A Sovereign Irish Nation

A Sovereign Irish Nation


This Blog was read and commented on by a newspaperman in Omagh. He said he didn’t agree with the premise of the Blog but didn’t say what the premise was. He was of the belief that if the contents of the Blog were a reality in Ireland, Ireland would again be a colony of Britain and would be a neo-colonialist state. He added that the solution to the Irish problem is for Britain to get out of Ireland. This is a misreading of the Blog but it could be a stock response of Republicans to it and has to be taken seriously. Any suggestion that Ireland as a whole form a relation with the Crown sets alarm bells of paranoia ringing in the heads of Republicanism.

It is the premise of the Blog that the Irish problem is solvable In THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF Ireland ACT in the 21st century It is central to the Act that the United Kingdom of Great Britain an N. Ireland be replaced by The Federal Kingdom of The Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain where the Federal Kingdom is viewed from an Irish standpoint. In such a Federal Kingdom two Irish ideals will be realized: -
(a) Ireland will become a united constitutionally stable nation.
(b) Ireland will be a sovereign nation within a Federal Kingdom context.

The word Federal needs examination. It has two meanings: -
(1) A strong controlling central government placed over a group of subsidiary states
(2) A treaty or compact entered into between independent nations.

The U.S.A. is the prime example of (1). There are now moves afoot to establish a federal Europe with a strong controlling central government at Brussels placed over subsidiary states. A constitution to establish such a federal Europe was defeated in France and Holland. In the Lisbon Treaty a further effort is being made to smuggle in a Federal Europe (1) by the undemocratic back door in an unratified treaty that is basically the same as the defeated European Constitution. The treaty should be put to the democratic test of a free vote throughout Europe. By a stroke of good fortune a federal Europe as envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty has been rejected by the Irish. In 1801 a federalism of type (1) was imposed on Ireland when the British removed a potentially sovereign government in Dublin by chicanery and a strong controlling government at Westminster was placed over a subservient Ireland. The historic aftermath was an historic disaster for the Irish people.. A subtly imposed powerful government in Brussels could prove to be an equal disaster for Europe.

The second meaning of federal is the meaning used in the concept --- The federal kingdom---. A federal kingdom would be made up of a treaty or compact entered into between the co-equal Sovereign Nation of Ireland and the Sovereign Nation of Great Britain. In this the twin ideals of the Irish given earlier would be realized. Thus the claim that Ireland would become a neo-colonialist state is without foundation. Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein still clings to its central premise that the Irish Problem is solvable in a new Act of Union --- The National Government of Ireland Act.

To return to Europe, in its second meaning federalism is also appropriate to Europe There should be a treaty or compact entered into between co-equal sovereign nations in Europe. That does not rule out a central government in Europe but it should a Brussels with moderate powers not an all-powerful central government like Washington.

Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist Early Sinn Fein