Arlene Foster has ‘bigger things to worry about’ despite pressure on DUP leadership

You wonder what those bigger things were.

A few hours later, it emerged that while Mrs Foster was on the road in west Belfast, her DUP MLAs, councillors, MPs and peers were busy signing a letter calling for a leadership contest, a move which has now left her position as leader and First Minister hanging by a thread.

It was a day of the unexpected. There had been no mention of Mrs Foster’s intention to pop along to the Shankill Road centre alongside Education Minister Peter Weir, one of her staunchest allies in the party.

Dressed all in blue, wrapped in a matching scarf, with newly cut hair, she smiled for the cameras in the sunshine.

“You’re looking colourful,” was the quip from one of the photographers lined up as she prepared to take questions.

“You have to be careful,” Arlene replied. “That’s all people want to talk about if you’re a woman.”

She wasn’t quite right about that.

Rather than being asked about the visit to Hammer Youth Centre on Agnes Street, it wasn’t a quiet stroll in the sunshine, it was a direct flight path into the gathering storm.

It was no Custer’s last stand. There was no fighting talk. Instead, responding to the growing revolt from within her own party, there was a casual dismissing of the questions. A ‘here we go again’ response, which seemed to not quite grasp seriousness of the situation that was developing elsewhere amongst the party rank and file.

“We’ll just deal with it and move on because I’ve bigger things to do, including getting us through this Covid pandemic, including listening to the concerns of working-class communities.

“These stories come up from time to time. This is no different.”

Except it was. You have to suspect Mrs Foster was well aware by that stage that this was a different leadership crisis, more than a warning shot across her bows.

I managed to slip in one final question, asking for her thoughts on the commemoration for an IRA man suspected of involvement in a murder attempt on her late father.

The event was hosted to mark the 35th anniversary of the 26-year-old’s killing by SAS members as they intercepted an IRA landmine bid near Rosslea in Co Fermanagh.

Sinn Fein TD Matt Carthy gave an address at the online tribute event for Seamus McElwaine on Monday night.

She answered.

“My thoughts on Seamus McElwaine are the same as they were when he tried to murder my father when I was eight-and-a-half years old,” she said.

“He’s an evil, sectarian killer. He was about to commit murder again when he was shot by Crown forces.

“He was evil. He was sectarian and he murdered many people along the Fermanagh border and I don’t think there’s any role for politicians who are supposed to be democratic politicians to be celebrating the life of somebody like that.”

Now I wonder if that’s the final question she would face from a journalist as First Minister and DUP leader.

I didn’t get the impression she suspected it might be, Stride never broke. After taking the applause from those quickly gathered at the centre, Mrs Foster mingled with the youth workers, chatted as amiably as ever, smiled for the cameras and gave little hint that anything was amiss.

Perhaps that’s the politician coming through. If in doubt, smile through adversity.

As she said her goodbyes and made her way to the Executive car, calls came from across the street.

“Arlene, Arlene!” Several residents were desperate for a wave. They were noticed. They got a wave and the bonus of a thumbs up, before Mrs Foster climbed into the back seat of the Land Rover and drove off in the sunshine into the storm.