The
author of this article belongs to no political party
or political grouping and is independent of such.
The author is not a politician but is a teacher
and writer and as such is interested only in ideas.
The author dissents totally from traditional Unionism,
traditional Nationalism, and traditional Republicanism,
seeing all of these as failed entities in Ireland
which are well past their use by dates and should
now be thrown out and the shelves restocked with
new fresh attractive improved political goods. The
nature of these new goods is indicated in the previous
article to the The Blanket, The
Way Ireland Ought to Be, and is Federal Unionism
Early Sinn Fein.
The
approach made in this article to solving the Irish
Problem is the method used by engineers in solving
a problem. To solve a problem an engineer first
of all draws up a solution on paper and then implements
the paper solution on the ground. These articles
in The Blanket are the solution to the Irish
Problem on paper. It is the conviction of the author,
a conviction sincerely held, that the Irish Problem
is solvable in the 21st century in the National
Government Of Ireland Act and is solvable in no
other way. The reader is reminded that the solution
to problems using only the force of reason, and
not brute force, is the civilized way of doing things.
It
is noted that Ireland has been a problem for centuries
and down the centuries there have been vain attempts
to solve the Irish Problem by brute force. There
was the attempt made by Elisabethan English armies
to solve the problem by brute force. The English
armies came and went but the Irish Problem remained.
An attempt was made to solve the problem in the
plantation of Ulster. Ulster was planted by brute
force but the Irish Problem remained but in a worsened
state. A brute force attempt was made to solve the
problem in the 1641 rebellion. The rebellion achieved
nothing and the Irish Problem remained. King William
came to Ireland and victory went to him at the Boyne
but even so the Irish Problem remained unsolved.
The Penal Laws came and went but they solved nothing.
Cromwell came and applied brute force to the problem
on a massive scale. Cromwell went and the Irish
Problem remained. A brute force attempt to solve
the problem was made by the United Irishmen but
this brute force attempt and worsened the problem.
In this debacle in Irish history what has never
been evaluated or measured has been the nature of
Wolfe Tone's I.Q. There was a scarcity of intellectual
capital among the United Irishmen and this scarcity
remains among Republicans to the present day. All
that is extant is the 18th century sentimental idea
of Catholic, Protestant, and Dissenter being united
in the name of Irishman. Wolfe Tone saw this happening
in a Republic but only in a Republic but to unite
Catholic, Protestant, Dissenter in a Republic was
as impossible in the time of Tone as it is now because
a Republic wounds the cultural psyche of Protestant
Ireland which is loyalty to the Crown. It is the
contention of these articles that Catholic, Protestant
and Dissenter can be united in the name of Irishman
in The National Government Of Ireland Act within
the United Kingdom under the Crown. Republicans
have been banging their heads against a brick wall
in looking for a United Ireland in a Republic. It
is the contention of these articles that the Republician
ideal can only be realized under the banner of Federal
Unionism Early Sinn Fein.
The
United Irishmen and the 98 rebellion were a divisive
disaster in Ireland. In the parish I come from,
Protestants and Catholics were buried in the same
graveyard, Protestants to the left and Catholics
to the right. In the18th century, n the parish there
was a Protestant United Irishman called Caldwell.
When this man came to be buried the Protestant community
wouldn't allow him to be buried in the Protestant
side of the graveyard so he had to be buried on
the Catholic side. So much for unity. The parish
was divided along sectarian lines then as it remains
to the present day.
But
the disaster for the country in 98 lay in the fact
that the United Irishmen had no picture in their
minds of a governed nation except that there would
be no Crown and Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter
would unite but what the nature of the nation would
be and what its constitution would be, acceptable
to all is an historic mystery. The Patriots on the
other hand had a concept of nationhood which gives
a picture in the mind of a governed nation but this
was swept aside and trampled underfoot by brute
force Republicanism and then airbrushed out of Irish
history. But a concept of a nation which should
be acceptable to all can now be given in the National
Government Of Ireland Act derived from the thinking
of the Patriots who saw a government in Ireland
separate from but co-equal to Westminster under
the Crown.
Following
the United Irishmen there came the tragic 1801 Act
of Union in which another brute force attempt was
made to solve the Irish Problem by ramming a Right
Wing Union Jack Unionist unwritten and undemocratic
constitution down the throats of the Irish. Ireland
was now ruled by a Protestant elite which was anti-Irish,
anti-Catholic, and oppressive and undemocratic.
The Irish Problem worsened.
In
1916 another attempt was made to solve the Irish
Problem by Republicans, using once again, brute
force. This was an attempt to overthrow the Right
Wing Union Jack Unionist Constitution by violence
in a Catholic uprising and the uprising was sectarian
in nature being Catholic There wasn't a Protestant
to be found among the leadership or in the ranks.
The uprising ended in failure and solved nothing
but the brute force execution of the 1916 leadership
by the Right Wing as a salutary warning to the British
Empire compounded and worsened the Irish Problem.
It is noted that 1916 was sectarian in nature and
being also Republican the uprising wounded the cultural
psyche of Protestant Ireland which is loyalty to
the Crown.
Pearse's
Proclamation is much vaunted in Republican circles
but in no sense is it a constitution for a new nation.
It is in reality a concoction of ideas thrown together
to morally justify an armed uprising against the
existing Constitution. The Proclamation gives no
picture in the mind of the nature and style of the
new state as could be found in the concept of the
Patriots or as can be put forward in the National
Government Of Ireland Act by Federal Unionism Early
Sinn Fein following on from Griffiths. What Pearse
had in mind in reality for a new state is anyone's
guess other than the new state should be a Republic
in a vague sort of way.
Following
on from 1916 there was a further attempt to solve
the Irish Problem by brute force in a feud between
Michael Collins and the I.R.A., and the Right Wing
Union Jack Unionists the Black and Tans. Again this
ended in failure and the island was partitioned
into two unacceptable statelets a Catholic statelet
in the 26 counties with a Catholic government for
a Catholic people and into a 6 county statelet with
a Protestant government for a Protestant people.
This
outcome was fought over in a brute force civil war
which again solved nothing and contributed nothing
to Ireland except that there emerged in Ireland
a tweedledum and tweedledee political parties that
have no meaning or currency outside the 26 counties
and have no currency of any kind in Europe. What
emerged in Ireland out of all of this was a sectarian
nondescript pseudo-English illiberal sratelet in
the 26 counties and a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist
statlet in the 6 counties which was anti-Irish anti-
Catholic and oppressive.
In
the period under consideration Late Sinn Fein claimed
a moral victory and the moral support of the people
for the use of brute force in Ireland in the 1918
election. Not everyone in the country shared this
rose tinted view of Late Sinn Fein W.B.Yeats didn't
share this outlook. In The Second Coming
written in early 1919 the poet has a jaundiced view
of the 1918 election.
Turning
and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely
some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the
desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches to wards Bethlehem to be born?
In
this poem Yeats is casting a cold eye on Ireland
in January 1919, an Ireland in the aftermath of
the 1918 general election. The poem begins with
an image of instability and of something being out
of control in the image of the falcon and the falconer.
Yeats is also conscious of the collapse of the centre
in Ireland this collapse of a constitutional centre
is looked at in the article The
Way Ireland Ought to Be and is traceable back
to the 18th century. In this poem Yeats has a vision
of a monster emerging in the country and the monster
was born in 1921 with a collapse of the centre and
the polarization of the country into two constitutional
extremes. So not everyone saw Ireland through rose
tinted Republican spectacles after 1918.
In
the late 1960ties the civil rights came into existence
in N. Ireland to challenge the excesses of Right
Wing Union Jack Unionism. The C.R.A. was peaceful
led by the moderate John Hume, but was heavily infiltrated
by brute force Republicans. The civil rights movement
was put down by brute force Union Jack unionism
and from this the Provisional I.R.A. emerged who
made an attempt to overthrow the constitution of
N. Ireland by force. In this brute force attempt
which ended in failure and in the defeat of Republicanism
the I.R.A. committed crimes against humanity and
crimes that are an affront to high heaven. In a
brute force attempt to defend the constitution of
N. Ireland, Right Wing Union Jack Unionism in turn
committed crimes against humanity and crimes that
are an affront to high heaven. Crimes that are an
affront to high heaven are wilful murder.
So far this article contains jottings on attempts
to solve the Irish Problem by brute force all of
which have ended in failure but there have been
a few attempts to solve the problem peacefully and
by the force of reason. The first of these was an
attempt to solve the problem peacefully and in a
reasonably way by the Patriots in the 18th century.
This grouping pressed for an Irish parliament that
was separate from but co-equal to Westminster under
the Crown. It is the view of this article that that
is the first and best concept of Irish Nationhood
but this concept was swept away in the brute force
rebellion of 98.
O' Connell Butt and Parnell made efforts to solve
the problem in a reasonable and peaceful way but
these efforts were defeated by Right Wing Union
Jack Unionism in the 19th century.
In
the early 20th century Arthur Griffiths made another
attempt to come up with peaceful and reasonable
solution to the problem. Arthur Griffiths was a
monarchist and he saw a solution being effected
in the notion of a dual monarchy. It doesn't seem
that Griffiths thought this notion through, but
when it is, as it can be in the National Government
Of Ireland Act, it leads to a Sovereign Nation Of
Ireland in a Federal United Kingdom. Arthur Griffiths
concept was swept aside by the brute force Republican,
De Valera, and he made Sinn Fein Republican and
violent. This is late Sinn Fein. In doing this De
Valera set Sinn Fein on a wrong course in Ireland
and this ended with the defeat of violent Republicanism
in N. Ireland.
There
is now a new approach to the problem in N. Ireland
by Republicans in the Belfast Agreement and the
Peace Process. But is this the solution to the Irish
Problem? Surely not. Late Sinn Fein in N. Ireland
has abandoned all pretext of solving the problem.
Instead they are now eager to prop up a Right Wing
Union Jack Unionist statelet in N. Ireland. Late
Sinn Fein now accept without protest the presence
of a garrison of 5000 English troops et al to impose,
and ram down the throats of those who don't accept
it, a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist undemocratic
unwritten Constitution. That is the function of
a garrison of English troops et al in N. Ireland
as it was throughout the British Empire in its heyday.
What
N. Ireland now needs is a written democratically
acceptable U.K.constitution. This can be put in
place by Early Sinn Fein in the National Government
Of Ireland Act. Late Sinn Fein are now straining
at the bit to set up shop at Stormont and pocket
there a largess of English bounty. In the same way
Late Sinn Fein, while refusing to recognise the
Crown, press for and pocket a largess of English
bounty at Westminster. Late Sinn Fein are now the
arch hypocrites of current politics and are now
lost in the jungle of Irish history and lash around
there like a pack of brain damaged gorillas.
As
this article is being written there is a celebration
of 1916 and a glorification of a brute force solution
to the Irish Problem in Dublin. It is high time
the Irish began to celebrate and glorify sweet reason
as the solution to problems. Pearse is associated
in the public mind with violence and the blood sacrifice
but Pearse was a more complex character than Republican
historians make him out to be. In this passage taken
from the writings of Pearse he is considering a
reasonable peaceful and non-violent approach to
the Irish Problem.
"Negotiations
with the Orangemen might be opened up on these
lines. You are creating a P rovisional Government
Of Ulster - make it a Provisional Government Of
Ireland and we will recognise it and obey it.
... Hitherto
England has governed Ireland through the Orange
Lodges: Now she proposes to govern Ireland through
the A.O.H. You object; so do we. Why not unite
and get rid of the English? They are the real
difficulty; their presence here the real incongruity."
Irish Freedom 1914
If
this overture to Ulster Unionism had been reciprocated
it could have been that Pearse would have been satisfied
with a government for Ireland under the Crown but
in this passage Pearce makes clear what his bottom
line was. It was: English Out. Late Sinn Fein put
their feet in it by calling for Brits Out in N.
Ireland and in so doing outraged the Protestant
community. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein, like
Pearse in this quotation, envisages an Ireland based
on a synthesis of Unionism and Nationalism and these
can be synthesised in the National Government Of
Ireland Act, and for Federal Unionism-Early Sinn
Fein the bottom line is Pearce's bottom line which
is English Out. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein
should not rest at ease until the last English soldier
leaves N.Ireland.
Late
Sinn Fein are at sea and are directionless living
as they do in an acceptance of partition and sectarianism.
In doing so partition has been copperfastened and
sectarianism institutionalised. For as long as these
two remain for so long the Irish Problem remains
unsolved. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein is a
return to the fundamentals and first principles
of Arthur Griffith's Sinn Fein and to Pearse's bottom
line, English Out, and is a rejection of De Valera's
Late Sinn Fein.
There
remains two outstanding issues in the solution to
the problem
-
The presence of a garrison of English soldiers
et al in N.Ireland
- The
presence of a Protestant community in Ireland whose
long standing tradition has been, and remains, loyalty
to the Crown.
If the National Government Of Ireland Act were in
place, ideally in the whole of Ireland, or else
in N. Ireland, then it would be a constitutional
imperative that Peter Hain and his English colleagues
leave Ireland and take the English garrison and
the Union Jack with them. In this Pearse's bottom
line would have been met.
The
issue of the Crown in Ireland is more complex. To
have the Crown as Head of State ideally in an all
Ireland context, is historically speaking a tall
order but not impossible. In Great Britain the Crown
is constitutionally central and neutral and while
Britain's constitution is unwritten and undemocratic
nevertheless it carries with it the overwhelming
of the British people. The Crown in Ireland has
been a different kettle of fish. With the Act Of
Union 1801 the Crown in Ireland was hijacked by
Union Jack Unionism and the Crown in Ireland was
seen as a Protestant Crown for Protestants and became
associated with right wing oppression.
"Another
martyr for old Ireland, another murder for the Crown."
Kevin Barry
This
constitutional set up continued in N. Ireland and
there the Crown was seen as a Protestant Crown for
the Protestant community and was seen as an oppressive
figure by the Catholic community, This constitutional
anomaly of the Crown in Ireland can be corrected
in the National Government of Ireland Act by defining
the Crown as constitutionally central and neutral
and by defining the Crown as Christian in Ireland.
But
loyalty to the Crown bears further scrutiny. Loyalty
is a praiseworthy human attribute, be it loyalty
to friend, family, organization, institution or
country. As a human attribute loyalty should be
free to be expressed and not suppressed as loyalty
to the Crown would be in a Republic. There is no
inconsistency in being loyal to the Crown and in
being Irish. Those Irishmen who fell in Flanders
bear testimony to that. These Irishmen were the
true heroes of Ireland and in their loyalty to the
Crown were not diminished as Irishmen in any way
and should be held up as models for Irish youth.
In contrast to those Irishmen those men who blew
up buildings and people in N.Ireland and shot their
neighbours in the back and in the head in the pursuit
of a perverted political philosophy, these men have
besmirched the name of Irishman and in no sense
can be thought of as role models for Irish youth.
In
Ireland the minds of generations of the communities
have been poisoned by the twin propagandist lies
put around by Right Wing Union Jack Unionism and
Republicanism, these lies asserting on the one hand
that to be loyal to the Crown one must be Protestant,
wave a Union Jack, carry a British passport and
sing God Save The Queen. The Canadian people are
loyal to the Crown and do none of these things.
In Ireland on the other hand there is the counter
propagandist lie that to be Irish one must be Catholic,
wave an Irish tricolour, sing a Soldier's Song and
carry a Republican passport but one can be Irish
and do none of these. Under the National Government
Of Ireland Act Irishness would be given full recognition
and full freedom of expression just as loyalty to
the Crown would be accorded the same freedoms.
But
another fear might linger in the minds of some in
the idea of the Crown becoming head of state for
an all Ireland. Ireland, it might be feared, would
become a neo-colonialist state. Such a fear would
be ill founded. In the Act the United Kingdom would
be defined as the United Kingdom of the Sovereign
Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa.
Also in the Act the parliament in Ireland, following
on from the 18th century Patriots, would be defined
as being separate from, but co-equal to Westminster
under the Crown. In Canada the Crown is Head of
State but Canada is not a neo-colonialist state
but is a sovereign nation recognised as such by
the United Nations. Canada has its own distinctive
national identity with its own government, its own
flag, its own passport and an anthem of its own;
in the Act all of that could be set down for Ireland..
But Ireland doesn't have to be an imitation of Canada.
In the Act there could be designed for Ireland a
unique national identity in Ireland being created
as An Irish Christian Liberal Democracy.
An Irish Nation thus designed in the Act would be
unique and distinctive in the U.K., in Europe and
in the world. In an Ireland with the Act as its
written constitution there could come about a nation
fulfilling the wishes and the desires of all of
the Irish people and the island could become a land
of hearts desire.
There
could also be those in Republican circles who might
see the Crown as English and foreign. While that
might hold among extremists, the ordinary man and
woman in the street knows differently. Jack Charlton
in Ireland was English but was seen by the Irish
people as being one of us. The English don't regard
the Irish as foreign. Terry Wogan in England is
Irish but is thought of as being one of us. By the
same token the Crown in Ireland while being English
could be thought of as one of us.
This article outlines the historic nature of the
Irish Problem and details the author's conviction
that the problem is solvable in the National Government
Of Ireland Act and in no other way. The approach
to solving the problem is the approach of an engineer
to problem solving. What is contained in these articles
to The Blanket is the solution on paper.
If the paper solution were to be implemented on
the ground that would have to be done in N. Ireland
under the banner of Federal Unionism Early Sinn
Fein. The flag of that party is the Royal Flag Of
Ireland and is the existing tricolour with the Cross
Of St Patrick and a simple crown, harp, and shamrock,
imposed on the white central panel. This flag should
be defined in the Act as the National Flag of Ireland
and a symbol of the United Kingdom of the Sovereign
Nation Of Ireland and Great Britain. The author
contends that a deal struck in Belfast between constitutional
irreconcilables, Late Sinn Fein and Right Wing Union
Jack Unionism, is no solution to the Irish problem
and will never be. The reader is reminded that the
solution to problems using only the force of reason
is the civilized way of doing things.
Federal
Unionist-Early Sinn Fein.
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