There is a wonderful delusion among Irish nationalists that because Boris Johnson is a political scoundrel, Angela Merkel must be a political saint. The truth is that Merkel’s Toryism is little different from Johnson’s.
This belief is part of an historical nationalist tradition, which has often veered away from Irish independence towards Irish dependence - usually on (often unscrupulous) foreign powers opposed to Britain.
In recent centuries, nationalists have sought financial, political or military support from a variety of countries including, France, Spain, Russia, USA, Nazi Germany and Libya. Today they believe Germany (the EU’s dominant state) is their latest saviour, canonising Merkel for her anti-British stance.
But in what the German newspaper Der Spiegel called “a catalogue of cruelties” during the banking crisis, her EU policies on Greece crushed its economy, created mass unemployment and pushed 40 per cent of children into poverty. She shares Johnson’s love of corporate greed.
She inflicted the same Cromwellian strategy on Ireland, but nationalists remember one Cromwell and forget the other. Ireland was forced to pay €67 billion to protect German banks’ investments during the banking collapse. That was 40 per cent of the total cost, paid for by one per cent of the EU population.
So why do nationalists conveniently forget that, why are they besotted with the German-dominated EU and what impact will their support for the Northern Ireland Protocol have for Irish unity?
Nationalism is currently driven by a desire for a united Ireland, but not an independent Ireland, as illustrated by its uncritical support for the EU and its absolute disgust at Brexit. (In a wonderful reversal of 800 years of of history, Ireland mocked the English for seeking independence.)
Fearing that Brexit would mean a hard land border, nationalists welcomed the Northern Ireland Protocol as an unexpected step towards Irish unity. In a political move, it imposed customs checks on goods from GB to here, even though the vast bulk of them are not destined to travel onwards to the south.
Johnson, the political scoundrel agreed, hoping to break the agreement later.
Meanwhile, the protocol has caused significant disruption to the flow of goods, from GB to here, including foodstuffs and an expected blockade of over 2,000 medicines. Sinn Féin and the SDLP appear happy that we should suffer our way to a united Ireland on their behalf.
Interestingly, Tory minister, Lord Frost, attacked the medicines blockade before SF or the SDLP raised the issue. Their love for Berlin has threatened the health of those who elected them.
Their willingness to accept EU rule without any representation is remarkably undemocratic, but they have been prepared to accept that too as part of the price for Irish unity.
However, despite nationalists’ blind loyalty, the EU now says the protocol is open for discussion and maybe even negotiation. In a choice between advocating Irish unity, or risking London’s restriction of German exports into the UK, economic considerations came first.
The Eurozone makes German exports cheaper than they should be and those of weaker economies more expensive. With trade barriers around the EU single market (but removed within it) German exporters cannot fail, provided they also have access to the British market. (Think of it as a more sophisticated form of the old British empire.)
SF and the SDLP are now following the EU’s conciliatory lead, thereby abandoning their hopes for an EU-driven united Ireland. Much of the protocol’s adverse impact can be avoided by lifting the restrictions on UK goods moving within the UK (and SF and the SDLP officially recognise the north as part of the UK). It would benefit everyone here.
The protocol may finally teach nationalists that Irish unity can only come from the collective will of those within Ireland, not through political opportunism from those outside it. It must be based on uniting all our people and that means forward planning with a significant section of unionism.
Adopting a more sensible approach to the protocol might be a good place to start.
