Martin McGuinness has resigned as Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister

[BrendanT1993]

so this is my first topic here and as someone from Northern Ireland am curious to see what everyone in England thinks about this and the RHI scandal in general, do you guys know about it. Is it being reported in the papers there?

 

https://twitter.com/markdevenport/status/818469829036441600

Letter Part 1

https://twitter.com/markdevenport/status/818469941020131328

Letter Part 2

 

 

I don't blame Martin for resigning. Whatever his past, he has served well, with dignity, charm, attentiveness and great patience. I suspect that he has regarded this present phase of his life with some pride, but his past with some regret. We are all entitled to grow, to have pasts, presents and futures accordingly to what moves us, what experiences we encounter and what hopes we have for a better time and place.

 

He has been treated shabbily by the First Minister.

 

The big problem has been with the DUP failing to buy into the ethos behind the Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement. They have always seen this place as theirs to the exclusion of others. They might deny that, but this episode is illustrative of that fact. I've been posting about the dated notions they have about Ascendancy, and failing to recognise that Ascendancy is over, done, dead! In this instance, it was led to them wanting everything their own way, failing to share vital information with their Executive colleagues, and failing to admit to mistakes they have made and compounded. I don't know why anyone would vote for them, but people do. I've good friends within that party who would like to see it change, but at this time, I believe they are losing the battle. My sympathies lie with them. They feel they have to support Arlene, but fail to recognise that she has become a liability to the future of her party, and possibly to the stability of this unresolved place. I despair.