What about "my people" and "my community"?

What is all this nonsence about loyalist exceptionalism? That they are experiencing special difficulties and therefore require special treatment. That they are "unheard", "unrepresented" and "left behind". This is all rampant make-believe babble. This may sound harsh, but I will explain later. Before that let's look at Henry McDonald and Alex Kane who recently spoke about Northern Ireland's self-appointed mouthpieces.

The Guardian's Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald (@henrymcdonald) wrote a piece in the Belfast Telegraph (@beltel), 'Why are 'spokesmen' with no mandate like Winston Irvine and Jamie Bryson allowed on the BBC as if they were elected representatives?' Of the self-appointed mouthpieces he said:

"The first question that came to mind listening to this was: in what way was the "community" opinion Irvine proposed to represent gauged, tested, or analysed over this controversy?

The two worlds of Northern Ireland, Ctd Pale orange and green

Pete Shirlow of QUB wrote here:

"With secularisation there is a growing ‘1690 what do you mean’ group that is similar to the ‘1916 what do you mean’ group in the South... There is a growth in people who feel politics is too sectarian or too nationalist. They are operating a civic-shared identity through their lifestyle. They will socialise together, intermarry, go to gigs together. They are in many ways – but not completely – sectarian blind, or tradition blind... It was primarily within the unionist electorate but from my observations it is starting to grow within the nationalist community. It is neither unionist nor Irish, it is identity-less, at most pale Orange or Green."

Read me blog on professor John Brewer who said that the silent majority needs to reclaim the peace process here. My blog on Fionualla Meredith who said people need to speak up and pound the streets here. My blog following Richard Haass comment that a majority want peace is here. My previous posts in "The Two Worlds of Northern Ireland" series here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Richard Haass - Understand who is behind your political adversary

In a discussion here from 2011, Dr Richard Haass talks about the peace process in Northern Ireland. He said:

"In any negotiation, it's not enough to look behind you at maintaining your own domestic position, you've also go to look behind your adversary and ask yourself what he has to do to maintain his domestic position. In a funny sort of way negotiations only succeed if each side to some extent becomes an implicit partner of the other side."