Standing to deliver

Chris Donegan • Published 15 Apr 2010 10:47 0 Comments

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Westminster Election 2010

Is there anyone in Northern Ireland who has not been exasperated and frustrated by the failure of our politicians to do what they were elected to do?

For people who profess to practice the "art of the possible" politicians can at times make the simple seem almost impossible.

As a political correspondent with UTV Fearghal McKinney locked horns with our politicians on many occasions and tackled them about their failure to deliver. Now he aspires to join them - and deliver.

It was a surprise to many when Mr. McKinney came out of the newsroom closet as a politician but he says he had always harboured the idea of becoming involved at some stage.

He believes that many of our current crop of politicians have been born out of the deep sectarian divisions within our society and that people with analytical skills such as teachers, lawyers and yes, journalists, should become involved.

"I always thought that could happen, and why couldn't it be me, and lead by example," he says.

He was on the front line during the Troubles, on one occasion arriving on the scene within seconds of a bomb explosion in Enniskillen that claimed the life of a police officer and later giving an emotional and moving account of the dying officer's last breath. He has been to the funerals, spoken to the grieving relatives and covered the political reaction.

"I'm just so glad we have a largely peaceful backdrop and what we have to do is capitalise on that and look forward to a shared future and not a divided one," he stresses.

There is a bus load of his journalistic colleagues who will tell him the unionists have turned Fermanagh and South Tyrone into a sectarian dog fight and that the man in the middle could get bitten.

But Mr. McKinney hopes the electorate will look beyond the orange and green because he believes that if they don't they will be facing death by a thousand cuts in terms of public spending and job losses.

"The real issue is the swingeing cutbacks and job cuts there will be in the wake of the election," he argues. "We have seen the depth of feeling there is in this community about the potential job losses at Quinn's. We could be facing a whole range of others which the local administration will be able to do little about."

He believes that means arguing your case at Westminster.

"You need to be there and stand up against the cuts," insists Mr. McKinney.

He points out that Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew follows party policy and has never taken her seat at Westminster since being elected MP for the area in 2001.

"Why would you vote for somebody that won't vote for you (in Westminster)," he asks.

He also points out that Rodney Connor is standing as an independent but has agreed to take the Conservative whip. If the Conservatives form the next Government they will expect him to support any cuts in public spending they propose.

Which is why Mr. McKinney believes people should consider voting against the potential for community division this election provides and cuts in public spending by voting for him.

But would it make any difference, given that there are 650 MPs at Westminster and power rests with major political parties?

Mr. McKinney believes it has in the past and that the SDLP "could make a difference again" when it comes to major votes at Westminster.

"We need a strong voice to maximise the potential for fighting the cuts and to get the basic infrastructure right in this area. Our roads system, communications, broadband and mobile phones are a disgrace," he adds.

He would like to see the tourist industry developed, rural poverty alleviated, health, mental health and social issues tackled.

"It's about having a vision and telling people it's possible. I believe all that is do-able, and what are we talking about: Protestant and Catholic. We can't end up losing out on a lot of this because of the potential for polarisation," he emphasises.

"There are a lot of people who won't like the fact that division and polarisation are creeping back into this community. This community has come on enormously in the past 10 years. It's well up the road and we don't want to start looking back at the past," he maintains.

"We need to provide people with a very credible alternative when it comes to placing their vote. That is, saying no to division and the inevitable job cuts that are coming down the road. That's what people wake up to every morning," he adds.

He wants voters going into the polling booth to think "first and foremost" about their jobs, whether they are bright orange or forty shades of green, because he would like to represent all colours and shades of opinion.

"I can't say I represent everybody in the community and not welcome votes from across the community. It is about sending a signal out that you do not want division," says Mr. McKinney.

There is an apparently growing apathy and disillusionment among those voters who have exorcised their orange and green demons and no longer feel compelled to visit a polling station on May 6.

"It's worrying," admits Mr. McKinney.

However, he is encouraged by the support he received from young people on a walk through Enniskillen.

"Young people were coming up to me and telling me why it was important for me to stand. It was great," he says.

"I think kids are more focused on a reconciled and prosperous future," he adds.

So if he becomes the Right Honourable Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone what legacy would he like to leave the electorate?

He says he would like people to feel that he represented all of them with one voice and in doing so strengthened their ability to achieve the better roads, communications, etc., they had previously been denied.

"It would be the community looking back in five years and saying: 'We did the right thing,'" concludes Mr. McKinney.

Profile:

Fearghal McKinney is 47, the son of Dennis and Bridie McKinney, from Enniskillen. His father was managing director of the former Kent Plastics factory in the town. Fearghal attended St. Michael's College in Enniskillen and went on Jordanstown Polytechnic where he studied to be a social worker but left before completing a course to pursue his first love, journalism, at the College of Business Studies in Belfast.

He joined the editorial team at The Impartial Reporter around 1983 or 1984 and after five years with the newspaper moved to the newsroom at Downtown.

After five years with the radio station he went to UTV and over the course of the following 15 years became a familiar face as a television reporter and presenter. He became a political correspondent with UTV and had his own programme, The Issue, which was based on current affairs but also dealt with political issues.

Since being made redundant from UTV in February 2009 he became involved in digital broadcasting and worked for Fermanagh.tv on the internet.

What spare time he has these days is spent with the family or a bleary-eyed browse through whatever book comes to hand on the bedside locker.

Fearghal is married to Maire, from Rasharkin in North Antrim, and they live in Belfast with their three daughters: Kate (12), Anna (10) and Martha (4).

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Apr 10

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