Opinion

Tom Kelly: Geographical unity is secondary to unity of people within Ireland

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly is an Irish News columnist with a background in politics and public relations. He is also a former member of the Policing Board.

Irish President Douglas Hyde famously said that hate is a negative passion but love can move mountains.
Irish President Douglas Hyde famously said that hate is a negative passion but love can move mountains. Irish President Douglas Hyde famously said that hate is a negative passion but love can move mountains.

“The Gaelic League is founded not upon hatred of England, but upon a love of Ireland. Hatred is a negative passion: it is powerful - a very powerful destroyer; but it is useless for building up. Love, on the other hand, is like faith; it can move mountains”. These are the words of the first Irish president, Douglas Hyde. They are wise and prescient.

We have witnessed over the past number of decades a number of conflicting, unhealthy and indeed depressing notions over the issue of national identity within Northern Ireland from all sides of the community, unionist, nationalist and other. Yes, you heard that right -‘other’ too.

So let me deal with the section who self declare as ‘other’ or non aligned within the political context of Northern Ireland. When push comes to shove on an issue like a border poll this group will be as polarised as other northern citizens because the choice of which jurisdiction one lives under is a binary one.

More worryingly, the ‘non aligned’ often seem to look down their noses at those who identify with either form of nationalism within the north, whether it be British or Irish.

It is as if they live alone in that rarified non-existent space called no-man's land. But they don’t.

They live in Northern Ireland and as they don’t campaign to leave the union as pro Irish parties do, their political stance is decidedly pro-union. This should in theory give additional comfort to concerned mainstream unionists that the ‘precious union’ is not really under any immediate or medium term threat of being subsumed into a united Ireland.

It is the undeclared rather than the unaligned who will ultimately decide the longevity of Northern Ireland within the UK.

To their political opponents they are either latter day “Lundies” or purveyors of soft unionism. In some ways, they are the political underbelly of “our wee country”, Northern Ireland.

Sometimes the non aligned portray the proponents of nationalism and unionism as being synonymous with sectarian terminology which is untrue and unfair.

National identity (or indeed faith) as President Hyde spoke of, is something which is not built on hate but on love. Loving one’s country is to love its people - all of them.

(Though Britain as a nation looks increasingly fragile because of the rise of negative English nationalism fuelled by xenophobia and nostalgia).

To build a nation on a negative passion can be done but it will always be short lived.

Contrary to the thinking of some within republicanism, unionists are not some lost and misguided tribe of Irish. They are British. They are very settled separatists. They see themselves as separate from the rest of Ireland. And after 450 years their roots grow deep in Irish soil.

No amount of talking about them, prescribing for them or trying to side line them will do anything for the cause of Irish unity. Geographical Irish unity is a secondary aim to the unity of the people within Ireland.

This dopey decade of centenaries has been like treading on a field of abandoned landmines. One slip of the foot (or foot in the mouth) and the whole bitterness and blood lust of the past comes to the fore. For the most part centenary events have been handled with sensitivity but there is no escaping the physical scars of partition or violence.

Campaigning to stay in or leave the union has begun, leaving behind voters' real time concerns about the state of education, welfare and the health service. In truth, the state of both public services in both jurisdictions are in a perilous condition.

Voters, in the words of the late Barbara Castle, are sick of promises about jam tomorrow, they rightly want jam today.

Debates about the future from whatever perspective need to be all encompassing, open, pluralist and prepared for challenge. No ideology is absolute. We are building for a future not reliving the past.