Irish Examiner view: We must not return to failed politics of 'Ulster says no'

New DUP leader Edwin Poots has already put himself in direct conflict with the Irish Government and the EU

Edwin Poots has said that his priority as DUP leader will be to get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed between the UK and the EU. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The elevation of Edwin Poots to the position of leader of the Democratic Unionist Party marks a move to the extreme right in Northern politics and risks a return to the failed politics of ‘Ulster Says No’. 

The signs are already ominous, with Mr Poots insisting that his priority as party leader will be to get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed between the UK and the EU. 

Indeed, he goes further than that. As minister for agriculture, one of his roles is to implement the protocol, but he has already indicated that he will refuse to do so, putting him in direct conflict with the Irish Government and the EU.

As foreign affairs minister, Simon Coveney is the Cabinet member most likely to be engaging with Mr Poots on a day-to-day basis.

Things will be a little more complicated for him than they were in his dealings with Arlene Foster, as Mr Poots says he intends to split the roles of party leader and Stormont first minister, with the same person not being allowed to hold both positions.

Bizarre views

Mr Coveney will also have his work cut out to negotiate with a divisive figure who holds the most extreme and often bizarre views. 

Mr Poots is a young earth creationist and rejects the theory of evolution. In an interview with BBC presenter William Crawley, when asked how old the earth was, Mr Poots replied: "My view on the earth is that it's a young earth. My view is 4,000BC".

Mr Poots is also close to the Caleb Foundation, a powerful creationist pressure group in the North set up in 1998. It succeeded in having its theories included at a visitors' centre at the Giant's Causeway, among them that the causeway is not 60m years old, as geologists have proven, but evidence of Noah’s flood.

Controversy

As health minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, Mr Potts also evoked major controversy when he insisted on maintaining a lifetime ban on gay men donating blood in the North as the rules were relaxed in the rest of the UK. 

He told the BBC: "I think that people who engage in high-risk sexual behaviour, in general, should be excluded from giving blood.” 

He then enraged anti-racism activists when he added: "So someone who has sex with somebody in Africa or sex with prostitutes, I am very reluctant about those people being able to give blood." 

Also as health minister in the North, he fought the ruling to bring laws around LGBT adoption in line with other parts of the UK.

Mr Poots utters absurdities about all manner of things. Last October, he declared that the incidence of coronavirus was six times higher in nationalist areas than in unionist ones. He later tested positive for the virus himself, becoming the first NI Executive minister to do so.

Despite his extreme views, Mr Poots has promised to work with all parties, including Sinn Féin. He is said to be an astute politician and it may be that he pivots, like his predecessor, Ian Paisley. For years, Dr Paisley said 'no' to power sharing with Sinn Féin but, eventually, he said 'yes'.