WITH the reunification of our island being debated from various perspectives, including the indifferent, the revisionist and the plainly hostile, I would like to submit my sentiments and observations on the subject.
I’ve never thought of Ireland as other than a single, organic entity – for all the regional political quirks, anomalies and injustices of the misfit, artificial Northern Ireland statelet (enclave?).
The ‘Six Counties’ and ‘the North’ are still the only terms that should be used by anyone claiming to be a nationalist. Then again, the North, strictly geographically speaking, should include all above Athlone.
I have never understood or been in sympathy with the tendency among some to self identify as ‘Northern Irish’. It invokes provincialism, exceptionalism, apartness, and a negative self entitlement. Dubliners are never heard describing themselves as ‘eastern Irish’. There are even Irish from the nationalist demography in the North who on official profiles give their nationality as British.
The accommodation of unionists in a united Ireland is ‘spun’ as problematic, volatile – it is not and should not be, other than among the ignorant blinkered who may well never have been in the 26 counties.
Today’s Ireland is to a great degree secular, not that of de Valera. Any delusional self-proclaimed British identity among Northern Irish is soon deflated on visits to England, Scotland or Wales, where the `British’ visitor is thought of, seen as, addressed as Irish. Every citizen of the island of Ireland and many beyond these shores has the right to an Irish passport. The talents and resources of Irish unionist citizens would be a rich resource in a united Ireland.
The border today in commuting, socialisation, intermarriage, study, work, travel is generally ignored. There are those who would like to even undo this.
I worked in Dublin in the 1980s and have only a positive, indeed nostalgic recall of my experience of Dublin and Dubliners, likewise of all non-Dubliners, native and foreign – their hospitality, humour, pride in their city’s history, music, literature, and lore, generosity of spirit, good turns and favours. If I began to give anecdotal examples of this I would be writing a much longer article here. The attitude to my being a Northerner as such was unassuming, one of interest. If I heard the term ‘the Black North’ or ‘the wee 6’ once or twice, it was as ironic banter.
I was not there with the pre-
emptive, divisive, defensive outlook of a minority that a few, among fellow Northerners, expressed in comments about `staters’, ‘anti-Northerner’ or, worse, `west Brit’.
I always had a job (manual building sites) and like most Irish there not from the city, enjoyed being in the capital of my country.
Those whose interests are not those of unity use every possible media device to sow division and dissent on Irish unity and frustrate the spirit of national unity.
Camille Viminey-Leadon
Magalas, France
Present state of advertising could send people down a dangerous road
RESPONSIBLY means doing something with care and consideration for the consequences. It’s a word we see a lot but may not take much notice of what it means.
“Please drink responsibly” and “please gamble responsibly” are two repeated mantras you’ll hear at the end of many TV and radio ads. But what real purpose is the word ‘responsibly’ serving here and how should it be defined?
As far as I know, alcohol and gambling bodies don’t have an iron-clad definition of what a ‘responsible’ use of their products is. Is responsible drinking a glass of wine every night or the occasional Saturday night binge? Everyone’s definition and personal limits are different.
I think we’ve become desensitised to the destructive nature of alcohol. Illegal drugs are obviously a massive problem but so is the misuse of an legal drug like alcohol. I never like to hear Americans or anyone else joke about “the drinking Irish”, it feels like an unfair jab that I don’t want us to live up to.
On gambling, it has become so intertwined with sport that the two
are impossible to separate.
The football commentator Clive Tyldesley recently said that gambling responsibly is like trying to fly a plane without taking off, it can’t be done.
I don’t want gambling or alcohol banned and don’t think everyone who partakes in them is a problem case. I think the current state of advertising and messaging however can send people down a dangerous road.
“When the fun stops, stop.” Where is the fun? The fun of people risking their week’s wages and ruining their weekend if a bet goes wrong. A form of fun that carries a helpline at the bottom. A form of fun that leads to a suicide every day. People don’t have to go to Las Vegas any more, Las Vegas is in everyone’s pocket at the swipe of a finger.
Mark McKillen
Kilrea, Co Derry
Eventual solution for Israel will best involve Arab/Jew power-sharing
The human race might not survive if we (a) continue to fight wars and (b) fail to involve minorities in making collective decisions. To solve (b), we need to replace the 2,500-year-old minority-versus-majority binary vote with, at best, an electronic version of the mere 250-year-old preferential decision-making. Then, if we do solve (b), we might also be able to stop (a).
The eventual solution for Israel will best involve Arab/Jew power-sharing; after all, at 7.2 per cent of the MPs in the 2021 election, the Arabs deserve at least one member in any power-sharing cabinet of 14 or more ministers, as of proportional right. Next, in debate, at least one Arab option should be allowed ‘on the table’, as well as the other options, of course, a maximum of one per party. From this choice, a decision should be the option (not with the more votes, the majority), but with the most support, the highest average preference, for an average involves every voter; the methodology is inclusive, literally.
If in the future Israel should have power-sharing and preferential decision-making, then in every elected chamber in Britain and Ireland, we should have both, now. Covid and climate change demand the same.
Peter Emerson
Director, the de Borda Institute
Belfaast BT14
