February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
But in an end-of-year “report card” article in today’s Irish Echo, Reiss warned that two “worrisome” issues loom: the crisis within Irish unionism, and that of policing.
Reiss hailed the IRA decision to destroy its weapons and stand itself down as “a truly great moment for the peace process.” He stressed, however, that “we still have some way to travel.”
Reiss pointed to a crisis of confidence in unionism. Many of the unionists who rioted in September are poorly educated, have bleak employment prospects and feel alienated from the political process, he said.
Others are nostalgic for the “good old days” of Protestant ascendancy, and feel the British government has conceded too much to nationalists, he said.
And he added: “Unionism needs to do more to prepare itself and its members for a time when … they can take ‘yes’ for an answer and stand up in the Stormont Assembly.”
But Reiss reserved his harshest words for Sinn F