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If anyone is actually interested in why we are where we are in Northern Ireland, they should take a wee look at how chunks of the "peace money" that flowed in after the GFA were, literally, hi-jacked by the DUP and SF. (1/)
After they became the two largest parties they carved lots of it up between them, ensuring that it went to client projects. What this - ironically - meant was that the grip of the paramilitaries (or their political successors in nationalist areas) was tightened. (2/)
So money which was intended to prise those deprived communities away from the control of ex-combatants instead reinforced it. That& #39;s not to say that some of those projects haven& #39;t in themselves carried out good work -as did lots of others who got funding and did great things (3/)
The problem is that chunks of the "peace"money was spent on projects chosen and driven by those ex-combatants (and sometimes not so "ex") employing those they approved. The "faceless men" of post partition unionist hegemony are still with us, they just have different faces. 4/
So whether it& #39;s the DUP& #39;s cosy relationship with the "Loyalist Communities Council" or Sinn Fein& #39;s ongoing woes in Derry, the same thing is the cause - the faceless men and women who want to retain control and power and the damage that has done to the people they represent (5/)
So if you wonder why there is so much unrest in working class loyalist communities or why the dissidents have such a toe-hold in parts of Derry, ask yourself why those places are still so poor, years on from the promises of equality and prosperity of the GFA (6/)
"Faceless men" are, of course, standard imperial practice and any proper decolonisation process would address this kind of structural corruption. You have to admit that you are or were a colony, mind you, for such a process to get underway. (7/)
Anyway, if you want to know what& #39;s a major factor in the crumbling of the peace process in NI - as much as is Brexit, you should look at this. Because they are both symptoms of the same problem. (8/)
Brexit is a direct consequence of the Brits thinking they still have an empire and believing that empire is a good thing. Northern Ireland is its last colony: until we address and rectify that, nothing, in the end, will really change. That& #39;s the lesson of the last 5 years. (end)
