a team of academic researchers to survey their members on their reasons for joining, their activism for the party and their personal views.
Several members would have been uncomfortable with last year’s MTV Music Awards and perhaps Pubs of Ulster’s presence at the conference. William McCrea did not round off Robinson’s speech in song. The party, though, did re-affirm its conservative views and MEP Diane Dodds launched a funding guide for churches.
Robinson wants to eventually create one large unionist party, as had been the case until the late 1960s. Ian Paisley Senior, though, is sceptical, partly because the DUP started off as a small, anti-establishment party. In the 2011 Assembly election, the DUP gained 62.5 per cent of the unionist vote, the UUP gained 27.6 per cent, and 9.9 per cent of unionists chose independents or other parties.
Reconciliation with Tories?
DUP strategists are seeking to capitalise on the distance between the UUP and Conservatives, hence the party’s invitation to Theresa Villiers. The new Secretary of State praised the DUP for being “at the forefront of the campaign to keep our currency and defend our sovereignty from encroachment from Brussels.”
Euro-scepticism is helping to build up allies among Tory backbenchers but the party also has, more often, joined with Labour to oppose spending cuts. The Public Whip website states that the DUP’s eight MPs voted ‘en bloc’ 36 times between the general election and this year’s conference. The DUP parliamentary party voted with Labour on 20 occasions compared to eight times for Coalition Government policy. However, there were also 75 divisions when no DUP MPs were present and 73 when only one participated. Members from the devolved nations often abstain from votes on English matters.
