Throughout the 20th century on this island, the British people in the northeast were certain that they had a veto on constitutional change.
Now, in the post-Brexit world of the Protocol and the transformed demographic profile of the Six County Statelet, that certainty is gone.
Consequently, a United Ireland, once a Republican pipe dream, is something that allof us on this island need to prepare for.
The question remains how people who identify as British will be accommodated into the new Ireland.
In 2018 Patrick Kielty put this question to DUP leader Arlene Foster(scroll to 24 mins).
It caused a bit of a stir here at the time, and, as I recall, some of the DUP spin folk tried to walk back from it in private briefings to journalists.
That she had “been taken out of context” and stuff like that.
Well, two years on, at the weekend, in an interview with RTE’s Tommie Gorman, she re-iterated her desire to leave the island if it were ever to be reunited.
I find all of this very strange, dear reader.
First off, Arlene Foster’s maiden name is Kelly.
For me, there is something deeply tragic about an Ó Ceallaigh in Fir Manach being utterly convinced that she isn’t Irish.
Moreover, that she believes that there would be no place for her in a re-united Ireland.
Across this artificial boundary in Donegal is an Ulster that Arlene Foster cannot imagine.
A county with a sizeable proportion of our people who have a proud Protestant heritage.
I’m lucky enough to know a few, one of them was my bestie when we were in the Mountain Rescue Team together.
He didn’t identify as anything other than Irish.
This island was partitioned a century ago by a global superpower.
The Irish delegation in London was threatened with “immediate and terrible war” if they didn’t sign and the two partition states were born.
In the northeast, the Six County statelet set about systematically othering the nationalist minority.
For half a century, an insurgency was gestating, and it finally erupted with the Battle of the Bogside.
Some of the stone-throwers of ’69 in time became seasoned operators going toe to toe with the best counter-insurgency army in NATO.
Partition created the Provos.
The British finally realised that they couldn’t achieve a military victory over the IRA, and it could only end in a negotiated settlement.
Part of that deal was an effective amnesty for the POWs.
The Belfast Agreement has in it the mechanism for the peaceful reunification of this island.
If a referendum is lost, then the question cannot be asked again for another seven years.
That button can only be pressed by the British Secretary of State, but I don’t think that will be a problem, dear reader.
In her darkest moments, Arlene knows in her heart that the folks in Whitehall are praying for the day when the financial money pit of “UK overseas” is a thing of the past.
Many of the English insurgents of Brexit don’t care that much for the cherished link with Northern Ireland.
There is a tide in history, and the “Ulster Scots” of the Six Counties are being beached by it.
In the summer of 2014, Yes Scotland flags were being burned on 11th Night bonfires.
As has already been stated here, the 2021 UK census will almost certainly show that the ethno-unionist majority that the portioned statelet was created to maintain is gone.
If a re-unification vote to be won by Arlene’s side, then it will only be achieved by convincing a substantial number of people from a nationalist background that they’re better off remaining in the UK.
To do that, things like an Irish language Act and greater North/South cooperation will need to be delivered.
All of that makes Narne Arne that wee bit less Bradaish.
See the problem?
When a putative cultural identity is tied to a political construct, then what happens when the polity changes or is replaced?
If the people of the Six Counties are inherently British, then they can be so in a united Ireland.
Sadly, the truth that dare not speak its name is what Arlene and Flegory et al are grieving is lost supremacism.
If you’ve been socialised into Herrenvolk exceptionalism, then equality can feel like oppression.
The fact is that there is a place for everyone in the New Ireland, and, as the beloved Tommy Tiernan recently pointed out to Stephen Rea, “…if we can tolerate people from Cork!”
The inward-looking Catholic theocracy that was created in the 26 county state is a thing of the past and it isn’t coming back.
One by one, any objections to 32 Counties is being dismantled.
Consequently, I’m convinced that the best days are in front of us on this island.
Our revenge will be all of our children laughing together.
Stay where you are Arlene, you’re grand!
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Phil, that was a great piece. Not just your words, but I watched the two enclosed documentaries, which I found very touching and close to the heart. Having lived and worked in County Down, I can only hope and pray that the good people of Northern Ireland find the continued peace they deserve. Jim
Aye. Stay exactly where you are. The same goes for the rest of your breed. We’ve got enough of our own Orange nutters over here. We DON’T need ANY more.
Hard to believe that Aberdeen can offer a better deal to Scott Brown than we can.
Very sad.
I’ve read your piece again Phil. At one level you seem not to understand why she would want to move away from a future situation she would find alien. You yourself have made just such journey. There are times – increasingly so – where I really do think of the same move away from this sick sick society (UK Scotland).
On another level you use a very empathic language towards her ilk, sad, tragic, darkest moments …
It is tragic. I recognise her dilemma but there is no way I would want any of her or her kind settling into my street. I think Danny Boyle, Trainspotting 2 hit the nail on the head with the Orange Lodge sequence, ‘a people lost in time’. It’s the inability of mainstream Scottish life to grasp this reality. If Arlene wants to do a house swap… You have my email information. I’d be happy for you to be my agent. Hail Hail. Lewis
Its not just the visible challenge to reunification by the Unionists in the North to look out for, the potentially more dangerous challenge will come from the establishment in the South who will use any and every scare tactic to try to persuade the voters to maintain the status quo. They are unionists by nature, not specifically because they support the union, but because they don’t want change as that might undermine their current lofty positions. Not just FF/FG politicians but also key Public Sector leaders who might have to justify their existence in a new country with a revisioned view of public agencies and citizen centric delivery
Phil. Although I am someone from a Unionist background/upbringing it is very hard to argue with much of what you say here. A united Ireland is, quite simply, an inevitability and all relevant stakeholders should be planning for it now. The English have not wanted NI for some time and any allegiance that people up here have to them is misguided. As such, we all have to find a way to live together. My only criticism of you here (with respect), and please bear in mind that I grew up through the Troubles, is that in your penultimate paragraph you paraphrase Bobby Sands. Obviously one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist and I can see both arguments. However, many cannot. I strongly believe that the main obstacle to a peaceful United Ireland will be if their is a perception of triumphalism coming from the the supporters of Sinn Fein. Hopefully, common sense from all will prevail and this will be an Ireland welcome to all.
As support for the phrase, ‘grieving …lost supremacism’ can I recommend Adam Curtis’, Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Episode V.
Lewis
Looks like a taxi for snarling to be sure to be sure
Have to admit any United Ireland vote has me in 2 minds.
I was brought up in catholic and republican South Armagh during the height of the troubles in the 70s and 80s, so naturally would tick the Unity Box if I was allowed a vote (been living in Scotland for last 30 years).
But many North of Ireland catholics will be asking themselves if (a slight majority for) a United Ireland would be worth it given the inevitable backlash and the re-emergence of loyalist death gangs bringing us back to those hateful days.
I’ve had a member of my family have a blast bomb thrown at her front window, with her sitting just the other side of the window pane, by a splinter group of the UVF, just because she was a catholic, and most folk will not want to see a return to this nightmare.
God help us if we have to go back to the days of bombs and murders forming 90% of the UTV evening news programmes.
That will be in the minds of a proportion of Catholics when deciding on what box to tick.
I think there’s a higher proportion of pro-status quo Catholics than people think, which makes me think your confidence in Brexit being a Unity vote game-changer may be misplaced.
Excellent piece!
Bye Arlene.
If the referendum is lost, the waiting period for another is seven years. Why then does it have to be “a generation” in the case of Scotland?
“When a putative cultural identity is tied……”
it’s an assault by a rapier in the hands of a master swordsman. Fantastic stuff Phil
Who was it who said that the best revenge is to live well? Good on you and yours!