Constitutional Decay in the Six Counties

Evidence of Constitutional Decay in the Six Counties/ Northern Ireland

From the evidence of the recent European elections it is clear that Right Wing Union Jack Unionism is in disarray due to the decay of the constitution in this part of the country. Constitutionally there are two heads of State involved, two flags being flown, two national anthems being sung and two conflicting passports travelled on. A state thus constituted is in decay, is inherently unstable, is prone to strife and will not endure.

There is a myopic longing in same quarters of Right Wing Union Jack Unionism for a return to traditional unionism---“the good old days of unionism”—when there was one head of state, The Crown, one flag, The Union Jack, a protestant parliament for a protestant people, and one anthem, God Save the Queen. In those days the Nationalist community was kept down and in place by an armed B-Specials and R.U.C. In this way the unwritten undemocratic constitution was kept stable by being imposed but it has to be recognised that traditional unionism and its unwritten imposed U.K. constitution were shattered with the rise of Civil Rights. The—“good old days”—are gone forever

The route is now open for a late Sinn Fein first minister to emerge at Stormont. However is such a constitutional outcome acceptable to that majority in the six-counties/Northern Ireland who have any sense of morality in their being? Late Sinn Fein condoned and connived at the attempted overthrow of the U.K. constitution here by the obscenity of violence, by brute force and atrocity. That attempt was rightly defeated.

Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein points to a better way. That political concept is Ireland and Irish friendly, Irish unity friendly, democracy friendly, union friendly and Crown friendly. That concept advocates that the decayed U.K. constitution be replaced by a new written constitution of the reformed union of the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain realized in the National Government of Ireland Act. In this way from Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein, a new Irish friendly Unionism along with a new union friendly Irish Nationalism will emerge, and from this will sprout the green shoots of new Ireland out of the decayed, remains of Right Wing Union Jack Unionism and its discredited U.K. Constitution.

Michael Gillespie Derry
Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein