This is the centenary year for Northern Ireland.
Of course, that means that the current UK polity is itself only 100 years old in its current form.
This book arrived up my hill today, and it suggests that it might not have that much longer to go.
Gavin Esler’s central thesis is that a Brexit is a game-changer in these islands, and it is difficult to argue with that.
At the end of the first chapter, he states:
“I am from a Scottish and Ulster unionist family stretching back to the seventeenth century. My forebears arrived in Scotland as Protestant refugees from Germany during the Thirty Years War. In 1912 a dozen of my relatives signed the Ulster Covenant in the hope of remaining British rather than breaking away and remaining Irish. Six of those relatives who signed the Ulster Covenant did so with a cross suggesting that they were illiterate. I have a strong unionist background and inclination, yet I have come to believe that Britain may indeed be coming to its end. It is not alarm bells I hear. It’s a death knell.”
Of course, I would take issue with his description of the Six Counties as “a nation”.
What is 100 years old this year is a confected ethnostatelet created by sectarian cartography and sustained repressive laws for half a century.
It gestated a peaceful protest that was then gassed and battered off the streets.
The Civil Rights Movement left the stage and Óglaigh na hÉireann re-emerged.
You know the rest.
The Belfast Agreement owed a great deal to the post-Maastricht dispensation within these islands.
Brexit rips all of that up.
Now There’s trouble brewing in Ersatz Ayrshire.
My friend and comrade Paul Larkin who resides over the mountain from me in Gaobh Dobhair nailed it with his usual precision.
There is some dispute whether agriculture minister Edwin Poots is stepping down solely for medical reasons.
There are suggestions that he is also manifesting symptoms of the Dunkirk Spirt.
I, of course, couldn’t possibly comment.
Whatever it is, I wish Mr Poots a speedy recovery.
The simple truth is that the sea border between Britain and Narne Arne is part of the Withdrawal Agreement.
For the avoidance of doubt, the WA is an international treaty, and it isn’t going to go away, you know.
When Sammy’s statelet was created, Britain was the global superpower with an empire that, at its zenith, held sway over 23% of the world’s population (412m).
In 1925 it covered 35,000,000 km2 (13,500,000 sq mi), 24% of the Earth’s total land area.
Today?
They’re so globally insignificant that Putin has no problem in sending his work experience assassins to Salisbury.
Would he have sent these two clowns to the USA without a worry?
I’m sure you get my point, dear reader.
The British state was created by the English and Scots to further their imperialist plans, and it worked magnificently.
Now that imperium has been as dead as Rangers for over 70 years.
If the Scots finally decide to leave the British state, then the Ulster-Scots in the Six Counties will have little left top convince themselves that they are “Bradaish”.
Of course, those Braveheart’s will first have to leave Westminster.
Turning up, swearing the oath and taking the shilling makes the rest of it just school play performance art.
However, least one of them seems to be re-thinking things.
Earlier this month she was in the Irish Times discussing the relevance of the First Dáil to the current Scottish situation.
That her mother is from Sligo might not be entirely irrelevant to her analysis, and she is certainly proud of her roots.
Some think that Ms Cherry could be a future leader of the SNP, which perhaps explains why she is possibly being excluded by the dear leader.
Regardless of the in-fighting in Scotland’s dominant party, the push towards another independence referendum seems unstoppable.
Many in the London commentariat now realise that the game is probably up in Fair Caledonia.
Peter Hitchens is never frightened to say the unthinkable.
Martin Fletcher was the Foreign Editor of the Times, and this piece by him in the New Statesman is worth your time.
Now, I’m sure that the Ulsturr Scatch in Narne Arne will be delighted by these developments!
Meanwhile, they resemble an ensemble of Cnuts at Checkpoint Larney trying to hold back the tide of history.
As Mr Esler suspects, the UK is now in the endgame, and a coked-out hero in a Sevco top at a ferry port isn’t going to change that.
Moreover, his Special Branch handler should also be aware that this movie will not end well for either of them.
There is a tidal flow in history, and the Ulsturr Scatch can decide whether they want to be stranded and cut off.
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I’d agree with the term ethnostatelet, however the *british empire* whose apocryphal glories Boris longs to get back to had a long and bloody history of drawing fake lines on maps and claiming all within those lines as their own on the rise of the empire or someone else’s problem on its decline.
Sadly as much as I admire Cherry’s work fighting brexit and agree it’s time they withdraw from Westminster timing is everything. That she didn’t say that until after she was sacked and was happy to keep taking the pay check until that point being the key part of the timing.
Sadly I genuinely believe that the excellent work done by grass roots independence movements in the build up to 2014 was undone by Salmond Wanting to take all the glory and credit when he finally weighed in. Particularly in utterly failing to answer the currency issue whilst announcing with smug arrogance that he had. Had he, for example, stated categorically that he’d be making an instant application to rejoin Europe and adopt the euro making is easier for Scottish citizens to travel and work throughought the entirety of Europe then the vast numbers of EU citizens resident in Scotland and eligible to vote would not have felt compelled to vote no in the belief it was the best way to ensure they could stay where there family had settled.
Sadly the fact that people like Salmond stalwart Kenny McAskill, the man who shamefully described the criticism of the death in police custody of Sheku Bayoh as just another “SNP bad” attack on his police Scotland merger, suggests as snp member friends and family (I’m green yes fwiw as it’s a more important vote in a pr system) have pointed out that it’s an attempted schism by Salmond loyalists in the party who think things should be moving faster (how exactly a UDI or unauthorised referendum, that worked out well for Catalonia) sadly, it content with scuppering one shot at independence I fear Salmond loyalists are set to scupper a second one as infighting serves nobody but Boris just now.
Thankfully for our Celtic cousins over the Irish Sea, and unlike Scotland, I think the writing is on the wall for the ethnostatelet and I don’t mean the sort threatening customs workers.
What is a Nation?
The Dictionary states:
noun
a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
The key words being inhabiting a particular country or territory.
If we take these Islands in a historical sense then it has comprised of quite a few Nations or Kingdom’s in their history.
One of these Dál Riata (or Dalriada ) actually straddled the Sea between both the Western area of Scotland and part of what is now known as Northern Ireland.
This was a time before Irish and Scots and Scots were defined as such and more akin to be known as Gaels or Celts.
I’ve broached on this before for good reason.
You cannot simply cherry pick a historic period to suit a modern political agenda whilst ignoring the rest.
Ireland became a Country after Nations within it were United.Same with Scotland and England.
The British Empire of course was an entirely different thing on an entirely different scale of course but it in itself not unique in the history of the formation of what we now accept as the norm on a globe or atlas.
Kingdoms,Nations,Countries and Empires were seldom created without ghastly deeds or underhanded political agendas taking place.
Northern Ireland should be returned to the Irish if this is the collective will of all the people’s in both separate entities.
As is always the case however the Political powers involved at both ends of the table will decide what’s best for those living under their Control.
All that we can hope and pray for is that not another drop of innocent blood is shed in that process being allowed to play itself out.
I think we can all agree that there has been far too much of that in the historical past no matter what period of history you chose to focus on.
A United Ireland and an Independent Scotland would simply be a continuation of the changing face of these Islands.
If you believe in the history of the good book none of this will ultimately matter in the end for it is one kingdom on this spinning ball under his command and he doesn’t care what you want to call yourself.
Irish,Scot or otherwise.
The sabre rattling has begun from “loyalists” and the DUP see it as a get out of jail card to play. The “time for war” slogans are appearing on the walls again from the underachievers. War with who exactly? These idiots blame the DUP but still give them an out ball.
Cnut the great … just like the piece .. great 👍
Another excellent and thought provoking piece. For the day that’s in it, Ms Cherry would be my top choice of FM for independence. She’s smart as anything, focused and retains her practising certificate unlike most solicitors come politicians-the significance being she is duty bound to conduct herself with integrity and behave ethically in all walks of life.
For the avoidance of doubt, Ms Sturgeon long since gave hers up.
Wonderful irony indeed if the Conservative Party and the DUP were the main cause of the Union breaking up. The views of many a loyalist might just be changing post brexit. The importance of seeing them as brothers and friends in a 32 county Ireland cannot be overstated. Only with fraternity can a true nation be formed.
Great stuff Phil and it’s nearly every Industry sector in England who are in trouble, (not just the info reported on twitter) and it’s not the fault of experienced civil servants in that country, particularly regarding Health Safety and Environmental protection professionals, these people are not to blame. These are decent lads doing a job they done for years.
It was lack of communication, planning or knowledge of what Brexit meant from the Tory cabinet or backers.(many will be in trouble too because of the mess)
The majority of all UK industry sectors do business world wide and are extremely concerned and it’s deepening.
Good luck from D’un na nGall #nohardborder
10 million people in the UK got their first vaccine dose by today, that’s close to 20% of all over 18s.
And it was the EU threatened the hard border.
Things don’t look so bad from the UK.
I could not understand why people wouldn’t vote for brexit. I would have arguments with mates and colleagues about brexit all the time. Dont know how many times I hot told it was only the right wing voting to leave Europe.
I kept trying to tell people vote for brexit and it will push Scotland’s independence and will reunite Ireland. I was of the thinking that it would be hilarious if the Conservative & unionist party with the help of the orange order & the Klan were responsible for breaking up the union.
Not long to go now, I give it to 2026 and referendums will be taking place
“Orange thugs are a bunch of Cnuts”, according to the great Irish chronicler, Phil the Dyslexic
Do you usually throw around made up sentences, and attribute them to someone else. Also not to keen on you using the word dyslexic, you are the one after all who has trouble reading.
Keep at them Phil,
TAL
Thankfully, I do not suffer from Dyslexia.
However, many people do and using it to mock someone says a great deal about you and none of it is praiseworthy.
Indeed, I did not intend to mock anyone, and it is blindingly obvious that Phil does not suffer from dyslexia.
It was intended as a joke – Hint: rearrange the letters in Cnuts
The hard land border was reintroduced by the EU. For a few hours at least. Who would have guessed that?