In the past few weeks we have witnessed some of the worst violence in unionist areas in decades. The scores of incidents including the burning of cars and buses, gunfire and the throwing of blast bombs, petrol bombs, and so on were well reported on our TV screens.
Unfortunate then, and some might say deliberate, that the media paid less attention to the fact that this was the culmination of five or six weeks of sustained and orchestrated attacks by unionist paramilitaries on Catholics, their homes, business property, schools and chapels.
This fresh upsurge of sectarian violence came in the immediate aftermath of the historic IRA statement formally ending its campaign and stating to its volunteers that there is a solely political way forward. The initiative was universally welcomed by all those interested in peace and moving the political process forward.
All except the unionist leaders who seem to get more frantic, the more peace and politics gets bedded in.
But should we be surprised. James Molyneaux, former Ulster Unionist leader, once described the IRA cessation of military activity in 1994 as the most destabilising event to happen since partition. We hear similar sentiments from unionist leaders today. Ian Paisley's message today is an echo of Molyneaux's message from ten years ago.
We all make the occasional mistake of lamenting the "unionist lack of leadership". Regrettably it is worse than that. The unionist leadership is a negative, dangerous and bad one. It's a leadership that objects to housing in nationalist areas, blocks planning applications by Irish medium schools or GAA organisations, and demands anti-Catholic parades are forced through catholic areas. A leadership that generates the atmosphere for violence, and then, when it occurs, excuses it as the result of some imaginary concession to nationalists, as a response to "the straw that broke the camels back".
That's why we had sectarian bigots blocking the primary school girls of Holy Cross going to school. That's why we have had protests against Catholics going to mass in Harryville. That's why we have had catholic graves vandalised in Carnmoney. That's why we have had the avalanche of violence, which followed the re-routing of an Orange parade on the Springfield Road on September 10, with all its accompanying excuses.
And, of course, this is also why we have had silence from these same unionist leaders in response to sectarian attacks in North Antrim, Larne and North Belfast, silence about the LVF/UVF feud and about families being exiled from the Lower Shankill or Garnerville estates.
And then they expect us all to fall in behind a bogus rationale for all of this. They try to explain away this violence as a consequence of nationalists benefiting more from the peace process, as a result of unionist areas suffering higher levels of deprivation than nationalist areas.
Challenged with the facts they move onto the ground of "perceptions about deprivation". In other words, never mind the facts. Never mind the fact that of the 10 most deprived wards in the North of Ireland, 7 are predominately nationalist, 2 are mixed and one is mainly unionist. The most affluent wards are unionists.
There is of course deprivation and poverty right across the community in working-class areas and it must be tackled but this is not the root cause of recent violence.
What sparked the latest sectarian violence was the demand that a sectarian march be forced through a catholic neighbourhood. Maybe some unionist leader could help us here – maybe one of them could explain how such a march would help alleviate deprivation.
The truth is that unionist politicians have created a political vacuum, which is now being filled by violence. The DUP leadership has "no dialogue" as a basic tenet of their political program for the future.
They use spurious arguments for this philosophy around "not talking to terrorists". They sit shoulder to shoulder on forums with those involved in sectarian violence, drug dealing and racketeering. They allow or encourage them to set the agenda, political and social and then hide behind them throwing their hands up.
In truth they are sitting down, in unity, with the biggest threat to peace and stability in this island and in local districts. I, like others, refer to them as "loyalist" areas yet the loyalists get minimal votes. These are unionist areas where people overwhelmingly vote unionist. The majority vote DUP. It is fair to take from that they have the backing of the vast majority in these areas. They have the power and influence.
When, then, will we see DUP politicians on the street holding back those attacking Catholic areas and facing down paramilitarism destroying unionist working-class areas from within? When will they cross that easy bridge to dialogue? When will we hear from them that the power and wealth which has rested for generations in the hands of the unionist establishment must be shared by all? When will we hear them champion equality instead of promoting bogus arguments about the location of deprivation?
So, let's hear no more from unionist leaders about their community having no voice. Unionist leaders are the voice of their community. That is their job. The time for excuses is past. What the community they represent is entitled to and what we all want to hear is some positive and mature political leadership from unionism.
