Arlene, Edwin, her replacement and his replacement as leader of the DUP

gmisk

Arlene Foster to step down as leader of the DUP https://jrnl.ie/5422054

I honestly think the replacements are a lot lot worse....Poots makes Foster look liberal

10000maniacs

The DUP's house of cards is falling down now. Unionism is in for a torrid few years.

gmisk

gmisk wrote: »

Arlene Foster to step down as leader of the DUP https://jrnl.ie/5422054

I honestly think the replacements are a lot lot worse....Poots makes Foster look liberal

When Foster, Donaldson, and even Paisley Jr come across as the pragmatic ones who might even listen before saying no then you know you’re in trouble.

banie01

Arlene's last roll of the dice, failed!

https://twitter.com/banie01/status/1387426013886439427?s=19

realdanbreen

McMurphy wrote: »

She's gone.

Stepped down apparently.

Edit, link here.

https://news.sky.com/story/arlene-foster-to-step-down-as-dup-leader-and-northern-irelands-first-minister-she-tells-sky-news-12289489

We'll never forget you Charlene!

FrancieBrady

'She wasn't the worst'...never a truer word spoken I fear.

gmisk

[Deleted User] wrote: »

When Foster, Donaldson, and even Paisley Jr come across as the pragmatic ones who might even listen before saying no then you know you’re in trouble.

I honestly think the DUP are in trouble in general.
People are starting to finally shift away from the DUP (and to a lesser extent sinn fein) to more moderate parties like the alliance (it helps that they have an extremely capable and erudite leader) and the SDLP.
Also demographics are changing slowly towards NI having more Catholics than protestants
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43823506

Obviously that doesn't mean more votes for sinn fein etc, but I don't know any Catholics who vote for the DUP.

awec

Vicxas wrote: »

Is this bad or good? I read that the fella odds on to replace her is far more hard-line than her.

Almost everyone in the DUP is more hard line than her.

McMurphy

briany

awec wrote: »

Almost everyone in the DUP is more hard line than her.

Scary.

For Forks Sake

For Forks Sake wrote: »

What about this forward-thinking chap?

https://www.irishnews.com/news/2013/07/03/news/dup-bids-to-ban-drink-at-beer-festival-64047/

No alcohol served during Oktoberfest?

That's just the Wurst.

circadian

Grand, they're already losing any semblance of a moderate base already, a shift to someone more fundamental should hurry that along nicely.

realdanbreen

briany wrote: »

Scary.

Not really. I've always maintained that whatever chance republicans had of forcing Britain out of the 6 counties, the Loyalists have no chance of forcing Britain back into the 6 counties once the Brits finally decide to ditch them.

Ferm001

Going by some of the commentators this morning, DUP fear losing more extreme base to the TUV than they do losing moderates to Alliance.

gmisk

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1387317267709546503?s=19


Utterly clueless....and he is the political editor for ITV....

briany

realdanbreen wrote: »

Not really. I've always maintained that whatever chance republicans had of forcing Britain out of the 6 counties, the Loyalists have no chance of forcing Britain back into the 6 counties once the Brits finally decide to ditch them.

If a UI were to happen, maybe they could modify the clause about constitutional change by saying there could be another poll if the demographics were ever to swing back in the favour of British Unionism, with the proviso that it would be a poll in two jurisdictions (like the current border poll is), the six counties of NI and another one in GB. Even if the NI one passed, the GB one would return a big 'thanks, but no thanks.'. So, yeah, if and when they're no longer in the UK, they're out of it for good.

briany

None of you asked for it, but here's Jamie Bryson's take

https://twitter.com/JamieBrysonCPNI/status/1387433348663029761

Not that Bryson ever had much of a mask to slip off, but plainly stating that Unionism ought to be against the GFA is really laying the cards out on the table.

FrancieBrady

briany wrote: »

None of you asked for it, but here's Jamie Bryson's take

https://twitter.com/JamieBrysonCPNI/status/1387433348663029761

Not that Bryson ever had much of a mask to slip off, but plainly stating that Unionism ought to be against the GFA is really laying the cards out on the table.

I honestly don't know where else the DUP can go now. He is probably right, his mindset has the controls.

gmisk

briany wrote: »

None of you asked for it, but here's Jamie Bryson's take

https://twitter.com/JamieBrysonCPNI/status/1387433348663029761

Not that Bryson ever had much of a mask to slip off, but plainly stating that Unionism ought to be against the GFA is really laying the cards out on the table.

As you say there was no mask to slip with him, he was and is a big UVF fan.

10000maniacs

Some outlets are saying Edwin Poots will be elected as leader.
Poots comes from world he believes to be less than 10,000 years old - where a woman's role has traditionally been to take care of the children and make the tea in the Orange hall for the men returning from a hard days marching.
When Foster was elected as leader in 2016, he quipped that her greatest achievement was as a mother to her kids.
True or not, a very sexist thing to say.

rockatansky

We really need Joe Biden to hammer home to Boris Johnston during his visit to the UK that there can be no deviation from the Good Friday agreement under any circumstances.

padd b1975

10000maniacs wrote: »

Some outlets are saying Edwin Poots will be elected as leader.
Poots comes from world he believes to be less than 10,000 years old - where a woman's role has traditionally been to take care of the children and make the tea in the Orange hall for the men returning from a hard days marching.
When Foster was elected as leader in 2016, he quipped that her greatest achievement was as a mother to her kids.
True or not, a very sexist thing to say.

Hardly a lone ranger with that mindset in the DUP.

gmisk

10000maniacs wrote: »

Some outlets are saying Edwin Poots will be elected as leader.
Poots comes from world he believes to be less than 10,000 years old - where a woman's role has traditionally been to take care of the children and make the tea in the Orange hall for the men returning from a hard days marching.

He thinks the world is about 6000 years old....
https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/creationist-beliefs-wont-affect-new-role-poots-28492087.html


Good summary of him
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/northern-ireland-edwin-poots-creationist-anti-gay

10000maniacs

gmisk wrote: »

He thinks the world is about 6000 years old....
https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/creationist-beliefs-wont-affect-new-role-poots-28492087.html


Good summary of him
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/northern-ireland-edwin-poots-creationist-anti-gay

I suppose he will be a lamb to the slaughter in any debate. Just throw that flat Earth stuff back at him and he has lost the debate.
He will be a United Ireland's greatest ally (obviously unintentionally).

Tyrone212

briany wrote: »

None of you asked for it, but here's Jamie Bryson's take

https://twitter.com/JamieBrysonCPNI/status/1387433348663029761

Not that Bryson ever had much of a mask to slip off, but plainly stating that Unionism ought to be against the GFA is really laying the cards out on the table.

We're scared a border poll may happen and even more scared we might lose so we want no part in democracy when it goes against us. We want to go back to the glory days of apartheid, were individual merits didn't matter, if you were orange you were winning...

hometruths

Tyrone212 wrote: »

We're scared a border poll may happen and even more scared we might lose so we want no part in democracy when it goes against us. We want to go back to the glory days of apartheid, were individual merits didn't matter, if you were orange you were winning...

I think you might be right. As long as unionism showed the kind of poll numbers it was in late 90s, the GFA could be tolerated. But now writing is on the wall, so they have no option now other than defying it.

Faugheen

It's mental that Arlene Foster leaving the DUP is bad news.

What's more mental that I think most didn't realise just how moderate she is (in DUP terms) until these last few days.

Baseball72

Arlene joined the DUP from the "original " Unionist party of David Trimble etc.....I think the main contenders to take over would be much more hard line than Arlene could ever have been.

Kermit.de.frog

...

MadYaker

suicide_circus wrote: »

True but the visceral hatred on display here....

Visceral hatred is a bit much I haven't seen any of that. The DUP are the target of ire here, not unionists or northern irish people.