I see people on Slugger O’Toole are again beating the drum for a Civic Forum.

One of the great problems that the LetsGetAlongerists have with the post-Good Friday politics is that they are not part of it. Indeed that’s the same problem that I have with the process. It would be wonderful if we had a government led by people like me. I am a very nice person. And LetsGetAlongerists consider themselves to be even nicer than me.

Unfortunately the two parties with the most votes in Norn Iron are DUP and Sinn Féin. I am sure some are very nice people…but obviously not as nice as me and not as nice as the LetsGetAlongerists.

So as they ant agree on forming a government, some think that Democracy doesn’t work and it would be a brilliant idea to have an even more undemocratic institution…a Civic Forum …as long as it is made up of very nice people…like er them.

Civic Society sounds great and who could disagree with an old dear running a charity shop in Coleraine being empowered.

Yet a Civic Forum would only empower the people who run these organisations rather than the Tom, Dick and Harriets on the ground.

Lets face it….if a Vichy-style puppet regime is ever formed to run Norn Iron while the democratic process is not working (all juntas say that don’t they?), we could all write out a list of ten names who would jump at the chance. And we would be right about six or seven.

Cometh the Hour, cometh the Spoofers.