It
is beyond dispute that there is a problem in N.
Ireland. There is something rotten in state. What
the exact nature of the decay is, is hard to detect
but something smells. I t is the thesis of this
article that the problem is due to the unwritten
nature of N. Ireland's constitution which is now
in an advanced state of decay.
It
is widely held here since the people have the vote
N Ireland is a democracy. To hold that is insufficient.
For a state to be a democracy in the true sense
the state must also have a constitution, preferably
written, which has the overwhelming support of the
people. The EU is not a democracy despite the vote
because it does have a constitution which is accepted
by all. This is true of Iraq and it could be when
a constitution is agreed, Iraq could be a theocracy
not a democracy.
If
one looks around in N.Ireland one can observe the
nature of the constitutional problem. There are
two heads of state involved, two flags being flown,
two anthems being sung, two passports being held
with two conflicting identities. and two governments
involved. Ian Paisley and his followers see the
state as our home and our country, — the grandest
wee country in the world — Gerry Adams and
his followers see the state as despicable, a statelet
to be got rid of. A state thus constituted will
be unstable, prone to street violence, and is ungovernable.
In its un written British constitution that will
remain the plight of N. Ireland
Since
British constitution is imposed by military means
and is maintained by one section of the population
in public posturing — the waving of flags,
marching, sloganizing (This we will maintain, Ulster
is British), in this posturing to maintain an unwritten
constitution intercommunal strife and street violence
is the outcome. The maintenance of an unwritten
constitution in this way is kicked against by an
opposing Republican mass.
As
noted, unwritten British constitution is imposed
military, not democratically. The recent campaign
of violence by the IRA was an attempt to overthrow
the constitution by counter military means. This
attempt has failed miserably and is now hopefully
over It has been replaced by the so called politics
of Late Sinn Fein which now promotes the idea that
British constitution can be disposed of by political
stealth, subterfuge and deals. In the meantime Late
Sinn is willing to enter into an unholy coalition
with Right Wing Union Jack Unionism, carve up power
into sectarian blocks at Stormont and in so doing
prop up a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist state with
an undemocratic unwritten British constitution.
It
is the contention of this article that British Constitution
can and should be replaced by a written democratic
United Kingdom Constitution which is acceptable
to all, .which is maintained rationally and is interpreted
by the use of intelligence not on the streets. If
N Ireland had such a constitution devoid of public
posturing, street violence should wither away.
The
question remains how is this to be done? It is the
contention of this article, a written constitution
for N, Ireland can be found in — The National
Government of Ireland Act., a written constitution
which should be acceptable to all. This Act would
have to be initiated in N Ireland, but it would
have to be drawn up on an All Ireland basis.
In
doing this what is missing in the state is the absence
of a constitutional centre in N Ireland There is
a centre but it is fragmented and is in decline,
.The state in N Ireland is now polarized between
two constitutional extremes, namely the violent
Republicanism of Late Sinn Fein and the violence
of Right Wing Union Jack Unionism. There is nothing
new in this. It is traceable far back.in Irish history.
This
constitution polarization can be observed, firstly,
in 18th century Ireland. At that time there was
a Parliament in Ireland which was constitutionally
moderate and central. The moderate Patriots pressed
for the Irish Parliament to be separate from, but
co-equal to Westminster under the Crown. This is
the first and best concept of Irish nationhood,
If this moderate concept had been worked down the
generations Ireland would be a Sovereign Nation
under the Crown — a nation like Canada. That
was not to be. The constitutional extremists the
Republican United Irishmen attempted to overthrow
the constitution by violence. This abortive uprising
was opposed and defeated by the Right Wing —
the protestant yeomanry. In this period of obscene
violence the moderate Patriots were swept aside
trampled underfoot and lost in history. In this
way the constitutional moderate centre was lost
in Ireland in the late18th century,
In
reaction to this violent uprising by extremists
— the United Irishmen — the moderate Parliament
of the Patriots was done away with by the use of
political chicanery and a right wing British Constitution
imposed in 1801 without reference to the democratic
feelings of the Irish people. Ireland was then under
the control of a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist
protestant elite which was ante-Irish ante-Catholic
and oppressive.
In
this set up a moderate centre emerged in the persons
of Butt and Parnell in Home Rule. It is the view
of this article both of these men would have been
happy with a government for Ireland under the Crown.
That was not to be. Home Rule was frustrated and
put down by Right Wing Union Jack Unionism. Again
the constitutional centre was lost.
In
the 20th century a moderate centre emerged in the
person of Griffiths and Early Sinn Fein. In his
idea of a dual monarchy Griffiths was toying with
the idea of a federal UK. However this moderate
central constitutional stance was swept aside and
trampled underfoot by the violent catholic sectarian
uprising of 1916. This was an attempt to overthrow
the constitution and set up a Republic. In the 1917
Ard Fheis Griffiths was ousted from the leadership
of Sinn Fein and replaced by the Republican extremist
— De Valera. That is violent Late Sinn Fein.
In the ensuing brouhaha in Ireland the island was
partitioned into a 26 county statelet with a catholic
parliament for a catholic people in Dublin and a
6 county statelet with protestant parliament for
a protestant people in Belfast. Thus in Sinn Fein
history there are two Sinn Feins, one Early, the
other Late. Early Sinn Fein is peaceful and democratic
and is constitutionally moderate and central. Late
Sinn Fein is violent, undemocratic and constitutionally
extreme. This distinction is central to this article.
In
the 70ties Conor Cruise O Brien came to the fore
with his theory of the two nations. This article
accepts that there are two possible nations for
Ireland but Right Wing Union Jack Unionism is not
one of them. That unionism and that Ireland has
passed its sell by date and should be replaced by
a new reformed unionism with a written UK constitution.
The two possible nations for Ireland are best seen
in the two Sinn Feins Early and Late. One Ireland,
the Ireland of Early Sinn Fein and of the Patriots
could be a Sovereign Nation of Ireland under the
Crown. The other Ireland is a Republic of Ireland
whose origins are steeped in violence and blood
and brutality. Such an Ireland wounds the cultural
psyche of protestant Ireland.
I
n the north there is an attempt at the moment to
form a kind of coalition between the extreme wings
of the constitution, namely — Late Sinn Fein
and Right Wing Union Jack Unionism — in joint
rule. Such a coalition is a constitutional absurdity
and is doomed to failure. Such an idea is as absurd
as the idea of forming a coalition at Westminster
between the National Front and the extreme Republican
wing of the Labour Party. Such an idea would be
seen as a joke by the people of Great Britain, yet
a similar idea is being pressed forward by the British
and Irish governments for N. Ireland
If
a government at Stormont is to be formed whose aim
is to draw up a written constitution for N. Ireland
in the National Government of Ireland Act. - a coalition
of the centre would have to be formed, composed
of the UUP, SDLP, and Alliance. Such a coalition
is not an absurdity but should be feasible possible
and doable. However such a central coalition would
have to take as its banner — Federal Unionism
Early Sinn Fein. It is the function of a constitutional
centre in a democracy to oppose and defeat constitutional
extremists, not to talk to them.
The
Act should define the United Kingdom, as the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation
of Ireland. That should be the basis of the Act
but the Act would require much, much more than that.
With
the Act drawn up at Stormont , after discussion
with interested parties, a referendum on the Act
should be held throughout the whole island giving
the people two options.
Do
you wish Ireland to be:
