Eye on the Hill

Merry Protests and a happy redundancy notice

So here it is merry Xmas,
Everybody's burning cars,
Look to the future, and
Unemployment in our bars...
(Sung to the tune of Slade’s “Merry Xmas Everybody")

So in Christmas 2012 and while the Mayan prediction for the end of the world has yet to come to pass, the prospect of economic growth, once the 'flegship' policy of the Northern Ireland Executive, lies limp on the flagpole of unfettered protests.

And after seven hours of talks, our political leaders managed a few short paragraphs of the strictly bland variety. No doubt Messers Robinson and McGuinness worked marvels on their trips abroad but can one see foreign direct investors rushing to set up shop here as protests paralyse our ‘wee country’.

Tonight, more protests are planned with the intention of bringing much of the country to a standstill. For the thousands flying home for the festive season, there must be a temptation to hop right back on to the return flight.

For those of us who remember the worst of the dark days, we know that this is but an inconvenience, compared to the 70's, 80's and early 90's. But in a connected, social media world of 2012 it is a sure thing that the image of masked protestors has been seen in every far flung corner.

The leaders of the mainstream unionist parties may wring their hands but for more than a dozen days of protests they have not been able to put the genie back in the bottle.

At a time when polling showed significant support for the status quo, all that has been achieved has been confusion amongst our political leaders and despair from the business man and woman. At a time when bars, restaurants and shops should be counting profits during the economic downturn they are counting cancellations and over-stocked shelves.

Protesters have talked about an erosion of British identity as if it was a rock to worn down by the attrition of nationalist wind and rain.

The irony of course is that the educational under-achievement in many 'working class' areas of Northern Ireland, particularly Belfast, means that the very protestors, and their neighbours on the other side of the interface, are ill-equipped to ride out the maelstrom of economic maladies.

Maybe there is a silent wish from some of our leaders that the Mayan prophecy would have saved them a lot of hassle in 2013...

And a very happy holiday to you all

ALL of us at Chambré Public Affairs wish you a very Merry Christmas, festive good wishes and a happy New Year.

So long as the Mayans are wrong, we'll see you all in 2013, when we will once again be at your service for professional public affairs and communications support. And, remember, as the song says, ‘things can only get better’.

No virus found in this message.