Ireland United?
Posted on November 07, 2010 at 11:44 PM
I spoke this weekend at the SDLP Conference at their panel on Unity. It was chaired by Fearghal McKinney and the other speakers were Mark Durkan MP and MLA, Minister Mary Hanafin TD, David Adams Irish Times Columnist and Brian Hayes TD. It was a very interesting discussion and I had to think about the topic before hand, as it is not something I thought about before, tending just to think in terms of the conflict and the peace process. I spoke about how it is not an issue that is being debated in Ireland. It was something aspired to in theory but not thought through and it would raise very difficult issues about our institutions, our constitution etc. While there was the desire for a peace process, our identity in the Republic is very much based around the history of the foundation of the free state and then the republic. It reminded me of the speech made by a historian at a John Hewitt School in Armagh that I attended a few years ago. The historian depicted the British as the nationalists for whom Northern Ireland was a problem to get rid of, and the people of the Republic, through the actions of its Government over the years, were the Unionists who did not really want to take on that problem. I felt there was something in what the historian had to say. Our upcoming commemerations were discussed too and the need to embrace the different traditions and the different kinds of Irish identity, nationalist, unionist, republican, North and South, and the new communities making Ireland their home. I mentioned that the kind of United Ireland mattered too, and that we had never had social democracy implemented on this Island.
It could take a long time for Unity to be achieved, if ever, or it could transpire to be a very different thing to what we think of now by the term, or it could be an unstoppable train.
Comments
I started thinking about this issue while investigating the just now completed Donegal South West.
I think a lot of the reasons why people will vote for Pearse Doherty is that unlike labour he wears his heart on his sleeve. He appears to genuinely care more about people than getting elected. Every speech tells you more about who he is, unlike labour candidates that hide zealously their identity. They become identifiable only by their lack of personality.
This is awful to see, especially as there are so few credible left candidates.
I think your blog post is cut from the same cloth, it expresses no firm opinions, I'd value it intellectually, it's a wonderful question, however as a voter I find it frustrating that the only information I can find in your blog is a question you have asked.
I need to find out more about you, help me.
Excuse my last comment, it was completely untrue.
At my screen solution it looks like you only have two blog posts because there is such a large gap between posts.
I will comment again on what I think of your blog, but just wanted to get this comment in before many read my previous comment.
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