INTRODUCTION:
In the previous articles in The Blanket,
The Way Ireland Ought
To Be and Solving
The Irish Problem, the reader will find the
National Government of Ireland Act is central to
the solution of the Irish Problem as otlined in
these articles.
In
this new series of articles, the content of the
Act is given in full and in so doing it is hoped
the reader will be given an insight in to the complete
scope of the Act. However, what is given is one
man's stab at writing the Act. In reality the Act
would have to be written by a panel of elected politicians
in Northern Irleand and in that case such a panel
could, in their counsel, be much wiser and differ
from the deliberations contained in this series.
Ireland
was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act.
If this island is ever to be re-united that can
only be done in The National Government of Ireland
Act and in no other way. Such an Act would have
to be extensive and all inclusive taking into account
the communal and social life of Ireland in all its
aspects. The Act should be written at Stormont,
ratified at Wesminster and then put to the vote
in an all-Ireland referendum. The purpose of the
Act is to synthesise Unionism and Nationalism. Federal
Unionist—Early Sinn Fein.
The
Irish Problem as seen by Winston Churchill:
The
issue of democracy and the state of N. Ireland has
been dealt with in a previous article, The
Way Ireland Ought to Be. It has been made clear
N. Ireland is not a democracy in the true sense
of the word. To recap, while the people have the
vote the constitution is in dispute. For a democracy
to be such in the true sense as well as the vote
the constitution must have the overwhelming support
of the people. The second condition does not hold
for N. Ireland.
There
are two heads of state involved, two flags being
flown, two anthems being sung, two governments involved
and two passports being held. To make the state
stable there ought to be one head of state, the
Crown, one flag acceptable to all, the Royal Flag
Of Ireland, one government elected by the people,
one anthem— neither God Save The Queen nor
A Soldier's Song— and one passport with an
Irish identity which accepts the Crown as Head of
State. It is the contention of this series of articles
that all of this is achievable in the National Government
Of Ireland Act.
Northern
Ireland has never been a liberal Democracy in the
true sense. Under the old Stormont it was a Right
Wing Union Jack Unionist Police State. To wit, the
putting down in October 69 of a civil rights demonstration
by a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist RUC, which was
anti-Irish, anti-Catholic and oppressive. The RUC
has been given a name change to the PSNI, but the
remaining problem is this: One can change the leopard's
name but will the leopard change its spots? While
the bulk of the membership of the PSNI are made
up, no doubt, of decent, upright honest citizens
of a moderate disposition, it could be that there
still remains a rump in the PSNI who are hard line
Right Wing Union Jack Unionists.
In
late Sinn Fein there are those who talk about a
Socialist Republic for Ireland. Such a Republic
would certainly not be a Democracy but would impose
Socialism on the people as it is done in the Socialists
Republics of North Korea and of Cuba.
For Northern Ireland to be a stable liberal Democracy
it will have one head of State only, one flag, one
Government elected by the people, one anthem and
one passport.
Northern
Ireland can be made a stable, Christian, Liberal
Democracy within the United Kingdom by the National
Government of Ireland Act. This Act must first be
drawn up for the whole of Ireland and the Act then
handled in a democratic manner by being voted upon
in the whole of Ireland.
Efforts
are now afoot to set up Stormont yet once again.
In this one is reminded of the principle in computing,
"Rubbish in, Rubbish out," and this simply
means if you put rubbish into a computer you will
get rubbish out of it. By analogy the same principle
can be applied to Stormont, if you put sectarian
rubbish into it you will get sectarian rubbish out
of it. In recent times the people were foolish enough
to put sectarian rubbish into Stormont so they shouldn't
grumble and complain now that they are getting sectarian
rubbish out of it. The sectarian parties in the
North are leading the people up the garden path
to a derelict Stormont whose roof has caved in and
the roof caved in with the rise of the Civil Rights
Movement. Various efforts have been made to restore
the roof, but all of this has been in vain due to
the sectarian nature of the state. The present move
to put the roof back on will again end in failure
due to the sectarian nature of the politicians involved.
Gregory
Campbell of the D.U.P. has much to say about democracy
nowadays especially in connection with Late Sinn
Fein. I don't wish to be unkind to Gregory but it
is my guess what Gregory knows about democracy could
be written on the back of a postage stamp. What
Gregrory understands as democracy is another matter.
What Gregrory probably understands as democracy
is a Northern Ireland with a Right Wing Union Jack
Unionist unwritten constitution rammed down the
throats of the Catholic minority by military force
and by an armed police force and with a Protestant
majority ruling elite in government in Stormont.
Genuine democracy is much more complex much more
subtle and much more agreeable than that.
If
a genuine democracy and unity on the island is ever
to become a reality, three sacred cows in Irish
history will have to be taken to the abattoir and
slaughtered and then sold to the Irish as mince
pies. Firstly, the undemocratic and divisive '98
rebellion will have to be given the humane killer.
Secondly, the undemocratic and oppressive 1801 Act
of Union will have to be disposed of, and replaced
by the National Government of Ireland Act . Thirdly,
that most sacred of sacred cows the undemocratic,
sectarian, and divisive 1916 Uprising will have
to be sold off in Tescos as steak and kidney pies.
I
do not wish this to be read as a philosophy of despair.
It is far from that. John Hume has observed that
we are a divided people That is true in as far as
it goes but it doesn't take us very far It begs
the question: How are the people to be united? Nationalism
has no answer to that, but Federal Unionism—Early
Sinn Fein has. The people can be united with the
National Government of Ireland Act and in no other
way. The Act is developed in this series of articles,
to be continued in The Blanket.
When
President Clinton first campaigned for the Presidency
he took as his campaign slogan:
