We need a new unity on these islands. The island of Ireland was partitioned in 1922 and will be again with a profoundly differential economic system. What came out of partition was of course the Troubles. We now need to ask what could happen with economic partition? Another Troubles?
There is a very strong economic symbiosis on these islands, which is about to be messed with and upset. The recriminations will stretch far and wide. It looks like the old border roads will be blocked again. There cannot be an open border with EU countries and the WTO. We are going back, not forward, with these two jurisdictions on this island. Everything which has been worked for and sweated over will be at risk.
A 32-country republic will not solve the problem of Brexit because there will still be a border down the Irish sea and Sinn Féin are going nowhere with that solution. We need to accept that a border is inevitable, yet still try and look for a new unity on these islands with all the administrations. Can the UK rewrite and undo the past, as if it was never in the EU? It’s very doubtful. The UK is saying farewell to the EU, but taken to an extreme will lead to bad consequences. It did not take much to ignite the Troubles as we saw recently with battle of the Bogside nostalgia. The UK is stepping back in time and Northern Ireland is stepping back with it. What is going to happen with a new Troubles if it all goes horribly wrong?
One way out of Brexit problems is to get special protocol for these two islands, special protocol from the EU which allows for the enormous challenges which lie ahead.
It is crucial we form a new unity or understanding on these islands. Northern Ireland has been part of the Republic and vice-versa within the EU bloc, which will no longer be the case as we approach E-Day.
It is such a twist that economic partition is to be grafted onto jurisdictional partition. When the UK decided to get out, it took the Republic with it and this is how things should be regarded practically – though not technically the case. The UK and the Republic will be adrift for a long time after Brexit. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar believes
that it will be possible to negotiate after E-Day. This may or may not happen and what is unfolding is an insidious situation where Dublin and London are not talking to each other much – a situation we saw at the height of the Troubles.
We need a new unity because so much depends on it.
MAURICE FITZGERALD
Shanbally, Co Cork
Good Friday Agreement provides template for any new Irish state
There is no doubt that we need a constructive and open discussion about the shape a new Ireland should take after partition has ended. The new Irish state must be founded on the principle of unequivocal respect and equality for all its citizens. Given the bloody history of the north, we must ensure that those who continue to regard themselves as unionists are made welcome and not subject to discrimination of any kind. The Good Friday Agreement provides the template for the approach needed with its provisions for parity of esteem between the nationalist and unionist communities; this should continue to be the bedrock for governance in a united Ireland. For as long as they feel the need to, unionists should be absolutely free to continue to practise the public expression of their political beliefs, whether in the area of symbols, of marching, or otherwise. Likewise, the idea of a regional assembly continuing to exist in the six northern counties should not be ruled out.
But none of this should mean, as some are suggesting, that a united Ireland should be diluted or neutered into some kind of a British/Irish state. The Irish nation encompassing the island of Ireland must be the only intact political unit, its central government sovereign and supreme. The idea that Ireland should join the British commonwealth or adopt a new flag or national anthem as a quid pro quo for democratically endorsed Irish unity is foolhardy and deeply insulting to all Irish people of this and previous generations who have rejected and resisted the British military dismemberment of our country.
The welcoming hand must always be held out to those who now or in the future wish to be part of the Irish nation. For those who don’t wish to do that, we must assure them that they will always be treated with scrupulous fairness in the new all-Ireland state.
What we cannot do is allow the creation of anything less than a free and sovereign state which has the exclusive right to rule its people, and the absolute freedom to alone choose its alliances among the nations of the world.
PATRICK FAHY
Omagh, Co Tyrone
Blessed are the peace makers
LAST week, as we recalled the start of the Troubles, it would be very easy to turn this into a romantic story of noble Irish warriors fighting an ancient foe. It is essential that we reflect all narratives. We must never forget the victims and survivors of the Troubles, from all sides, who suffered and have endured so long.
We must recall the decency, courage and tenacity of ordinary people who never supported violence, got on with their lives, believed in a strong community and showed a deep respect for their neighbours.
Over the long barren years when there was little hope, or little to hope for, it was not easy or fashionable to preach the message of politics, of peaceful constitutional consensual politics, in the face of British stupidity, unionist intransigence and violence of paramilitaries. In the end the advocates of physical force yielded and conceded to the old-fashioned advocates of peaceful, democratic and constitutional politics.
In the words of journalist Fergal Keane, we must remember those who: “….made a different choice and who showed us another way. John Hume was the most visible symbol of the politics of reason. But the north would have descended into Bosnia-like catastrophe had there not been many more like him who renounced atavism. Blessed are the peacemakers. Especially those who did what was right from the start.”
TIM ATTWOOD
Belfast BT11
Keeping women in their place
Being anti-abortion brings out Gerard Herdman’s sensitive side – ‘Men do go through the ‘trauma’ of an unexpected pregnancy’ (August 14). He refers to men going “through the ‘trauma’ of an unexpected pregnancy.” Furthermore, “men are required and expected to raise that child should the mother choose not to bring its life to a premature end”.
What men are “expected” or “required” to do in Gerard’s mind is seldom what happens in reality. In all practical experience, women are burdened with the decision to carry on with or to terminate an unexpected pregnancy. There were no homes for unmarried fathers. The difference nowadays is that women are not taking instruction over control of their wombs from Church or State.
Gerard and those who think alike can use any argument about when they think life starts. Any man who truly respects a woman will respect her decision and will not force her to go through with an unwanted pregnancy. A ‘real man’ would respect a woman’s decision in that context. Anything else takes us down a bible-thumping road from Ballymena to Birmingham, Alabama.
TOM COOPER
Templeogue, Dublin 6
