As the Catholic Herald went to press, it was unclear whether Theresa May would formalise a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Such a pact, given the DUP’s 10 Westminster MPs, would allow May to claim a working parliamentary majority. Downing Street first issued a statement saying that they had an agreement, then issued a retraction shortly afterwards.
The general expectation is for a limited agreement, on which the DUP will vote for a Queen’s Speech and some other bills, in exchange for Tory policy pledges. But whatever emerges, the DUP negotiations have revealed serious disagreements about Irish history, sectarianism and social conservatism – disagreements no less keenly felt among Catholics as everyone else.
Two opposing sides dominate the intra-Catholic debate. One sees the DUP as a sinister organisation, still stained by its sectarian past and unsavoury associations – to say nothing of the questions around its financial dealings.
Another believes that the DUP has set aside its history, and is today acceptable to Catholics – more than acceptable, since it defends the lives of unborn children, and its MPs voted against the redefinition of marriage.
Given the context of last week’s election – in which half-a-dozen pro-life stalwarts lost their seats – these issues are at the top of many Catholics’ immediate political concerns.
They were certainly the DUP policies which received most coverage, from the media and others. Jeremy Corbyn told Pink News that “LGBT rights are human rights. They must not be sold out by Theresa May and the Conservatives as they try to cling to power with the DUP.” Sir Michael Fallon told the Andrew Marr Programme that the Tories “do not agree and do not have to agree with any of their views on any of these social issues and I certainly don’t.”
But the row over abortion and marriage isn’t the only reason the DUP are controversial. Their positions on these issues are fairly mainstream in Northern Ireland. Greg Daly of the Irish Catholic points out that “to deny them a place in government on the basis of their views is, in practice, to say that the Northern Irish have no place in the governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
Daly is more concerned about the implications for Northern Ireland’s power-sharing agreement. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the ministerial posts are shared among the larger parties. “By becoming dependent on the support of one Northern Irish community,” Daly says, “the Government would be abandoning its duty under the Good Friday Agreement to exercise its jurisdiction in Northern Ireland ‘with rigorous impartiality’”.
This could alienate Catholics and nationalists – at a time when Northern Ireland parties are at loggerheads. Sinn Fein want DUP leader Arlene Foster to resign; she has refused. There are allegations about the DUP’s financial dealings. Nobody can agree on a way forward, which makes power-sharing impossible; Northern Ireland minister James Brokenshire is saying that it may be necessary for Westminster to impose direct rule. And now the DUP may suddenly be granted a huge negotiating advantage.
If nationalists and Catholics are worried about the DUP, that has partly to do with the party’s links to the Ulster Defence Association. This loyalist paramilitary group, founded in 1971, carried out hundreds of killings, mostly of Catholic civilians.
After a recent murder linked to a UDA breakaway group, Arlene Foster said the UDA “and every paramilitary organisation should be out of existence”. But she was criticised for not directly challenging the UDA leadership.
The disagreements among Catholics reflect the simple fact that they have different political priorities. For some, the first place goes to what Cardinal Carlo Caffarra has called “the ultimate and terrible challenge which Satan is hurling at God” – the attempt to construct an anti-religion whose creed includes abortion and gay marriage. For others, this is too narrow a set of concerns: the faith has to be preached in its fullness, even if that disrupts strategic allegiances with Protestants. For these groups and those of us in between, the DUP deal has brought more fundamental disagreements to the surface.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.