The fallout from an assembly failure would be felt around the globe,and the peace process is one of Ireland’s greatest assets. But who will nurture it?In his 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates, Daniel Defoe described pirates running a ship’s ladder out over the Mediterranean, and then telling their captives they were free to go. All they had to effect was walk out over the waves. The concept of walking the plank is nothing recent to Northern Irish politics. The events of the past few weeks have brought a host of unwilling captives to the mythical toe-along: Peter Robinson,David Cameron, Theresa Villiers, or Enda Kenny,Martin McGuinness and even the ghost of Ian Paisley.
The prospect is that there might be the rather large splash of the Northern Ireland assembly into the water, an event that would have immense ramifications not only for Britain and Ireland but for various peace processes around the world.
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Source: theguardian.com