Turgon
I whole-heartedly endorse the tenor of your article that the Provisional I R A campaign wasn’t left wing inspired but was a sectarian struggle between protestant loyalist British Ireland and Republican catholic Irish Ireland. However the story of this historic sectarian conflict doesn’t begin with the Provisionals who claimed they were acting in the tradition of Tone and Pearse but goes back to the 1790ties and continues thereafter in the 19th and 20th centuries. The best definition of the nature of this sectarian conflict can be found in the Dungannon Resolution of July 12th 1796. The caption of the resolution was as follows: -
“Association of the inhabitants of the town of Dungannon to support and defend the King and Constitution to preserve the peace of their town and its neighbourhood and to discourage and resist all endeavours to excite sedition and rebellion.”
The content of the resolution can be paraphrased as the intention of the association to defend the country against the French and put down Republican insurrection. This resolution was signed by 12 protestant Justices of the peace in Tyrone. Out of this association thus defined there emerged the Protestant/orange yeomanry organised by the Dungannon man and MP John Knox. John Knox set up the yeomanry brigade system and this brigade system proved crucial in the defeat of the United Irishmen. At this time the leadership of the mainly catholic United Irishmen fatally underestimated the organisational skill and ingenuity of protestant loyalist Ireland. The yeomen were victorious because they were better organised (due to the organisational genius of John Knox) than the United Irishmen. The strong Dungannon resolution is historically more important than Pearse’s weak Proclamation but the resolution and with it John Knox has been airbrushed out of history by Republicans.
The sectarian saga continues in 1916. This was a catholic Republican rebellion to overthrow the constitution and depose the Crown and set up a Republic of Ireland. The response to this rebellion is defined in the Dungannon resolution. The British protestant establishment put down the rebellion and maintained the Crown and Constitution and 1916 was as futile and sectarian as 1798.
There followed the so called war of independence. This was a conflict between IRA rebels who tried to overthrow the constitution and the Crown by armed force and were opposed by the Black and Tans, deployed and supported by the British Protestant establishment to defend and maintain the Crown and Constitution. So again the Dungannon Resolution defines the nature of this sectarian conflict which partitioned the country into two sectarian statelets, a protestant north and a catholic south.
IN our own time there was the brute force attempt by the Provisional IRA to overthrow the constitution depose the Queen and set up an all Ireland Republic in the tradition of Tone and Pearse. This conflict was localised with the setting up of the UDR, a protestant loyalist British force deployed an d supported by the Protestant British establishment in their role of defending the Crown and Constitution. All of this is defined in the Dungannon Resolution 1796. This conflict ended with the defeat of the Provisional’s campaign of violence and with the GFA, Sinn Fein have recognised UK constitution and sit at Stormont as crypto-unionists propping up a right wing Union Jack Unionist statelet in the pay of the British Exchequer.
The root cause of this historic sectarian conflict is constitutional. This is evident in the sectarian head count at elections, in the peace walls that divide cities into sectarian ghettoes and in the protestant orange/ catholic republican riots that follow the twelfth of July demonstrations. Since the UK constitution is the rotten apple the intelligent thing to do is replace it with a sound ---Federal Kingdom apple-- which can be made as palatable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry. It is not beyond the wit of man to do this—c.f. www.authorhouse.co.uk
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Scotland and Ireland within a Federal Kingdom
Scotland and Ireland within a Federal Kingdom.
It is clear from comments in Slugger that British Identity is being re-examined and questioned. But if Britishness is to fade away what will replace it? British Identity underpins and unifies UK constitution but with the devolution of governments to Scotland Wales and N. Ireland and the resurgence of Scottish nationalism the question now is to what extent is the United Kingdom still united? Devolution may prove to be the endgame for the UK and British Identity.
The key player in this is the SNP. A referendum for Scottish independence is now on the cards but the issue of a referendum is muddled by commentators. Alex Salmond is clear on the meaning of independence when h e said on a TV interview that he envisaged the Crown as Head of State in an independent Scotland like many other independent nations in the modern world. In this Alex is steering in the direction of a Federal Kingdom and away from a United Kingdom or a Republic. This would be a radical change in British constitution, a change to a federation which has been canvassed by Rodney Frazier in the book –Constitutional Reform – Reshaping the British political System--. To have Scotland part of a Federal Kingdom would require The Scotland Act similar in nature to the Australia Act 1986 and Trudeau’s Canada Act (patriation) 1982 which made these countries sovereign independent nations but with the Crown as Head of State. The Governments o f these countries are now in control of the police, the army, the navy, the air force and the civil service and have a distinct flag, anthem and Identity defined in Australian and Canadian passports. Since Australia and Canada now control their own constitutions they are in control of their own destinies. Scotland and Ireland should follow suit and take constitutional control of their own destinies within a Federal Kingdom with the Crown as Head of State the Irish being reconciled to a Crown reformed in the National Government of Ireland Act.
The Canada Act was pioneered by Pierre Trudeau but was opposed by eight provinces including Quebec led by Rene Levesque. These provinces feared a loss of provincial legislative power but they acquiesced to the Act after the supreme Canadian Court ruled against them (Quebec the exception). Prior to the Act the UK government at Westminster held the constitutional whip hand in the enactment of legislation for Canada. The Act removed the whip hand from Westminster and placed the whip in the hands of the central government in Ottawa. Legislation passed at Westminster in relation to Canada even with the Royal Assent is now as meaningless as legislation passed by Portugal. On signing the Act into law in Canada the Queen expressed regret at Quebec’s non-inclusion in the Act.
The notion of a federal Kingdom has profound implications for all Ireland. To have a Federal Kingdom of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation of Ireland would require the passing at Westminster of the National Government of Ireland Act giving Ireland a written constitution making the country an independent sovereign nation within a Federal Kingdom with an elected Crown as Head of State in all Ireland the Irish being reconciled to an elected reformed Crown. The full nuts and bolts of a suggested National Government of Ireland Act can be found at www.authorhouse.co.uk What Scotland and N. Ireland needs is a Campaign for Constitutional Change CCC. The campaign should work to wards the removal of the constitutional whip hand from Westminster in enacting legislation for Scotland and Ireland so that Scotland and Ireland can be in control of their own destinies within a Federal Kingdom with the Crown as Head of State as is the case in the Sovereign Nations of Australia and Canada. Michael Gillespie
It is clear from comments in Slugger that British Identity is being re-examined and questioned. But if Britishness is to fade away what will replace it? British Identity underpins and unifies UK constitution but with the devolution of governments to Scotland Wales and N. Ireland and the resurgence of Scottish nationalism the question now is to what extent is the United Kingdom still united? Devolution may prove to be the endgame for the UK and British Identity.
The key player in this is the SNP. A referendum for Scottish independence is now on the cards but the issue of a referendum is muddled by commentators. Alex Salmond is clear on the meaning of independence when h e said on a TV interview that he envisaged the Crown as Head of State in an independent Scotland like many other independent nations in the modern world. In this Alex is steering in the direction of a Federal Kingdom and away from a United Kingdom or a Republic. This would be a radical change in British constitution, a change to a federation which has been canvassed by Rodney Frazier in the book –Constitutional Reform – Reshaping the British political System--. To have Scotland part of a Federal Kingdom would require The Scotland Act similar in nature to the Australia Act 1986 and Trudeau’s Canada Act (patriation) 1982 which made these countries sovereign independent nations but with the Crown as Head of State. The Governments o f these countries are now in control of the police, the army, the navy, the air force and the civil service and have a distinct flag, anthem and Identity defined in Australian and Canadian passports. Since Australia and Canada now control their own constitutions they are in control of their own destinies. Scotland and Ireland should follow suit and take constitutional control of their own destinies within a Federal Kingdom with the Crown as Head of State the Irish being reconciled to a Crown reformed in the National Government of Ireland Act.
The Canada Act was pioneered by Pierre Trudeau but was opposed by eight provinces including Quebec led by Rene Levesque. These provinces feared a loss of provincial legislative power but they acquiesced to the Act after the supreme Canadian Court ruled against them (Quebec the exception). Prior to the Act the UK government at Westminster held the constitutional whip hand in the enactment of legislation for Canada. The Act removed the whip hand from Westminster and placed the whip in the hands of the central government in Ottawa. Legislation passed at Westminster in relation to Canada even with the Royal Assent is now as meaningless as legislation passed by Portugal. On signing the Act into law in Canada the Queen expressed regret at Quebec’s non-inclusion in the Act.
The notion of a federal Kingdom has profound implications for all Ireland. To have a Federal Kingdom of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation of Ireland would require the passing at Westminster of the National Government of Ireland Act giving Ireland a written constitution making the country an independent sovereign nation within a Federal Kingdom with an elected Crown as Head of State in all Ireland the Irish being reconciled to an elected reformed Crown. The full nuts and bolts of a suggested National Government of Ireland Act can be found at www.authorhouse.co.uk What Scotland and N. Ireland needs is a Campaign for Constitutional Change CCC. The campaign should work to wards the removal of the constitutional whip hand from Westminster in enacting legislation for Scotland and Ireland so that Scotland and Ireland can be in control of their own destinies within a Federal Kingdom with the Crown as Head of State as is the case in the Sovereign Nations of Australia and Canada. Michael Gillespie
A Federal Kingdom
A Federal Kingdom is the best way forward.
During the 19th and most of the 20th centuries it was an axiom of British politics that UK constitution was perfect sacred and immutable. This axiom was a major factor in the defeat of Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill.
In the late 20th century in the Blair administration it was accepted that UK constitution was in need of reform. Of these reforms what is pertinent to N Ireland is the devolution of administrations to Scotland Wales and N Ireland. But this constitutional reform calls into question in what way is the United Kingdom still united? It is canvassed in current constitutional literature that UK constitution needs further reform as a federation because it is in that direction that the Kingdom is now heading. The Liberals advocate a federal United Kingdom with a written constitution reducing the powers of the monarch but a federal United Kingdom is a contradiction in terms because a federal Kingdom is no longer united. Scotland is central to the federalist case. Alex Salmond has stated that he wants an independent Scotland with the Crown as head of state. This demand will need a Federal Kingdom with Scotland having its own written constitution.
Since this is the direction the Kingdom is now headed the federal Kingdom call should be taken up in N Ireland and a case for a Federal Kingdom (not a federal united Kingdom) made with the ultimate goal of a united Ireland with a reformed Crown as Head of State in Ireland giving Ireland its own unique written constitution expressed in The National Government of Ireland Act. A suggested Act can be found at www.authorhouse.co.uk.
A
Michael Gillespie Derry
During the 19th and most of the 20th centuries it was an axiom of British politics that UK constitution was perfect sacred and immutable. This axiom was a major factor in the defeat of Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill.
In the late 20th century in the Blair administration it was accepted that UK constitution was in need of reform. Of these reforms what is pertinent to N Ireland is the devolution of administrations to Scotland Wales and N Ireland. But this constitutional reform calls into question in what way is the United Kingdom still united? It is canvassed in current constitutional literature that UK constitution needs further reform as a federation because it is in that direction that the Kingdom is now heading. The Liberals advocate a federal United Kingdom with a written constitution reducing the powers of the monarch but a federal United Kingdom is a contradiction in terms because a federal Kingdom is no longer united. Scotland is central to the federalist case. Alex Salmond has stated that he wants an independent Scotland with the Crown as head of state. This demand will need a Federal Kingdom with Scotland having its own written constitution.
Since this is the direction the Kingdom is now headed the federal Kingdom call should be taken up in N Ireland and a case for a Federal Kingdom (not a federal united Kingdom) made with the ultimate goal of a united Ireland with a reformed Crown as Head of State in Ireland giving Ireland its own unique written constitution expressed in The National Government of Ireland Act. A suggested Act can be found at www.authorhouse.co.uk.
A
Michael Gillespie Derry
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