Late on the Thursday night going into Good Friday 1998, Ian Paisley Senior marched up Prince of Wales Avenue and held an impromptu news conference in the media portacabin outside the gates of Castle Buildings, where the other parties worked through the night to agree what was to be revealed the next afternoon as the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement.
I was in the UTV studios in Belfast, keen to speak to him. I was also unaware that when he popped into our remote studio at Stormont, he had been “hijacked” by UTV operatives as he made his way from the media portacabin to be interviewed by Sky TV – something Dr Paisley made reference to when we spoke.
The interview took place around 1:00am. By 7:00, UTV’s Newsroom had taken a call suggesting they might be interested in some graffiti which had appeared overnight in west Belfast.
Dr Paisley was as under-impressed by my line of questioning as he was with being “hijacked”. “Go to your bed, Mr Nesbitt,” he exhorted, “you need some rest.” Doctor’s orders!
I AM STANDING FOR PARLIAMENT
I am the Ulster Unionist nominee for Strangford in this year’s General Election. Soon, I hope that translates into my being selected as the agreed Unionist / Conservative (UCUNF) candidate.
Why?
Because I can make a positive difference in people’s day-to-day lives
Why?
Because voters want new names, new ideas, new impetus
Why?
Because I’ve spent my adult life developing the skills to be a succesful public servant
Lets make this election more than the same old, same old sectarian head count.
Lets make it about taking the stabilisers off the political bike and building a better future for everyone.
Lets stop just telling the rest of the UK what they have to do for us, and also show them what we can do for them.
Mike I would like to wish you the very best with your election campaign. It’s long road to victory with lot of ups and downs but you must keep the faith.
Please feel free to call on me if you need any help as I am sure over the next lots of months we all are going to be busy campaign.
Richard Watson
East Belfast Unionist
Richard,
I thank you for your generous comments and look forward to working with you at some time in the near future.
M
Mike,
Why, if you want to make a difference with regards to the same old same old sectarian head count, do you stand for UUP? Surely something new would to be standing as an independent where people would see “real” change and not what seems to be a scramble among Unionists for the Strangford Seat.
Maybe i am wrong, what would i know.
Molly
(Common Sense Activist)
Molly,
I replied but I am not sure you got it ….. apologies, I am doing all this stuff on my own and there was a good reason I used to be in front of the microphone (technically useless!).
While there are some independents in local politics, it’s not a mature tradition for us and I really want to try to make a difference, which means being inside the room, at the table, having a voice when the big decisions are taken.
Plus, I draw a real distinction between a sectarian head count and my standing as an Ulster Unionist – you would be surprised – in fact, I think you would not beleieve – where messages of support have come from.
I hope you will at least give me a chance to prove I am a Common Sense Unionist
Best wishes
M
I hope that you are chosen as a representative of the Ulster Unionist Party.
I think that you will be a breath of fresh air to politics and I wish you every success for the future.
Hi “K” – thank you very much for those kind and encouraging comments.
Best wishes
M
Just to clarify from your comments on Nolan this morning, you aren’t actually a member of the Ulster Unionist Party?
I am now!! In my previous work, as a broadcast journalist or Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, it would not have been appropriate to have been party political. It would have damaged me and the UUP.
Best off luck Mick
I hope you succeed as you deserve it
I am planning the first air ambulance service here and look forward to sending you some info
Stay lucky and good luck from Omagh
Thanks, Kevin.
M
Hi Mike,
Just listened to you on the Stephen Nolan show this morning and wanted to say I wish you all the very best in your new career. I think you will do a good job and I hope all goes well for you. I definitely would vote for you as you seem to have a fresh and positive outlook to the politics in our country and we could all do with that at the present time and in the future.
Once again good luck and please don’t change from the guy I heard this morning with all the “fresh” ideas and hopes for our future.
B Currie
Thank you, Betty. Keep me right!
Best wishes
M
Mike
1/. Why have the postings from Conservatives members on this blog been
2/. removed, please clarify your position, are you standing as a UUP candidate or a Conservatives and Unionists candidate ?
Roger,
I am not aware of anything postings being removed. Perhaps you are referring to the fact it is just taking me some time to moderate and publish all the messages of good will and support, in which case, apologies, but I am a sole worker, and have been swamped by requests for media interviews and simply have not had time to upload all the messages promtly.
As to my status, I believe I am correct in saying I am the UUP nominee to the joint UUP/Conservative committee which will agree the final, agreed list of actual candidates who will stand under the joint Ulster Unionist / Conservative banner. I believe that committee will meet soon, after which the agreed list passes back to the UUP Executive (and perhaps Conservative HQ?) for final approval. If I can clear those two remaining hurldes – if – I shall be a UCUNF candidate.
Hope this clears up your concerns.
M
While I don’t share your political views, I wish you the best. As we say as Gaeilge, go n-éirí leat.
I hope that a person so well versed in the art of communication as yourself can take on board this idea: if unionism means anything, it means that Northern Ireland should be more like Britain in that it tolerates and respects different cultures. In the past UUP politicians have displayed a hostile attitude to the Irish language. Don’t they understand that just as Scots Gaelic is a British language or Welsh is a British language that Irish, as a language spoken in NI, is also ‘British’ and if the UUP can embrace that idea, they can show that they’re a party that can get away from the ‘same old, same sectarian head count’. That doesn’t mean they have to support Irish language translations of official documents – what a waste when they aren’t read in English – it just means that they understand that the Irish language is as much as part of their culture as fish and chips, the mini or the Beatles.
Although I’m a nationalist, I think it is great that someone of your calibre is standing for election. We need more people like you on both sides of the fence.
Ryan
Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate that.
It’s difficult not to be impressed by an Ulster Unionist candidate who can quote Salinger. Although don’t follow another Salinger saying: “It was a very stupid thing to do, I admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it”.
At least your first job as an Ards binman will prepare you for dealing with a load of rubbish. And I don’t just mean my old schoolmate “Finbar” Nolan’s show.
Seriously, whilst I know unionists love nothing more than ripping each other apart, people also need to work together if only for their self-interest.
Good to see you quoting Harold McCusker, can’t believe he’s gone 20 years,
Thanks, I look forward to my next meeting with Stephen Nolan!!
You have stated why you have decided to stand for Westminster but not when or why in Strangford?
Some questions for you:
Can you state frankly when you first approached the UUP / or they approached you to stand as their candidate?
What guarantees did you have from the party and from whom before you decided to resign as a Victims Commissoner?
When did you become a member of the UUP?
At the time you were seeking the nomination did you realise that a hard working established member of the party was in the process of being selected by the constituency association?
I and many party members look forward to your responses.
Tom
Dear Tom,
I typed a reply, which has disappeared, so if you have received it already, apologies for the double-take!
You ask valid questions, to which I would like an opportunity to try to offer answers. It strikes me this can be done either (i) by an exchange of emails or (ii) in person. If we go for (i), experience suggests to me that you will have supplementary questions and we will then embark on a slow, increasingly frustrating process. So, my preference is (ii) and I am offering to meet you, to hear your comments and criticisms and answer your questions as best as I can.
Your call.
Best wishes
M
‘Lets make it about taking the stabilisers off the political bike and building a better future for everyone.’
How?
By committing! At this moment, new borns are being delivered in maternity units and homes around the country. Our challenge as a society is to commit to offering every child requal access to every opportunity possible to discover who they are and what they are to become – George Best, Rory McIlroy, Barry Douglas, Gary Lightbody, Sir Allen McClay, Sir William Hastings. It’s not easy to ask people to build a future, given our violent past – but as Omagh mother said ten years after the atrocity which ripped through her family, it is time to stop trying to build a better past and build a better future.
Best wishes
M
If it were a year ago I would have settled for the removal of Iris Robinson at any cost or way or means.
But doesn’t the DUP want what you want in that regard and the UUP and SDLP etc?
Hi Mr. Nesibtt,
Just dropping you a line wishing you all the best. I watched an online video of your speech to the Young Ulster Unionists conference (I think?) regarding your work at the Victims Commission and found it very thought-provoking, despite the at times brutal subject matter. If you maintain this level of honesty throughout the campaign and beyond then I hope you’re successful!
All the best,
Chris
Dear Mike,
Although I’ve had the privilege of meeting Lynda, we haven’t met, but I want to encourage you in the step you are taking in seeking the UU nomination. I was very impressed with your media comments about a public debate with Iris Robinson, and you showed great sympathy and understanding of her health issues. We need men and women with such grace in politics, and also of your calibre. I hope you go all the way. Thank you for what you have done as a Victim’s Commissioner – an important task in our broken society.
Ken McBride.
Thank you, Ken. I know Lynda admires your work and I hope to meet you soon and see you in action – even though you’re not in Strangford!!
Best wishes
M
Hi Mike
Why not come down to Omagh soon and meet up with the scundered people as you would be the shot in the arm that they need
Hi Mike
As the Youth Officer of the Strangford Constituency Association I would like to congratulate you on your success on becoming the candidate for Strangford. I believe that we the Ulster Unionist Party have the best possible candidate to win this Westminster election. I am looking forward to hearing your political views and most of all I am looking forward to working alongside you and winning this seat back for the people of Strangford. I wish you all the very best Mike and you have my full backing and support 100%.
Katherine Ferguson
Strangford
Sam,
I did reply, but some people did not get their responses – as I am not that technical – which is why they kept me in front of the microphones!
Did you get mine????
Regards
M
[...] Check out the exchanges on his maiden post. [...]
Thank you for answering my post, Mike. Could I ask one more question, the classic selection one. Who do you admire in local, national or international politics and why?
As a non-practising, rather than former journalist, that’s a great queston. As a politician, may I say that while I understand fully why you ask, what the people on the doorstep …….
Harold McCusker, for then, not now.
Winston Churchill, for then, not now.
Too big a question for now.
Sorry to lose you, Bill.
I sat with Trevor Ringland on Friday, and what hit us was this – if we fail, what hope / incentive is there for the next generation to enter politics?
Best wishes
M
Did you get my previous response? If not, happy to send another.
put the slings and arrows off the D.U.P. behind you and do not enter into a slanging match with them
Who is Jeffrey Donaldson to talk when he joined the D.U.P on a Ulster says no ticket and held up progress for four years to now embrace all that he protested about
me thinks they do protest too much
As far as victims and survivors are concerned who is talking the long long way around off providing anything for them
lets get real here Mike Nesbitt for president
Seriously why does everyone have to face questions from the past failures trying to ensure the status quo
Please do not get into a slanging match as the D.U.P. thrive on such politics and are finding it a tab harder in government where sometimes you have to say yes rather than nononononono
Hi Mike,
How will you be different to former MP for Strangford John Taylor?
Best wishes,
Bob
Well, to answer that, I would need to know what you think John Taylor did and did not do as MP for Strangford. I have posted my early thoughts – are they not helpful? Can I clarify a specific or two?
Best wishes
M
Where are your early thoughts for I did not see them?
Thanks,
Bill
To clarify Mike —
Yes I have seen your principles and what you stand for…
I suppose my main point refers to constituency work how do you intend to beat the standards of John Taylor and/or potential DUP candidate Jim Shannon.
The thing that Iris brought to Strangford was hard work, hard graft etc that’s what she is, in my mind, best known for – subtracting the whole story that developed after Christmas.
She was a good MP and no doubt would have been returned again and again for the constituency should she not have stood down and the scandal not have broken.
What do you feel are the main issues for Strangford?
Bob – if it is Bob – you ask some follow-ups, and fair enough.
How do I intend to beat the standards ….. again, I reply by asking what were those standards, in your opinion? I hear you say hard graft, but I believe I offer hard graft, and have throughout my career …… so what does hard graft look like, on the ground?
You opine that Iris could not have been beaten pre-Christmas. I am on the record as disagreeing.
What are the main issues for Strangford? I ask the same question differently: what issues should be sorted by Strangford’s councillors; what by your MLAs; what by your MP; what by NI’s MEPs?
Happy to discuss further, but it might be more efficient to meet up, rather than continue this impersonal exchange – and being personal and approachable is one of my personal performance indicators for the next MP for Strangford.
Best wishes
M
Would have damaged my ability to do my job, as a broadcast journalist, then as a victims’ Commissioner – don’t you see that? And why can’t I see you? Who is anon@anon.com?
Mike,
As a Nationalist I think it is refreshing that you are challenging the status quo of NI secterian politics.
I wish you all the best.
Ciaran,
Thank you. I want to believe the opinion polls that report we are developing a new sense of “Northern Irishness” – something everyone can buy into as a top line of who we are, to be followed by the gloriously different layers of further defintion.
I wish you all the best too.
M
Mike,
I think it is fantastic that you have chosen to stand for election to Westminster.
You are the breath of fresh air that non sectarian unionism has needed for so long.
We all need to move on together, and someone as well respected on both sides of our community as you can take us there.
I will watch your career with interest, and like many others wish you the very best.
Thank you, Greg. But I have only put my name forward as yet. I await news of whether I am selected as a candidate.
Best wishes
M