As I have made clear in a previous article I am
not a politician but some one who dissents from
traditional Unionism, traditional Nationalism,
and traditional Republicanism, seeing all of these
as failures. I am a teacher and writer whose only
interest is in ideas, especially in new and original
ideas, which shed new insight into the Irish problem,
a problem that is long overdue a solution. Not
being a politician I will not try to bamboozle
the readership of The Blanket with politics
but instead will don the hat of a teacher and
make a bold attempt to teach and educate.
In
reading the article on Federalism by Late Sinn,
the Late Sinn Fein document, Eire Nua is
mentioned. I have reread the document and in it
I find a waffle about Rights and Freedoms. This
begs the question, what were the rights and freedoms
of those who were gunned down by Republicans in
the 6 counties, and what were the rights and freedoms
of those who disappeared at the hands of Republicans?
Federalism Unionism—Early Sinn Fein equally
condemns all violence as obscene, be it the obscenity
of the murderous violence of Republicans or the
obscenity of the murderous state violence of Right
Wing Union Jack Unionism. When the waffle of Eire
Nua is sliced through, it is clear Late Sinn
Fein use the term freedom in the sense of Rousseau
and Marx, e.g., Rousseau: Man is born free
but is everywhere in chains; e.g. Marx: Workers
of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but
your chains.
Acting
on these old fashioned views of freedom and buoyed
up by the Republican false dogma, "I have
four green fields; one of them's in bondage",
Republicans mounted a campaign of violence, brutalisation,
and riot to free the people of the 6 counties
from their shackles. However, this was a miscalculation
because people of a moderate disposition, and
that is the vast majority in the 6 counties, didn't
feel themselves to be in shackles in the first
place, so the campaign ended in total failure.
In the article on rights and freedoms published
in The Blanket as part of the National
Government Of Ireland Act, rights and freedoms
are dealt with in a manner in which rights and
freedoms are thought of in a liberal democracy
nowadays. The eminent English philosopher J.S.
Mill wrote that in a democracy persons should
be free to do as they please, provided what they
do doesn't hurt or offend anyone else. That is
how freedom is understood in an Irish Christian
liberal democracy. In such a democracy people
are free to do as they please provided they don't
break the law in doing so. In an Irish Christian
Liberal Democracy the rule of law is supreme,
the law being acceptable by the people, that is
how freedom is nowadays understood. The verbiage
of Eire Nua is the stuff from which dictators
emerge. In Eire Nua, Late Sinn Fein claims
they will bring true freedom to the Irish but
don't say what true freedom is. J.S. Mill's sense
of freedom is true freedom and that true sense
of freedom can be brought to Ireland in a Irish
Christian Liberal Democracy within the UK.
Eire
Nua has also something to say about happiness.
At this juncture in the document it would seem
that Late Sinn Fein has wandered out of Marxist
Cuba and into the American constitution. In Eire
Nua, Late Sinn Fein claims they will make
the Irish people happy. Happiness is not mentioned
in the National Government of Ireland Act, and
for good reason. Happiness is a psychological
condition having to do with the chemistry of the
brain and with one's social and personal condition,
and can't be guaranteed by the state. People can
experience happiness in many different and varied
ways such as eating chocolate, drinking whiskey
and by injecting cocaine. If happiness had been
included in the National Government of Ireland
Act as a right then the Irish could claim that
by eating chocolate, or drinking whiskey, or by
injecting cocaine, they are exercising a constitutional
right. But to stick with the notion of happiness
contained in Eire Nua, it would seem that
Late Sinn Fein is now perfectly happy to enter
Stormont, to partake of the British bounty there,
to accept partition, to live with sectarianism.
Late Sinn is now hooked on the opium of Stormont
but Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein doesn't
smoke that opium but keeps a clear head about
Ireland.
On
reading Eire Nua I also find it contains
verbiage on Marxist socialism of the Old Labour
type, only more extreme. This type of socialism
has been rejected by the people of Great Britain
and would only be approved of by Tony Benn, Fidel
Castro, by the president of North Korea and by
nobody else. Eire Nua is an Ireland for
socialist Republicans only in an all-Ireland Socialist
Republic. What would the rest of the Irish do
in such a Republic? Are they supposed to jump
in the Irish Sea? Eire Nua is devoid of
any sense of democracy. Late Sinn Fein should
come clean about its intentions in Ireland and
draw up a detailed constitution for Eire Nua,
publish it in the national press, and let the
people of Ireland know in advance what they are
letting themselves in for with Late Sinn Fein.
Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein envisages
a democratic united Eire Nua for all. Such a new
Ireland can only be realised in a new reformed
United Kingdom context and in no other way. I
say again Eire Nua is the stuff of a dictatorship.
The article on federalism supports the idea of
a federal Ireland. It would have been helpful
if the author had looked up the words federal
and federalism in the dictionary and had
written about that, rather than compile a concoction
about federalism of his own making. In the dictionary,
federal has three definitions:
Definition
1: Of, or pertaining to, or designing a
form of government in which political units
recognise the sovereignty of a central government
while retaining certain residual powers of government.
Definition 2: Of, or pertaining to, the
central government of a federation, as distinct
from the governments of its constituent political
units.
Definition 3: Of, or pertaining to, or
formed by a treaty or compact between constituent
political units.
Federalism: the doctrine or system of
a federal government.
Confederacy: A union of persons parties
states or nations for a common purpose
A prime example of a federal union as Definition
1 is the U.S.A. There you have a president
standing head and shoulders over the state governors.
There is a sovereign central government, which
can pass national legislation over and above state
legislation. There is a constitution accepted
by all. There is a common language and a common
American culture. There are now moves a foot to
set up a federal Europe as in Definition 1.
A federal Europe is faced with profound difficulties.
A constitution has been drafted but this has been
defeated in a number of countries. At the moment
Europe is a Tower of Babel as far as language
is concerned but English may become the language
of Europe in the distant future. Europe is a plethora
of cultures but will require a common European
culture, what that culture will be like is impossible
to tell. Europe will require a constitution, which
provides a President standing head and shoulders
above the heads of state of the constituent nations
and which provides a government in Brussels, which
can enact legislation over and above the legislation
enacted by the governments of the European nation
states. This gives rise to a fear of loss of sovereignty
in the nation states This is acutely felt in G.B.
Late Sinn Fein comes into this camp but in their
confusion advocate a Federal Ireland. It seems
to be the intention of Late Sinn Fein to set up
Ireland as an offshore Cuba in Europe.
To
talk about a federal Ireland as in Definition
1 and as a mini U.S.A. is laughable, but there
is Definition 3. By this definition, a
federal Ireland could be attempted as a treaty
or compact (a covenant or agreement) between two
states. However there are difficulties in this.
The two states in Ireland are constituted as foreign
to one another, and each regards itself as a nation.
To have a federation between these states is as
unrealistic as to advocate the setting up of a
federal Iberian Peninsula in a treaty or compact
between Spain and Portugal. As a solution to the
Irish problem, James Molyneaux said that the two
nations that occupy the island should live side
by side in peace harmony just as Spain and Portugal
live side by side in the common territory, the
Iberian Peninsula. Republicans did not accept
this. But there is another option by Definition
3. A federal Ireland could be set up in a
treaty or compact entered into between Dail Eireann
and Westminster as in joint authority over the
6 counties. This would be done over the heads
of Late Sinn Fein and Union Jack Unionism, and
would be opposed by Union Jack Unionism and could
give rise to civil disturbance and violence in
the Loyalist Community.
However,
a federal UK is possible, feasible, and doable,
and the conditions for such a confederation are
in place. There is a possible head of state. A
possible constitution, a new reformed UK Constitution
including The National Government of Ireland Act
which would be the constitution of the Irish nation
in the confederation. There is a common language
for the confederation and while the Irish, English,
Scottish, and Welsh cultures are different, yet
similar and these cultures do not regard each
other as foreign. A federal UK is consistent,
the purpose of the confederation being peace and
stability, the defence of democracy and the territorial
integrity of the Isles of the North Atlantic.
The Isles of the North Atlantic being defined
in The National Government of Ireland Act (Article
9). What the article on Federalism by Late
Sinn Fein probably means by Federalism is some
kind of shoddy deal between extremists, such as
the Belfast Agreement in which power is carved
up among the extremes and they agree to stop murdering
one another, partition is accepted and sectarianism
institutionalised. Extremists in the 6 counties
are entering into such a deal at the present time.
The
perplexing term "British culture" is
used in the article on Federalism. If the author
had mentioned American culture that would have
made sense because American culture is widespread
in Ireland. But that is another matter. I have
a good idea what Irish, English, Scottish and
Welsh cultures are but when it comes to "British
culture" my mind is a blank. In my understanding
of "Britishness" it has to do with power
and dominance, namely economic power and dominance,
political power and dominance, military power
and dominance, and isn't about culture. British
power and dominance rose to a peak in the British
Empire but even so India retained its own culture.
British power and dominance in the world began
to decline after the First World War and has been
declining ever since, to be replaced by American
power and dominance, which in turn may be replaced
by China. It is possible that Right Wing Union
Jack Unionism's insistence that its identity is
British isn't about culture, but is a vain attempt
to cling onto power in the 6 counties. Union Jack
unionism must eventually realise that their power
and dominance collapsed with the rise of the civil
rights movement in the 6 counties. Those unionists
who value the union genuinely must rethink the
union radically and make it a union that is acceptable
to all. Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein can be
of assistance in this. Right Wing Union Jack Unionism
rests on the false dogma that to be loyal to the
Crown one must be a Protestant, wave a Union Jack,
sing God Save The Queen, travel on a British passport
and have a paranoid hatred of all things Irish.
This is paralleled by the false Republican dogma
that to be Irish one must be a Catholic, wave
a Tricolour, sing a Soldiers Song, travel on an
Irish passport and have a paranoid hatred of all
things British. It has to be clearly understood
that Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein hasn't
a British bone in its body but is Irish to the
core — but its Irishness finds no inconsistency
in being loyal to the Crown. In Canada, Canadians
are loyal to the Crown but at the same time are
thoroughly Canadian. Canadians can be that way
because the Canadian constitution allows it. In
Ireland one cannot be loyal to the Crown and be
Irish, the constitution of the island doesn't
permit that. Only when the day comes when the
Irish can be loyal to the Crown and at the same
be thoroughly Irish, like Canadians, on that day
Ireland will be united and form a sovereign nation
just as Canada is. That can be achieved in a new
reformed written UK constitution as in the National
Government of Ireland Act. In Ireland, the Irish
should be free to be loyal to the Crown, not in
a British style, but in their own independent
Irish style, just as Canadians are free to be
loyal to the Crown, not in a British style, but
in their own independent Canadian style.
It
may be worthwhile to dwell a little on culture
in Ireland. Ireland may become a multicultural
society and a liberal democracy wouldn't prevent
that. Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein recognises
three long-standing cultures in Ireland:
-
Gaelic culture whose mother tongue is Irish
- Anglo-Irish
culture whose mother tongue is English
- Loyalist
culture whose mother tongue is English/Ulster
Scots, the central plank of their culture being
loyalty to the Crown
The
social structure of Gaelic culture collapsed with
the Flight Of the Earls after the Boyne but even
so the Irish language was widely spoken up to
the famine when the language went into an accelerated
decline. The feelings of the people have been
expressed by Irish poets and this expression can
be found in An Duanaire 1600-1900 Poems of
the Dispossessed. Gaelic culture has also
a significant body of prose literature in writers
such as Paedar Ui Connaire of Galway and the Mac
Grainnas of Donegal. The accelerated decline of
the Irish language in the 19th century was worsened
further by the introduction of the National Schools
in 1832. Westminster's purpose in introducing
these schools was admirable. It was the government's
intention that in these schools Catholic and Protestant
would be educated together and in that way would
form friendships that would last throughout life.
This admirable purpose was rejected by sectarian
Ireland. But the National Schools went down in
infamy for another reason. Irish teachers staffed
these schools and these teachers beat the Irish
language out of the school population and beat
the English language into it. This was done with
the full approval of the parents. This stands
in marked contrast to what happened to the Welsh
language. In Wales parents insisted that Welsh
be taught in the schools and in that way the Welsh
language was preserved.
After
the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921
Dail Eireann introduced compulsory Irish in the
schools in the 26 counties. An effort was made
to beat the Irish language back into the school
population. The Irish Christian Brothers spearheaded
this effort, believing in a false Republican dogma
about the language. This forced-feeding of the
Irish language was carried out with the full approval
of Dail Eireann. This venture failed and created
in the minds of many in the 26 counties a distaste
of the language.
The
treatment of the Irish language in Ireland raises
the deeper question of compulsion in a democracy.
There is in existence at the present time a group
of philosophers led by the eminent Jesuit philosopher
Ivan Illich who argue that compulsory state schooling
should be abolished and should be replaced by
a voluntary system of education. The article on
schooling in the Act published in The Blanket
(Article 11) was
written with Illich in mind, but stops short of
him. Attendance at Christian Studies is voluntary
and is underpinned by freedom. On the other hand
attendance at Secular Studies is compulsory but
is also underpinned by freedom. There is further
compulsion in schooling in that the Irish National
Anthem has to be sung at the end of morning Assembly
and the National and Provincial flags flown in
the school grounds. This educational practice
is in keeping with some research in America I
came across years ago when doing research at university.
This research looked at the formation of American
identity in elementary schoolings. The research
established that a strong sense of American identity
was fully formed by the end of elementary education
and that the identity was not connected with ethnic
origin so identity has nothing to do with genes
as Fascists would have us believe and has nothing
to do with blowing up Canary Warf or shooting
policemen in the 6 counties as Republicans would
lead us to believe. A sense of identity is firstly
a product of the home, then of the schooling one
gets in ones childhood and youth and also it has
to do with the constitution under which one lives.
In
the deeper sense compulsion should have no place
in a liberal democracy. The only compulsion acceptable
in such a state is the enforcement of compulsory
state law the law being accepted by the people.
In the article on culture in The Blanket
(Article 14),
Irish culture would be promoted everywhere in
Ireland by a state funded body, The Royal Society
for the Promotion of Irish Culture, but Irish
culture would not be imposed on those who do not
want it. The Royal Society is underpinned
by freedom of choice and freedom to refuse. On
reading Late Sinn Fein's Eire Nua it is
their intention to restore the Irish language
to every day use but how that is to be achieved
is left unsaid. It could that the language would
be rammed down people's throats as has been done
in the past by Republicans. It could also be that
socialism would be rammed down the throats of
the people as well, as is done in Cuba and N.
Korea.
To
turn to the second culture found in Ireland, namely
Anglo-Irish culture whose mother tongue is English.
This culture is now the dominant culture of the
island. This culture finds literary expression
in the writings of Swift, Moore, Joyce, AE, Friel,
Synge, O' Casey, Yeats, Kavanagh, Heaney, Edna
O' Brien, Maeve Binchey, and Roddy Doyle. It finds
artistic expression in the paintings of John Lavery,
Roderic O'Connor, Jack Yeats, Paul Henry, Sean
Keating, Francis Bacon, Colleen Browning, and
Alice Maher, and in the music of Sean O'Riada.
However traditional Irish music is shared equally
by Anglo-Irish culture and Gaelic culture. Anglo-Irish
culture has the dance forms, Riverdance
and other traditional Irish dance forms. It should
be made clear that Anglo-Irish culture is the
culture of the ordinary man and woman on the Island
and doesn't include the illustrious Anglo-Irish
family, the Butler/Ormond family of Kilkenny Castle
whose culture was English. Late Sinn Fein correctly
belongs to Anglo-Irish culture, even if Gerry
Adams mutilates the Irish tongue, from time to
time, on TV.
The
third culture in Ireland is Loyalist culture whose
mother tongue is English/Ulster Scots. The central
plank of this culture is loyalty to the Crown.
However, this culture has no significant Ulster
literature buts adopts Scottish literature, especially
the poetry of Robert Burns. This culture has no
significant Ulster music except for a limited
repertoire of Orange Songs tainted with sectarianism
but again adopts Scottish music and song, and
again this culture has no Ulster dance form, but
adopts Scottish dance. This culture has a folk
art found on gable walls in the loyalist districts.
If Republicans had their way this culture would
be wiped from the map of Ireland. Because of this
Republicanism is fatally flawed and should be
rejected just as Right Wing Union Jack Unionism
is fatally flawed and should be rejected.
It
could be that when watching BBC TV, Late Sinn
Fein may feel they are being exposed to British
culture and that BBC TV should be jammed. It could
also be that when Union Jack Unionism is watching
RTE they may feel they are being exposed to Irish
culture and that RTE should be jammed in the 6
counties. Neither have any thing to fear about
culture as far as television is concerned. TV
has to do with mass appeal and mass entertainment
and will express any culture that has mass appeal
and sells, such as films about Ireland, England,
Scotland, Wales and about America and about outer
space, or of music of any description that appeals.
The mass entertainment of RTE being an imitation
of the BBC.
I
have dealt with Federalism at length as I feel
the commentary is of importance. I hope the readership
of The Blanket will find the commentary
helpful and instructive.
