Hearts and Minds

As noted in another article published in this Blog the ex- Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is on record in Dail Eireann in claiming that after the St Andrews agreement the constitution is settled in N. Ireland and is now off the table. That may be the wish of a partitionist but the people of the six counties ( N.Ireland) see the matter differently. Living in the six counties one can observe two heads of state involved, two national flags being flown, two anthems being sung, two passports being travelled on with two conflicting identities. A state thus constituted is unstable and is prone to intercommunal strife and verbal harangue. The evidence of this can be observed in the peace walls, and kerbstones painted red white and blue and green white and orange that disfigure Belfast.

But despite the wishful thinking of Bertie the constitutional issue burns deeply in the six county psyche. Watching Hearts and Minds on television on Thursday 7th February two antagonists were at one another’s throats over the flying of the Union Jack and the display of U.D.R. and R.U.C. plaques in the council offices at Banbridge (N. Ireland). The antagonists were Bob Collins of the Equality Commission and Drew Nelson of the Orange Order. The bone of contention with the Orange Order was that unionism i.e. Right Wing Union Jack Unionism, was being striped of its cultural heritage in the removal of British symbols from the council offices. Bob Collins who has the air of an establishment “do-gooder” about him, claimed he was promoting good community relations in having the symbols removed as they were offensive to a section of the community. And so this old hoary argument over constitutional symbols rumbles on despite Bertie but it should be evident to any impartial observer in all of this that the constitution lies at the heart of the Irish problem and a mere twiddling at the margins of the constitution by establishment “do-gooders” creates more problems than it solves. Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein maintains that the U.K. constitution needs radical reform. It could be that it is the strategy of establishment “do-gooders” to cool the communities into an acceptance of sectarianism and partition as the status quo on the island.

Entering into the dispute, the presenter Noel Thompson quoted a survey in Life and Times about attitudes to flag flying in N. Ireland which found that 60% of the survey in the six counties couldn’t care less what flag is flown. There are of course lies dammed lies and statistics and if Noel genuinely believes this glib statistic he should put it to the test by first walking up the Falls in Belfast, waving a Union Jack and then walk up the Shankill waving a tricolour in the probability that he is 60% safe. When Noel wakes up in hospital with both eyes 100% black he will then fully realize the falsity of his statistic. In all of this one is reminded of John Hume’s father’s advice to his son that one cannot eat a flag. While this an indubitable truth nevertheless a flag is a small but vital part of a constitution in that it symbolizes the collective identity and loyalty of the people of a country, to wit the Stars and Stripes in America and the Tricolour in France, There is the E.U, flag but a European identity and loyalty have still to emerge.

Accepting that as the raison d’etre of a national flag one can look at Noel Thompson’s statistic in another way. If 60% of the people of the six counties couldn’t care less what flag is flown in the six county state what are the implications of that? It is best to examine this with some parallel examples. Suppose it were true that 60%of Americans couldn’t care less whether it is the Stars and Stripes or the Hammer and Sickle that flies on the White House the implications of that for America would be catastrophic. In effect the majority of Americans would be giving the American Constitution the fingers. The same would be true for France if 60% of the French couldn’t care whether the French or German flag is flown on the Elysee Palace. To look at the matter nearer home what if 60% of the people didn’t mind whether the Tricolour or the Union Jack is flown on the G.P. O. in Dublin? In that case the people of the twenty-six counties would be giving the 1937 constitution the fingers. So Noel Thompson’s statistic implies that a majority of the people in the six counties are giving the six county constitution the fingers. This reinforces Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein central thesis that the six county constitution is in an advanced state of decay and is in need of radical root and branch reform. Such reform can only be enacted in a 32 county context, not in a six county context c.f. Article 22 the National Government of Ireland Act.

Those given, flags aren’t sacred and immutable. They are man made and being such can be remade by man. Maud Gonne designed the Irish tricolour with the approval of Arthur Griffiths in the early days of Sinn Fein. Civil service boffins at Whitehall designed the Union Jack and the Cross of St Patrick was invented in 1801. Hoping that Maude isn’t turning in her grave, Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein has given a redesign of the Irish tricolour in a form acceptable to all. The detail of this can be found in Article 9 of the National Government of Ireland Act. Rather than put two constitutional irreconcilables together in Stormont it is preferable and sensible to put the two national flags associated with Ireland together and then synthesise nationalism and unionism in a lengthy Act.

Another contributor to Hearts and Minds made a defence of the Assembly noting that the two party coalition as at Stormont is the norm of Governments in Europe. He took Switzerland as the prime example of a coalition government representing four cantons with four languages. What the contributor didn’t tell the viewer--, did the first minister in the Swiss government, or in any other European government, have a track record of insulting and reviling the sincerely held religious beliefs of a significant section of the electorate or did leading politicians in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe have a track record of involvement with the gun the bomb and the bullet? Hearts and Minds neglected this.

Leaving Hearts and Minds aside, the constitutional issue glows hot in another facet of Irish life. This is the verbal conflict between the F.A.I. and the I.F.A. over the question should soccer players born in the six county state be eligible to play for the twenty six county state. This again highlights the fact that the constitution is a hot potato for the people. If Bertie Ahern is to be believed and the six county constitution is settled then the six county state is foreign and apart from the twenty-six county state, in that case, by the F.I.FA. ruling that soccer players as players can’t migrate between nation states, then by F.I.F.A, soccer players born in the six county state must play for the six counties. That is the constitutional reality of the Island but that reality remains a bone of contention with the people. However if Articles 2 and 3 of the twenty-six county constitution had not been repealed (a stupid blunder made by a boneheaded Dail Eireann) then in that case the Republic could lay legitimate claim to six county born players. However with the repeal of Articles 2 and 3 the I.F.A. can claim all players born in the six counties and could insist that such players travel on a British passport to foreign football venues. Such a practice would be constitutionally rock solid.

All of this is not an essay of despair. The island is now in a constitutional mess created in past and current times by Republican and Union Jack Unionist zealots. There is only one way, and only one way, out of this mess and this way is pointed out clearly by Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein. What Ireland now needs is a written democratically acceptable U.K. constitution endorsed by an island referendum. For those to whom an unwritten militaristically enforced constitution is unacceptable, such people should mount an organized peaceful opposition to the existing constitution in the six counties and in so doing challenge the Orange Order who flaunt in the face of those who don’t want it, a constitution that has to be enforced by an armed garrison and an armed P.S.N.I. Nor will it do to have establishment “ do–gooders” cool us all into an acceptance of sectarianism and partition. A radical reform of the U.K. constitution is called for in the National Government of Ireland Act leading to a Sovereign Nation of Ireland united within the United Kingdom. That way and only that way lies a United Ireland enshrined in the hearts and minds of the people. The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the Island only the National Government of Ireland can unite the island.

Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist—Early Sinn Fein


Note The National Government of Ireland Act can be found in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE published by Authorhouse and can be obtained through any bookshop in Ireland or the U.K. or book agency on the Internet.