A century ago the Westminster Parliament was the legislature of a global superpower.
Now it is the venue for a remake of the Muppet Show.
In January 1919 there was a full-blown legitimation crisis for the British state on this island.
A majority of the MPs elected for Irish constituencies in the 1918 general election refused to travel to London to take an oath of allegiance to the British monarch.
Instead, they fulfilled their election promise and met in Dublin.
Dáil Éireann was born.
Of course, a real government controls the armed forces in their national territory.
Max Weber’s observation about a state being the sole claimant to the wielding of legitimate force within a given area comes to mind.
Then the Volunteers at Soloheadbeg fired the first shots in the War of Independence a week after the Dáil convened in the Mansion House in Dublin.
Britain, broken and exhausted after WW1, now had Irish guerrillas to contend with.
The lads had not wasted their time in Frongoch.
They emerged as well-educated revolutionaries.
A century on it is difficult to think of just how powerful Britain was back then when you look at them now.
Last night the British government suffered a humiliating defeat to their Brexit bill.
I’m sticking to the term “slow-moving Suez Crisis”.
The sticking point for many of the MPs who voted against the Withdrawal Agreement bill was “the Irish backstop”.
Once more this island is proving to be a problem for the Grand Old Dame Britannia.
I’m ok with that.
No, seriously…
It is clear that the British negotiating team thought that Michel Barnier et al would throw little Ireland under the Brexit bus.
Thankfully our gallant allies in Europe know the importance of solidarity in the face of possible EU disaggregation.
Consequently, it is the British who have fatally miscalculated due to their incurable hubris.
Any polity that has “great” in the title probably has issues.
Just sayin…
In 1919 the Sinn Féin MPs fulfilled their electoral mandate holding to the principled position of abstentionism.
If you take part in a legislature then you lend it legitimacy.
That is something that the putative Scottish separatists of the SNP have yet to grasp.
So-called “barnstorming” speeches in the House of Commons change little in the long march of history.
Even in 2014, the people of Scotland were only offered a very anaemic form of separatism and yet they still rejected it.
Even if they had voted yes the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha clan would still have been about the place.
From my vantage point in the Irish Republic that didn’t look very much like independence at all.
Howeve,r this Brexit shambles plays out now there are probably no good outcomes for Britain.
If there is a second referendum and a win for remain then the reputational damage to the UK within the European Union is massive.
Alternatively, if there is a No Deal Brexit then the economic hit to them will be substantial.
Of course, we in Ireland we will be collateral damage if the British economy falls off a cliff edge.
The EU has already plans in place to deeply a post-Brexit Marshall plan for the 26 Counties.
Meanwhile, what we saw last night in Westminster was an ex-Empire becoming the Sevco of Europe.
I watched the live streamed comedy last night with Baby Doctor and the Big Fella.
The three of us couldn’t have been laughing any louder if Miss Piggy was speaking at the dispatch box and Kermit was in the Speaker’s chair.
Himself is off across the Atlantic today with his Irish passport.
That travel document would not exist if people here had not stepped up back then.
It was a hard road and we are not at the final destination yet, but a century on from the first Dáil the tide of history is still flowing…
Beidh ár lá linn.
I get no pleasure in saying this. But I must say, at the time I read this….. I believe the EU would throw Ireland under a bus, ie a hard border.
This is why I feel the EU is a concept that is morphing into a modern day Soviet Union. Or a Franco German empire.
What suits the administrators in Brussels is what really matters. Ireland concerns mean little to these people, it has to wash with Brussels. And suit the big players in EU.
all the posturing is just show that they are truly democrats etc. The Irish should know this, they say no to a treaty. Like Lisbon treaty. And back it goes for them to have another vote. Again and again till the EU get their required answer.
Britain’s Brexit debacle is the right fight, but led by the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. The Rees moggs, Johnson’s, farages are all a horrible shower. But I believe it should have been a battle waged by the Corbyns and the moderates. If he were alive the great Tony Benn, would have fought the right fight Against this despicable organisation.
For all the nationalists out there, who want away from horrible westminster but want to jump in bed with this shower…..go figure.
The day Ireland entered into euro is the day it sold its soul. Shameful totally shameful. Collins woud not have had it, Connolly would have smelt a rat before it even came to pass.
As the great man said, roughly quoted, that taking the Union Jack away from Dublin castle and replacing with tricolour will be in vain if you don’t build a socialist republic, as England will still rule you through her capitalists and corporations etc.
Replace England with the EU. Look at where we are. The corporations rule all over. If it’s not EU it’s America or China. These empires are destroying people all over who just wanta a better life. Whist forcing people to flee their lands whist their own lands burn. Syria, the Yemen crisis between Saudi and Iran with the yanks and Russians propping up either side. Time to reset.
When the UK eventually removes itself from the grasp of those evil foreigners stand by for an influx of visitors from the camps in Calais, etc as France cheerfully lays on free transport for the occupants to move them on.
Democracy and self-determination is an illusion within the EU, that’s why increasing numbers of people want out of it – and not just in the UK (look at Italy, and further East).
Irish MPs no longer need to travel to London to swear allegiance to the Monarch, true, but now they go to Brussels to have their budget plans checked and approved, before they are allowed to act on them. Brussels, the same entity which tells the Irish people to “vote again” (till they ‘get it right’) any time they have the impertinence to allow their free will to collide with the vision of unelected Eurocrats. Twice now the Irish have meekly reversed EU referendum results in the face of EU scolding.
This is not what the men and women of the Easter Rising shed their blood for. Not even close.
An Irish commentator I read recently said the Irish today have very little control over their lives, but the Irish Parliament – which now amounts to being the local EU Governor – keep them distracted from this via repeated referendum “sugar highs” on the constitution etc.
All of this is exactly as it would be for Scotland. But this is all the SNP want. They would be happy for Scotland to wholly be run from Brussels, if it meant Sturgeon could stand at the very back of a photo of “Europe’s Leaders”. People say Scotland is equally insignificant in the UK, but I would disagree, not least with several Scots prominent in the UK Cabinet (Gove, Mundell, Fox etc).
I hope the UK holds its nerve and makes a “clean break” from the EU, but I fear it unlikely, because what the British vote for is ultimately as inconsequential as what the Irish vote for. All that matters is the ambition of politicians and the peace-of-mind of bankers. The media act almost universally in the interests of these constituencies, as the anti-brexit scaremongering shows.
What is curious is how the anti-democrats will achieve their aim of overturning a referendum result. Whatever path they choose, parliamentary time is very short, with a leaving date enshrined in law. Yet, on the other side, there seems a quiet confidence among the Rees-Moggs etc. Which probably means they will be blindsided by some outrageous pro-EU stunt.
Note how the EU leaders – Tusk, Barnier, Junker etc – who weigh in on Brexit, are all unelected and were previously unheard of, faceless men, hidden behind the facade of the EU Parliament (which is no more than a talking shop).
The referendum result should be honoured, not least because no-one ever asked the UK if it wanted to be drawn into an EU. There doubtless a bit of irony in the British complaining about someone else lording it over them, but that doesn’t make it right.
The EU is a major anti-democratic force in the world today and we would all be well rid of it.
Spot on just about the whole way mate. Bang on the money. All this hand across the water to our EU allies. Suck it up take the euro. That’s no independence for Scotland.
I’m against scotttish independence (here all you great Celtic fans, and I’m one fo you btw). How woud rangers have fared under an independent Scotland i contend that one way or another the taxpayer would still be propping up rangers secretly through a Scottish HMRC and they would still be trading away and not have died. If u know your history…..Murray ran out of credit when the big money decisions went from gallant and glorious Edinburgh (hun bastards ) to horrible nasty evil London (who produce result after result against all entities from ibrox that try n take piss)
Independence polls in event of a no-deal Brexit mess put YES ahead on 58% with NAW trailing on 42%. Bring it on.
If you get nil points in the eurovision song contest, yer getting hee haw from the EU.
I dont know anyone who refers to this Country as “Great Britain” myself.
That tends to be reserved for Sporting Events where all the Nations involved are selected to represent it as one.
If Brexit delivers both a United Ireland and an Independent Scotland in the near future as a result of that vote will future generations look upon those who voted yes to leave the EU favourably?
I should think they will in Ireland and Scotland.
I voted to leave the EU on the basis that I no longer with to be part of a Superstate which is driven by Neoliberal Capitalist greed and controlled by Unlelected Members who in turn are controlled by Multi National Corporate fat cats via Central Bank.
Globalisation is about Profit and Tax Evasion on a grand scale.
It had nothing to do with age old imperialism or anti Immigration as most on the No side seem to suggest.
Sure some jingoistic nut jobs will have voted on that basis but you could also say that about some of the Tartan Clad Claymore waving eejits we have in Scotland.
Take away the Flags and borders what do you have?
The Rich minority people ripping off poor majority for the benefit of themselves.
Same as it ever was and most likely ever will be unless people wake up to the true nature of Politics and Nationalistic b/s.
One wee rock spinning through space we all have to share and look after otherwise we are all Donald Ducked in the end.
It’s all about control and you can dress up anyway you like because the reality is very few of us have it or ever will have it unless we break it first.
Starting with the EU then Westminster…
Duncan i like what you are saying, but you don’t offer an alternative, what would you suggest anarchy, my brother was a member of the anarchist federation, but it all boils down to the same sh#te, you will always have some ejit telling you what to do. The rich need the poor, they give crumbs off their table and the poor swallow it all up hook line and sinker.
The only decent alternative is Democratic Socialism and a system built on true equality and fairness.
Everyone has been duped into thinking Neoliberalism and Capitalism is the way forward.
It isn’t.
It’s a flawed concept heavily geared towards the those at the very top creaming more from the pot and those at the bottom feeling the brunt of their excess.
The rich don’t carry their share of the brunt,no that’s for the suckers at the bottom of the food chain to shoulder.
Meanwhile they invent even more complex ways to fleece,avoid or evade pulling their weight.
Breaking from the EU although difficult is the right thing to do because if we don’t make a stand now to right these obvious wrongs then they will only extract the urine further.
The next step is to break the monopoly in Westminster and rid ourselves of this most un Democratic of systems of Election where a Party with less than 50% of the vote gets to expedite 100% of the control.
It’s a farce and first past the post is an affront to Democracy.
A vote in Shetland should carry the same level of effect on a General Election as a vote in London
Parliament should be made up of a percentage of any vote this way good ideas can be forced.through by all concerned as well as bad ideas being voted down by all.
The Countries Finances should be shared equally regardless of Location
Decentralise Westminster and introduce Regionalised Assemblies that can deal with localised issues as they see fit and proper.
That is local people elected to solve localised issues.
Again these Assemblies should be made up of a cross section of the entire electorate and not just one Party who may or may not have won by the skin of its teeth.
MPs should be held accountable for the decisions they make the rule of Law should not only be applied to them also but enforced even more vigorously as they have elected to put themselves in a position of trust.
Spread the Work and the Wealth Nationwide Instead of continually condensing it in several square miles around the Thames.
Encourage Companies to set up in the Cities and Towns the length and breadth of the land and then perhaps we might see less of the North South divide that currently exists and is causing most of the Issues regarding Independence for some.
Hand back Northern Ireland and save the a Economy £10bn a year?
Use that money to fund the Niclear Deterrent we apparently still need.
Introduce a Financial Transaction Tax of 1% on every transaction and pay for the NHS we both need and require.
There are other alternatives to what we are all currently given.
It’s a matter of people getting together collectively and pushing for a fairer deal.
Perhaps what it actually needs is a new Political party to deliver it?
From what I can see most if not all those that exist are self serving agenda ridden from the get go .
Unfortunately there are those in this land that put queen before country, they think they are entitled but are actually slaves, running around like zombies waving their flags and singing their songs of hate, where this country can only be managed by a person of a certain religion, then crow about we are all in this toether. Yes we need a different system, but will they ever hand it over. there is always plenty of boots on the ground, (I think that’s the new saying), to kick us back into line.
Yes but are they the majority or simply the noisier minority?
There’s a dshift in the demographic in Northern Ireland that majority is no longer what it was there is an irreversible trend happening in the North that cannot be stopped.
They will be the minority soon whether they like it or not.
If they aren’t already that is.
Brexit will tip the balance I think and that won’t have escaped the Charlatans in Westminster.
It’s not Great Britain that’s at stake here! At least not as far as membership (or not) if the EU is concerned. It’s the United Kingdom. Perhaps if it was just Great Britain involved the whole issue would have been resolved by now…. but we have dubious history and regrettable pacts to thank for that. (1707, 1801 etc etc)
Always surprises me when NI is referred to by the so-called knowledgable media as part of Great Britain….Or when an address in Belfast finishes with GB
As the front of a ‘British’ passport says…
“United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland “
Ie.
Scotland + England + Wales = Great Britain
Great Britain + Northern Ireland = UK
I suppose the confusion and misuse of the two terms is only a literal representation of the very chaos that GB/UK now finds itself in.
Go on! Try asking the next person you meet what the difference between Great Brjtsin and the UK is !
It’s the past that is holding us all back.
We that is all of us on both these Islands are having to deal with Agreements and Disasters set in stone generations ago.
The term “Great” that Phil eludes To is from a time where a tiny wee country effectively ran and controlled 2/3 reds of the Worlds Population.
A great feat indeed but not great in terms of how it was achieved.
You don’t build empires on Chocolates and Roses.
All of mankind’s worst traits were used to full effect in order to facilitate such a “Great” feat.
It was horrendous for all of those on the receiving end and unfortunately even to this day we are still feeling the repercussions.
Northern Ireland should belong to Ireland that is the bottom line but for some it is the last bastion of Empire and should be held onto for as long as we possibly can.
It’s an absurdity an affront to common sense and decency that this is still an issue in 2019.
The UK should do the honourable thing and leave it to the Irish to decide.
Brexit has serve to highlight just how absurd this all is.
The Border should be the entire shoreline of Ireland.
£10bn Loss per year and rising? Get it done.
Once that has been sorted we can then get on with sorting the mess out in the UK.
What an absolute shambles it is too.
Want to know what the British state really thinks of its “subjects”…then hot foot it over to You Tube….the Corbet Report the World War 1 conspiracy there are several very informative videos and 2 books by two Glasgow men on how the elites profited from the slaughter and sent poor unsuspecting men to their deaths….truly sickening stuff….sorry can’t post links….but please whatever you do don’t miss this….I got the books on kindle….half way through the second book now.
This Great Britain is the laughing stock of the world now all because the Tories demanded a referendum then allowed folk to be economical with the truth when it came to informing the nation of the unreal benefits of leaving the European Union. More fool those who sucked all the propaganda up but it has left the country in a mess and we all have to live with it, unfortunately. HH
100% agree!
Economical with the truth? Boris should be in jail for the lies he told and the suffering his lies have, and will have on families in this clusterfuck. And they make him Foreign Secretary off the back of it?!?! Jesus wept.
Aye. A referendum that was called ENTIRELY to appease the far right in the Tories and unite the party. Instead, they’re more divided than ever and SO IS THE COUNTRY. What a complete fuckin shambles!!! Even if Brexit doesn’t happen, and for the first time since the vote I’m seeing a very faint glimmer of hope that it might not, the UK will in all probability be left with a hefty bill. They should be. These negotiating talks will not have been cheap and the UK was solely responsible for them happening in the first place.
A bill for what – and why should they be left with one? Please justify the balderdash you type. I am a remainer but I am under no illusions that the EU needs the UK more than the EU – as on of only three net contributors. Over to you…
For a START the thousands of man hours that will have been wasted on the talks should Brexit not go ahead. Now speaking of balderdash, “the EU needs the UK more than the EU”. What??? I assume, “on” was meant to be “one”. Sorry, but you really ARE deluded if actually believe the old, “Little Englander” mantra of “They need us more than we need them”, because they don’t.
I think it is you who is deluded. Forgive my typo as I will forgive your capital letters, but please, how can one of three net contributors to the EU not be of more value to the EU than those three individual countries? You really haven’t got a clue.
The Tories did not demand a referendum. They promised one, as did Blair, but unlike Blair they carried it through. That is why they won a small majority at the 2015 general election. – and no other reason. As for the benefits of leaving, unreal or otherwise, Cameron was a remainer and quit. He saw no benefits in leaving. However, the question at the referendum was a straightforward in or out and my side (remainers) lost. I accept that and anyone who doesn’t is a traitor to democracy.
I would be minded to agree with you IF I am satisfied the vote wasn’t rigged. Dark Money (probably Russian) was funnelled to the Leave campaigns via Aron Banks (£8 Million) and the DUP (Hundreds of thousands). The electoral commision investigared, said they were rigged and fined them paltry amounts. Aron Banks has STILL not said where he got the millions from, the result should be set aside until he comes clean.
Having worked for a local authority under the auspices of the Electoral Commission I can assure you it is impossible to rig a vote in this country – otherwise Cameron would have done so. More people in the UK voted out than in – not many more, but that is how democracy works.
The outcome of the referendum cannot be described as democratic when folk were allowed to advertise a description of what the country would be like and how better off everyone would be if they voted no. Lies, lies and more lies made a mockery of democracy. HH
Crap! It was a straight in or out vote. As I aid, I voted in and as a democrat, reluctantly, I have to accept the fact we have to come out. What makes a mockery of democracy is people like you failing to accept a democratic vote. What we have to do is try to get back in but we must come out because that is how democracy works.
I regret not taking up my entitlement to an Irish passport when I lived for 10+ years in Co Doire. Fortunately, both my children have always had Irish passports. My wife is entitled still, owing to an Irish grandparent. In spite of my father (born in England) being brought up in Dublin and wearing his Fáinne he never got his passport, but never forgot his Irishness, his language and his schooling at the Model School Inchicore.