In 1921, the mood among unionists was jubilant. When the king and queen of England came to Belfast to mark the opening of the new Northern Ireland Parliament, the streets were decked out with red, white and blue bunting. “The people could not contain themselves,” according to Cecil Craig, the wife of the new prime minister. “All Irishmen,” King George V said, should “join in making for the land which they love, a new era of peace, contentment and good will.”
Anything but, it turned out to be a disastrous partition of Ireland. Partition was another planned deceit by the English Tories and one of many in Irish history, even to this day. Technically you could believe the annexation was in 1801, with the Act of Union. It was pushed through to pre-empt Catholic democracy from developing and damaging Britain’s selfish strategic and economic interests. It was a solution that gave very little satisfaction and created perpetual tension. Colonialism at its finest.
Looking in the rearview mirror, what was the biggest mistake made?
It left a large Catholic minority from areas like Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh and Down within the north of Ireland, governed by a discriminatory heavy-handed Ulster Unionist Party exhibiting bad faith, bad behaviour and seditious lawlessness. These facts made the north of Ireland a bigger entity than anyone had expected it to be and also heightened the animosities on both sides. It resulted in a resentful Catholic minority within the north of Ireland. It was a situation that was bound to explode and it did.
There are a lot of reasons that will eventually reunite Ireland. The demographics have changed. Protestants are no longer a clear majority in the north of Ireland.
There is a sizeable minority that is outside the cultural antipathy. A move in the Irish Republic towards liberalisation and secularisation to align with the rest of Europe, with strong economic progress. The swell of anti-Brexit support in the north. The unionist apparent disinterest in celebrating the centenary. What was there to celebrate? It’s hardly been a glowing success – lack of interest from the UK heads of state and ignored by the head nodders of Buckingham Palace. Machiavellian cunning, lies and deceit.
Unionists will only give up being unionist when others persuade them to respect the democratic will of the majority.
We’ll see. Each year is a stepping stone to the next. 2022 will be another year towards Irish unity.
JAMES BARRY
Dublin 6
Sane and salient observation
Eamon McCann (January 5) hits the proverbial nail square on the head, as he fingers the fallacy of pervasive profiteering, expounding a key universal truth: “The pursuit of profit is the source of most of the world’s ills.”
Of course, it doesn’t take a socio-economic genius to come up with his sane and salient observation, but it does take a honed courage of articulated experience to post it publicly alongside clear extrapolation towards practical dynamic enactment of appropriate antidotes to the malaise: “There’s always something we can do, if we do it together, in an organised way… that is to say through socialist struggle.”
Such a struggle need not be aggressive, disrespectful, disenfranchising or disingenuous, merely identifying an obvious, but pernicious, truth, accompanied by diligent and dedicated restorative action for fairness and sustainability.
Filthy lucre addiction has been a vindictive virus rampant in almost every global society for centuries. Political establishments have shown zero appetite for any serious and sustained challenge to the plethora of corruptive machinations which lurk in every nook and cranny within our midst. The malignant weave of ‘corporate’ manipulations which fester and flourish freely within the corridors of governance coupled with the flagrant flaws in our pseudo-democratic templates, conspire to consolidate a complexion of imbalance, short-termism, disenchantment, dislocation and eventual social discombobulation.
Amassing excessive fortunes conjures only inexorable dwindle towards self-annihilation. Such appraisals have been around for many a year, but selfishly blinkered practices of distorted value systems conspire to consign us to that inevitable ‘highway to hell’.
But yet, as Eamon McCann exhorts us all: “We mustn’t wait to discover what the new year has in store, but begin to organise action... to bring about a better world, starting with our own little patch of the world.”
Best new year resolution ever, one has to suspect.
JIM COSGROVE
Lismore, Co Waterford
Societal problem solving
BRIAN Feeney’s article – ‘Flags report another opportunity lost for unionism’ (December 8) – makes for depressing yet familiar reading. Another attempt at societal problem solving stonewalled. Apparently a substantial reason – the issue of ‘Britishness’.
That word has cropped up quite a lot especially in the recent past. It, to me, describes a sentiment without actual definition. Indeed, on the odd occasion when challenged on how ‘one’s Britishness is diminished’ little by way of clarification was achieved.
Now, I do not believe that we all wish to have the ‘who we are and what we are’ validated, yet the bar that unionists have set is at such a height that they could be seen to be seeking an exclusionist social environment. They are setting a lower premium on social wellbeing in favour of a flag, a bonfire – not even permitting free discussion on such matters. Those who want to have their identify defined as ‘British’ really have to take note as to what is being done in their name.
MANUS McDAID
Derry City
Chance to change a child’s life
As another year is upon us we know that people will be reflecting and looking ahead to the coming months.
Many people’s resolutions and goals for the year ahead often include giving back, and at our Childline bases in Northern Ireland and across the UK, we are incredibly lucky to have dedicated volunteers who come in and give their time to be there for children when they need us the most.
Last year, our teams of volunteers in our Childline bases across the UK had over 200,000 Childline counselling sessions with children and young people about a range of problems including mental health, abuse and neglect, family relationships, sexuality, grief, loneliness, and isolation. Could you be there to change a child’s life?
If you have a new year’s resolution, why not consider becoming a volunteer Childline counsellor? Volunteering can be a great way to give back to the community, while learning new skills. NSPCC particularly need people in evenings and weekends in our Childline bases in Belfast and Foyle. If you are interested, you can visit www.nspcc.org.uk/volunteer and sign up to the next available volunteer information session.
MAIREAD MONDS
NSPCC, Northern Ireland
