The Nelson Plan

Posted on May 27, 2012 by stephennicholl What makes the Girdwood proposals so important in the future development of Northern Ireland? Let us start by first debunking the idea that this proposal is about a shared future, it is not. Through many years of negotiation the DUP and SF have arrived at a solution that both can live with, for now. There remains in these proposals a peace-line dividing the two communities, albeit that the vertical walls of the past have been replaced with the horizontal barriers of sports pitches and buildings. We can also be certain that the proposals for this site have only been agreed as part of a wider strategy of social engineering in North Belfast. At the heart of these proposals is Mr Nelson McCausland, Minister of Social Development and avowed supporter of the concept of benign apartheid as an alternate to the development of community relations in Northern Ireland. With control of housing in Northern Ireland he has started the process of dismantling the framework of a shared society to develop a system where two communities co-exist independently and hatred and mistrust is managed rather than addressed. Such a system suits the DUP where the politics of fear drives forward their every move, it also suits Sinn Fein since the concept of single party rule within Nationalism is as attractive to them as single party rule within Unionism is to the DUP. The SDLP are reviewing their support for the Girdwood plan, the Ulster Unionist Party must do likewise. The Alliance Party have prematurely walked from discussions on CSI and have left the stage. We either accept the future as defined by Nelson McCausland that meets his needs for the next election or we robustly defend the shared future we are honour bound to deliver for the next generation.