Ruled by Zealots

With the setting up of the assembly in the 6 counties the partitionist Bertie Ahern has declared in a partitionist Dail Eireann that the constitution in Northern Ireland is now off the table. It is easy for Bertie to say that in a cosy catholic foreign 26 county Republic. Federal Unionism- Early Sinn Fein invites the taoiseach to visit the 6 counties and look around and he will find his wishful thinking about the constitution is misplaced. In the 6 counties he will find that for the people, the constitution is at the centre of the table and remains at the heart of the matter. He will find in catholic estates the kerbstones painted green white and orange, the flag is the tricolour, the anthem is a Soldier’s Song and the passport is Irish. In protestant estates he will find the kerbstones painted red white and blue, the flag is the Union Jack, the anthem is God Save The Queen and the passport is British. So what is Bertie talking about when he says that in N. Ireland the constitution is off the table? This typifies the flannel that comes from politicians in Ireland. What now is the flag to be flown at Stormont and what is the anthem? Is it the Union Jack and God Save the Queen? If it is then Late Sinn Fein are 1801 Unionists and should fly the Union Jack at headquarters and end the Ard Fheis with God Save the Queen. Could both flags be flown and both anthems sung? If that were the case then Stormont would clearly be the constitutional monstrosity that it has become. Perhaps the parties could agree not to fly any flag or have an anthem, in that case the 6 counties, as a constitutional non – entity, would be a non- state. This seems to be the constitutional position adopted by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair and being urged by the media. The people of the 6 counties are being told to deal with bread and butter matters only. In other words the people are being told to think about their bellies and about nothing else. But to have a buoyant economy it is vital to have a stable state and a stable state must have a democratically accepted constitution, which the 6 county statelet doesn’t have. Mr Ford of the Alliance Party has suggested that the 6 counties should have its own flag—a green flag with a circle of blue flax flowers---- and its own anthem---Danny Boy--- but that is typical of the silly shallow nonsense that comes from Alliance.

Ian Paisley keeps insisting that he is a democrat, that the 6 counties is a democracy and is within the United Kingdom but never explains what ‘democracy’ or ‘united’ are supposed to mean. Since the U. K. constitution is unwritten the validity of these words can be tested in acid in this way. Ian should invite the Queen to make a Royal tour of the 6 counties and Ian, Martin, and Bertie should escort Her Majesty on a walk about up the Falls Road and have the people of the Falls greet the Queen with Union Jacks. The Royal visitor should then attend a Royal Fete in Casement Park to be serenaded by a Falls male voice choir crooning in four part harmony---God Save the Queen---with Ian Paisley jr conducting. The Queen should then make a similar Royal tour of the Bogside and Creggan in Derry and finish off the visit with a similar Royal tour of Crossmaglen. When all of that comes to pass Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein will concede to Ian that the 6 county statelet is democratic, that he is a democrat and the United Kingdom is united and will agree with Bertie that the constitution is off the table in N. Ireland. But all of that is not a scenario of the immediate future but may happen light years from now. In the mean time when the Crown visits Belfast the Crown is hijacked by Right Wing Union Jack Unionists, is corralled into Protestant districts and is seen as a protestant Crown for Protestants. If that is ever to change that can only be done in the National Government of Ireland Act by Federal Unionism- Early Sinn Fein.

To look at the constitutional surrealism of the whole island, recently I saw Ian Paisley jr on T.V. make a visit to Dublin where he was greeted by the Irish foreign minister Mr Ahern. It looked like Ian jr was arriving from Timbuktu not from Belfast a hundred miles or so up the road. It amazes one how these two men can keep straight faces when involved in such a surrealist constitutional farce.

Zealotry is the curse of Irish history and while the farcical constitutional nature of the island goes back to ancient religious wars in ancient times, the modern farce began with the zealotry of Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen Their zealotry drove the Irish ship of state off course. Prior to the United Irishmen, the Patriots in the Irish Parliament were pressing for a parliament which was separate from, but co- equal to Westminster under the Crown and this is the first and best concept of Irish nationhood in Irish history. In this concept the Irish ship of state was on course but in reaction to ’98, the Irish parliament was ripped out of Ireland and with it the island’s constitutional centre, this being spearheaded by a zealotry of Irish protestant landed gentry and the Irish ship of state was driven off course. In the 19thcentury attempts were made by Butt and Parnell to steer the ship of state back onto the course of the Patriots but this was frustrated by Right Wing Union Jack Unionism. In the 20th century Griffiths, in the notion of a dual monarchy, tried to steer the ship of state back on the central course of the Patriots but the sectarian zealotry of 1916 put paid to that in 1916, and the ship of state was driven totally off course into the doldrums of partition. How many protestants were in the leadership or in the ranks in 1916? Now in a 30 year zealotry of violence Late Sinn Fein is not only off course but is now lost at sea in Stormont.

Zealotry is normally found in religion but there exists the zealotry of two secular religions in Ireland i.e. Late Sinn Fein and Union Jack Unionism. These secular religions have secular saints and secular martyrs, a one true faith based on contradictory dogmas about Ireland and on two conflicting and contradictory truths about Ireland. The adherents of these two apostate religions have gutted one another in the past but are now joined together at the hip in an unholy ungodly and unhealthy union at Stormont and these zealots now rule; on the one hand, the religious and political zealot, Peter Robinson on the other, the political zealot Martin Maginnis. In the past in G.B. the racist zealot Oswald Moseley was put out of politics because he was anti- Jewish but in the 6 counties the religious and political zealots theD.U.P. have remained in politics and now rule even though they are known to be anti- Irish and anti- catholic. They do this in company with the anti- loyalist zealot Maginnis.

All of this is bound up with the morality of government in the assembly. A government in a genuine democracy has a moral basis. In a genuine democracy the government governs in the belief that what it says and does is right and the opposition opposes in the belief that what the government says and does is wrong. Profumo was sacked because of a sexual impropriety and for lying to the House; Nixon was sacked for lying to the nation; Clinton was faced with impeachment, not so much for a sexual impropriety as for lying; Bertie Ahern’s fitness for government was called to question over his personal finances and all of this is due to the moral basis of the democratic governments concerned. This is not the case with the assembly at Stormont. There the basis of government is amoral. Amorality and immorality are different. To be immoral one must have a sense of right and wrong and infringe ones sense of right with a sense of guilt. To be amoral one is devoid of a sense of right and wrong and the person is devoid of guilt. This is characteristic of a psychopath. For all Early Sinn Fein knows, and for all the general public knows, those who were involved in the most heinous of crimes, like the Enniskillen bombings and those who condoned such criminality now rule over us in an amoral assembly. This is not directed at Republican criminality alone but is directed at the counter criminality of Right Wing Union Jack Unionism, such Unionism stretching from the UUP, to the DUP, to the police, to the British military and then to the UDA and to the UVF. All of these are, constitutionally speaking, the one sow’s pigs and condone a criminality that extends from Bloody Sunday to the murder of innocent Catholics and to collusion between the police and loyalist paramilitaries. Thus the assembly rests on amoral deals done between zealots behind closed doors in the Belfast/Scottish agreement. Thus the zealots rule.

In Dublin, Bertie Ahern has said that in Ireland, the two constitutions are now set in stone. In Bertie’s mind that is the way Ireland is, and has to be. There is no other way. Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein refutes that flatly. There is another way for Ireland and the Irish, in the way Ireland ought to be. This can be expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act. If the Act is examined as published in this Blog it will be seen that the joining of the two historic traditions in Ireland is symbolized in the union of the Irish Tricolour with the Cross of Saint Patrick and the Crown, the Harp and the Shamrock This is a more realistic and rational approach to unity than having two irreconcilable zealots sit beside one another in a partitionist Stormont. As a symbol of unity the new flag should be named in the Act as the Royal Flag of Ireland and defined as the national flag of Ireland and as the co- equal symbol of the United Kingdom of the sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain. This is a synthesis of the two historic political traditions in Ireland. The joining and synthesis of the two cultural traditions in Ireland, the Irish and the Loyalist and of the two Christian traditions, the Catholic and the Protestant is symbolized in the Crown Irish Representation given in the Act which should show a picture of the Crown wearing the Irish Crown Jewels standing beside a Celtic Cross and underneath should be written in Irish and English: -

An Coroin Criostuil Gaelach
Banrion Eilis a do

The Christian Crown Irish
Queen Elisabeth the Second

The full synthesis of the two historic traditions in Ireland is given in the 22 articles of the National Government of Ireland Act published in The Way Ireland Ought To Be In this way there lies a united Ireland that is peaceful and stable and in no other way but Ireland divided will never be at peace. This is only achievable in Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein.

Michael Gillespie

Was it a war? ----Oh yes it was---- Oh no it wasn’t.
Some time ago on B.B.C. N. Ireland the in-dispute seemed to be----Were the troubles a war? For Late Sinn Fein the violence was a just war fought in a noble cause and for Union Jack Unionism it was despicable terrorism. As usual the debate had an air of pantomime farce about it i.e. Oh yes it was a war---Oh no it wasn’t--- with no reference as to what the word ---war – is supposed to mean.

In such circumstance it is my conditioned reflex to reach, Pavlovian style, for the dictionary. According to my dictionary, war, has a proliferation of meanings. So it is a question of finding which one best fits the period of violence in the 6 counties. I quote the following meanings

(1) A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict, carried on between nations, states or parties.
Does this fit? Was the conflict in the six counties between the Irish Nation and the British Nation? That doesn’t fit.
Was the conflict between the six county state and the twenty six county state? Surely not.
A conflict between parties or communities in a country is a civil war. Was the conflict between the Catholic community and the Protestant community and was it a civil war? That doesn’t fit either. However the poet Michael Longley calls the conflict in the six counties a squalid little civil war.

(2) A period of conflict as in (1)
The period of conflict in the forties between G.B. and Germany is called in common speech—during the war---. The period of conflict in the six counties is called in common speech in Ireland --- during the troubles. So the period of conflict in the six counties is the troubles not a war.

(3) A formally declared state of war in which certain internationally conventions
are supposed to apply.
This is the way in which war is nowadays understood. War ought to be underpinned by conventions and rules. Military personnel who infringe such conventions and rules in conflict can be indicted for war crimes. The conflict in the six counties was not formally declared a war but free lance paramilitaries took it upon themselves to enter into conflict. These freelance paramilitaries were guilty of crimes at Enniskillen, Teeban, Darkley, Bloody Friday, Bloody Sunday, Omagh, The Disappeared along with a host of innocent people who were murdered. In the meaning of war in (3) war should be underpinned by morality and ethics. These were patently absent on both sides in the conflict in the six counties.

(4) Any condition of active antagonism or contention ---e.g. an advertising war, a price war.
(5) A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something--- e.g. the war against disease

(4) and (5) illustrate the width of meaning in which war is used. When these meanings are examined war should still be based on morality and ethics. In an advertising war is pornographic images permissible? In a price war is the use of substandard or illegal goods permissible? In a war against disease is vivisection permissible? If the campaign of violence was to put an end to the six county state then morality and ethics still apply in the effort

(6) A conflict A clash of opposing ideas or forces --- a battle ---- a fight.
However to describe what took place in the six counties as a conflict and leave it at that is a moral and ethical cop out. If one sees two men fighting in the street and one says this is a conflict and is unconcerned with the rights and wrongs of the matter then that is a moral and ethical evasion. I heard a lady from Dublin say on television that she saw the troubles in the six counties as a conflict and she claimed that the people in Dublin saw the troubles that way as well. If that is so then that is an evasion of the rights and wrongs of the matter by the South.

(7) Rebellion An uprising or organised opposition intended to overthrow the existing government or ruling authority.
Synonyms Revolt, insurrection, uprising, coup d’etat, revolution, mutiny

This begs the question is a violent uprising justified if the government or the constitution is just? There was an organized peaceful opposition by the C.R.A. to an unjust government and constitution in the six counties. The demands of the C.R.A. were conceded so the ensuing violence by P.I.R.A. to overthrow the state, was without moral or ethical foundation. However Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein maintains that the constitution of the six counties remains unjust in that it is unwritten and is maintained military not democratically and is imposed on those on the Island who don’t want it. For that reason Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein advocates that the six county constitution be opposed in an organized peaceful opposition with a view to replacing an unjust constitution with a just constitution in The National Government of Ireland Act.

(8) Feud A bitter prolonged hostility between two armies, two individuals or two families or clans

What is characteristic of a feud is the absence of any moral or ethical basis
to the conflict, the conflict being underscored by hatred. A feud could be described as a dirty war. What has gone on in the six counties for thirty years or more can best be described as a feud between the clans, Republicanism and Right Wing Union Jack Unionism. The dirt in this feud was equally distributed between the two sides.

In summary the recent attempt by Late Sinn Fein to have the conflict in the six counties called a war is a vain attempt by that feuding faction to snatch some semblance of victory from the jaws of abject defeat. It is the thrust of this article that what has taken place in the six counties is best described as a feud not as a war.
Note The National Government of Ireland Act is dealt with in my novel---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE published by Authorhouse.
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist Early Sinn Fein

Freedom yet again

Following on a previous article on Freedom and Democracy, it is to be noted that in Late Sinn Fein’s recent Ard Fheis, the word – Saoirse—was emblazoned in the background. As noted in a previous article the word –Saoirse—as used by Late Sinn Fein is as meaningless as ---Uhuru---as used by the Kenyans in the 60ties. The 1801 Act of Union remains in place in the 6 counties and Hugh Orde can sleep soundly in the knowledge that the primary function of the P.S.N.I. is fulfilled, the 6 county undemocratic sectarian unwritten enforced constitution being now more secure than it ever was. It is now duly and finally enforced by a permanent British garrison and by an armed P.S.N.I. Hugh Orde can now relax knowing that partition is copper fastened and sectarianism institutionalised. Having conceded the constitution to the P,S.N.I. Late Sinn Fein is now willing to participate in the secondary function of the P.S.N.I. which is the maintenance of civil law and order and be happy with a placement at Stormont. Gerry Adams recommends that Republicans join the P.S.N.I. How this is going to work constitutionally is impossible to tell. As policemen and women it will be their constitutional duty to enforce the 1801 Act of Union but as Republicans it will be their duty to oppose it and get rid of it. In such a set up Republicans in the police will lead a schizophrenic existence.

By taking Right Wing Union Jack Unionists, the D.U.P., as bedfellows at Stormont Late Sinn Fein has exposed the attempt by P.I.R.A. to overthrow the Act of Union by brute force as just another Republican failure, a futility, and a farce and at the same time have exposed the tragedies of the hunger strikes at Long Kesh as just another Republican folly. In truth ---Saoirse--- as used by Late Sinn Fein is clearly as bogus and false as was ---uhuru---in Kenya.

However Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein still holds steadfastly to freedom in Ireland and holds to the truth that freedom is needed as never before but not of the bogus--- Saoirse/Uhuru--- sort. In the National Government of Ireland Act freedom is given its modern meaning as accepted by forward thinking people. In the Act there is given a list of “freedom froms” and in this list there will be found ---freedom from disease---as a basic freedom of the individual. What Ireland needs to be freed from in the 21st century is from the social disease of sectarianism, bigotry and intolerance. If the Irish are to be united in freedom they must first be liberated from the social disease of the country—sectarianism---.

Sectarianism is rampant in the mentalities of Late Sinn Fein and of Right Wing Union Jack Unionism There isn’t a protestant in the ranks of Late Sinn Fein nor is there a Catholic in the ranks of the D.U.P. In the case of Late Sinn Fein sectarianism runs deep in its history and pedigree. Late Sinn Fein takes as its ancestry the Catholic sectarian uprising of 1916.In that debacle there wasn’t a Protestant in the leadership or in the ranks; the Protestant Roger Casement is associated with this period of history but one swallow doesn’t make a summer. If the full truth were known about 1916 and it isn’t, it could be that the leadership and the ranks held to the sectarian bigotry that to be Irish one must be a Catholic, convert to Republicanism, and have a paranoid hatred of all things British especially the Crown. But to look at the whole picture and be fair there is the counter sectarian bigotry which says that to be loyal to the Crown, one must be protestant and British and convert to Right Wing Union Jack Unionism and live by the Act of Union and have a paranoid hatred of all things either Catholic or Irish. This sectarian bigotry, which is rampant in Ireland, has kept the communities at one another’s throats for generations. Ireland needs liberation from this mindset and when thus freed the island will be at peace and will be unified. Only Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein can point the Irish in this direction in the National Government of Ireland Act. If this Act were in place in Ireland, Ireland would a sovereign nation like Canada. Canadians are loyal to the Crown and such loyalty is no barrier to Canada being a Sovereign independent nation within the Commonwealth. As a sovereign nation Canada has one head of state, the Crown, one Canadian flag, one Canadian anthem, and one Canadian passport giving a Canadian identity. Thus in Canada there is no inconsistency in being loyal in being loyal to Crown and in being Canadian because the Canadian constitution allows that. But in Ireland one cannot be loyal to the Crown and be Irish because the constitution doesn’t permit that either in the 1801 Act of Union or in the 1937 constitution in the 26 counties.

In the National Government of Ireland Act Ireland would be constituted as an Irish Christian Liberal Democracy within the United Kingdom and in an Ireland constituted in this way there would be no inconsistency in being loyal to the Crown and in being Irish. The constitution would allow that. Under such a constitution the people of Ireland would enjoy true freedom, not a bogus freedom like a shout of ---Saoirse / Uhuru---in the streets. The highest form of freedom that the individual can aspire to is---freedom to be--. In an Irish Christian Liberal Democracy the individual could aspire to freedom in its highest form namely freedom to be Irish to one’s heart’s content and at the same time the individual should be free to be loyal to the Crown to one’s heart’s content.

Republicanism and Nationalism (Nationalism being a half way house to Republicanism) hold that self-determination can only be realized in a Republic. But self-determination can equally be realized in a Monarchy. This is true of the Monarchies of Norway and Sweden

To develop this concept of the freedom of the individual the needs of Ireland in the 21st century can be listed as follows and these can only be fulfilled in Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein.

1. The repeal of the Act of Union 1801

2. Its replacement by a new Act of Union, the National Government of Ireland Act in which the U.K. constitution is reformed and restructured in Ireland making it acceptable to all, be it the Catholics of Kerry or the Protestants of Derry.

3. The Act should define Ireland as a Sovereign Nation within the United Kingdom with a reformed Crown as head of state.

4. A federal structure of government in Ireland with a central government in ~Dublin, Dail Eireann, with powers devolved to four provincial Houses of Representatives

5. One state religion for all---Christian ~Ecumenism

6. A reform of the Orange Order

7. The British Isles redefined as The Isles of the North Atlantic.

8. Emmet’s epitaph to be written, Ireland being a 32 sovereign nation.

There is little point in disillusioned, disenchanted and disgruntled Republicans lamenting the sell-out by Late Sinn Fein in the six counties. That was inevitable. Republicanism has been tested to destruction by P.I.R.A.in the six counties and have shown it to be flawed, faulty, and defective and should be rejected. It is the thrust of these articles that traditional Unionism, Nationalism, and Republicanism are all flawed, faulty, and defective and should all be thrown out and replaced by the new stock of Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein. So all is not lost. Federal Unionism Early Sinn Fein, which is a synthesis of Nationalism, and Unionism, remains with its solution to the Irish problem.

Michael Gillespie

Freedom and Democracy

Freedom and Democracy

Uhuru Freedom

In 1920 Kenya became a British Colony. In the early 1960 ties there was an uprising by the Kikuyu tribe led by the Mau Mau in a terrorist campaign and in the ensuing violence Britain left Kenya and granted it independence. In 1963 Jomo Kenyatta declared Keyna a Republic and in the ensuing celebrations in Nairobi the people danced in the streets chanting --- Uhuru i.e. Freedom. But this heady declaration died the death. Under British rule the country was prosperous but with independence due to bad government and economic recession the country became one of the poorest in the world In 1969 Keyna became a one party oppressive state and freedom and democracy were abandoned. I quote this case of freedom and democracy in Keyna to illustrate that a chant of ---- uhuru – in the streets doesn’t guarantee freedom and democracy in the state.

Saoirse Freedom

It was an unattainable pipe dream of Republicans in the troubles in the six counties that violence would drive the British Army into the Irish Sea and Loyalists with them. An all- Ireland Republic would be set up and in celebration the Republicans of Belfast would dance in the streets chanting ---- Saoirse--- Saoirse. --.This Republican pipe dream proved to be a delusion. But even if that dream had been a reality a shout of --- Saoirse—in the streets would not have been a guarantee of freedom or democracy in the state.

There is an element in Late Sinn Fein that envisages the future of Ireland to be a Socialist Republic and therefore a one party state as the Socialist Republics in the world are one party states. This is evident in Eire Nua on the lightest of readings and verbiage about freedom in a document is no guarantee of freedom in the state.

Late Sinn Fein still labour under the delusion that for a democracy to a democracy all that is needed is a free vote. For a democracy to be a democracy the state must have a constitution, which is accepted by all, and freedom must be enshrined in the constitution in writing and democratically ratified by the people.

In the constitution proposed for a United Ireland within the U.K.given in the National Government of Ireland Act published in the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT freedom is enshrined in the constitution and cannot be denied. For Republicans freedom is a shout in the street and nothing more. It is a shout about freeing one green field from bondage by bomb and bullet with a shout of ---Saoirse—and just as a shout of ---Uhuru--- guaranteed nothing in Nairobi so is a shout of---Saoirse—in Belfast equally vacuous.




Freedom in the 21st century



On a modern analysis of freedom in a present day liberal democracy freedom has a dual nature.

(a) Individual freedom.

(b) State freedom.

These are dealt with in The National Government of Ireland Act Article 4. Individual freedom is threefold.

(1) Freedom from
(2) Freedom to become
(3) Freedom to be

Freedom From

While the Republic of Keyna began with a shout of --- uhuru---nowadays in that country individual freedom is non- existent. It has to be understood that the enjoyment of individual freedom depends upon the health of the state economy in which one lives. While many individual “ freedom froms” are listed in The National Government Act c.f. Article 4 such “ freedom froms” as freedom from poverty, want, hunger and disease etc are absent in Keyna. But it has also to be recognised that individual freedom was absent for generations in the 26 counties due to the third world nature of its economy for decades c.f. Angela’s Ashes.

Freedom to Become

Like freedom from, freedom to become depends upon the state of the economy in which one lives. The economy determines the nature of the schooling system and in turn this determines the realization of freedom to become in the state. In Keyna freedom to become is non-existent for the impoverished majority. Freedom to become was also limited for generations in the 26 counties due to the nature of the economy, the 26 counties statelet being the last in the West to introduce a universal secondary tier of education in the state. In the past many young people left the 26 counties and went to England to benefit from the free education there.

Freedom to Be

Freedom to be is the highest form of individual freedom and it in turn is also dependant on the economy. One can aspire to be a plumber but if one cannot find work as a plumber because of a scarcity of work opportunities in the economy then the plumber’s freedom to be is being violated. Freedom to be is limited in Keyna but freedom to be was also limited for decades in the 26 counties due to the third world nature of the economy and there was massive emigration to find work abroad.

This account of individual freedom brings to mind the Marxist dictum: -

“ Art, science, philosophy and politics are the froth on the crest of the economic wave, when the wave breaks the froth will reform and restructure”

Marx did not include freedom in his dictum but he should have. The economic wave has broken in the 26 counties in recent times and freedom has reformed and restructured. But even if wealth levels have increased spectacularly since the 1990ties and because of that individual freedom has blossomed nevertheless there remain pockets of poverty in the state from which the people need to be freed. The blossoming of pockets of poverty from which the people need to be freed. This blossoming of individual freedom ha\s nothing to do with a shout of ----Saoirse--- in 1916 but has all to do
with the south being a member of the E.E.C.by which the economy in the south was kick started.

State Freedom

A rebellious adolescent may take freedom to mean—one should be free to
. do as one pleases. This view of freedom won’t do for the state. Freedom requires a definition. The following is suggested:-

Freedom is the mature exercise of the will in the pursuit of either good or evil with full intent.

Because the person can do evil freedom must be subject to the law. As noted in the article on Federalism, the eminent English philosopher J.S Mill understood freedom to mean that in a liberal democracy one should be free to do as one pleases, provided that in doing so one doesn’t injure, hurt or offend someone else. By implication this means that freedom should be subject to the law.

After the inception of the 26 county statelet freedoms of thought, mind, expression, and speech were suppressed in a state that was priest ridden and under the thumb of the Catholic Church. A catholic Dail Eirteann sat in silence while this suppression was practiced. In truth home rule was Rome rule. Now in the south with a rising tide of wealth, freedom of thought, mind, expression and speech are accepted. The power of the Catholic Church is on the wane due in part to sex scandals. In the National Government of Ireland Act a plethora of freedoms are listed.c.f.Article 4. Freedom is not of one ilk----uhuru---saoirse--- but is of many kinds.

It is hoped this article and others will emphasise the central nature of a constitution in a democracy. It is the conviction of Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein that the Irish
Problem is in essence a dispute about the constitutional nature of the island, should it be a Republic or should it be under the Crown? Freedom is too important to be left to self – appointed zealots of the – uhuru—saoirse--- type freedom but should be written into the state constitution where both individual and state freedoms can be rationally understood and democratically accepted by all.

It is still the conviction of Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein that the problem in the 6 counties can only be resolved constitutionally in a new reformed U.K.constitution which ideally should be as acceptable to the protestants of Kerry as to the catholics of Derry. If such a constitution is not acceptable to the people of the 26 counties then it can become the written constitution of the 6 counties making that state stable and democratic c.f.Article 22 The National Government of Ireland Act. However if the island is ever to be united that will only come about in a U.K.context. That is the only way to a United Ireland and there is no other way.


MICHAEL GILLESPIE FEDERAL UNIONIST – EARLY SINN FEIN

The novel --THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE-- is a fiction derived from the author's composite life experiences. The novel relates Dr Quinn's struggle in a psychiatric clinic to discover his true self and his true identity as an Irishman. In this struggle he creates the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT as the solution to the Irish problem.The novel is a companion to this series of articles in this Blog and is recommended reading. The novel can be bought in through any bookstore in the U.K./Ireland or from an book agency on the Internet.

Selection at Eleven in Northern Ireland

Now that the constitutional monstrosity the assembly is in place in N. Ireland and has bedded in, as some one who calls himself a Federal Unionist – Early Sinn Fein, it is my belief that the assembly will eventually shake itself apart due to inherent constitutional contradictions. In the meantime it may be useful to look at an aspect of government in the six counties (N. Ireland) –namely selection at eleven.

I first came across academic selection in an official capacity when I was Belfast President of the Irish National Teacher’s Organization during the Harold Wilson administration and dealing with academic selection at the time was part of my remit as union president. It was my firm belief then as it is now that selection is a sine qua non of education. What remains to be decided is at what age selection should take place and who should do the selecting.

The age of selection at eleven is quite arbitrary. That age was set up following the 1948 Education Act, which looked forward to universal secondary education. At that time compulsory education ended at 14. In the secondary schools that were to come into being, the government decreed that secondary schooling should be at least 3 years so the age set for selection was eleven. So selection at eleven is quite arbitrary, but even so for right wing Union Jack Unionism selection at eleven is sacred and is carved in stone.

The I.N.T.O. at that time campaigned for the abolition of the eleven-plus and for the introduction of comprehensives in the six counties (N. Ireland) but this was defeated by a powerful grammar school lobby. My personal position was that selection at eleven be abolished and that pupils be given the opportunity of selecting themselves and should not be divided into sheep and goats by the state. With that in mind and in the knowledge that selection is a sine qua non of education I backed a system of all ability Primary schooling with transfer to an all ability middle school at the age of eleven with compulsory schooling ending at 16. In this system, selection which I stress is an essential part of education, should take place at 14 the pupils being supported at 14 by careers advice along with an academic profile of each individual pupil, beginning in the primary sector and continuing into the second year of middle schooling. At 14 the school should be streamed into academic and vocational groups. For the first two years of middle schooling the classes should be of mixed ability with class setting being allowed to cater for slow and fast learners, as is the practice in primary schooling. The aim of the middle school should be to turn out a school population that is literate and numerate At 16+ those with an academic bent should move to sixth form colleges. This system of education is similar to the system of education in Craigavon in N.Ireland as of now.

The school curriculum should allow two forms of knowledge---Know that – and Know how. This would in keeping with the revised curriculum at present being muted for schools, the emphasis being on Know How. The distinction between Know That and Know How may be made in this way. For example, I know that a car has four wheels, a steering wheel, seats back and front, that cars are of different colours and that they should be taxed and insured. All of that is--- know that--- about a car and is in a way useless knowledge. What is meaningful is knowing how to drive a car or knowing how to fix a car when it breaks down and that is useful knowledge. Know How has to do with the learning of procedures. A competent driver knows how to proceed along a highway and a competent mechanic knows how to proceed in repairing a car. A 21st century economy requires Know how from its population and know how requires instruction. Traditionally-- Know That-- has been taught in schools but that form of knowledge is only of use in quiz shows. What should be of significance in modern education is learning how to proceed in the academic disciplines or in vocational skills.

It is evident that Right Wing Union Jack Unionism is hell bent on retaining selection at eleven. Be that as it may it is difficult to understand how the right wing in the six counties can reconcile selection by the state with right wing philosophy. It was Margaret Thatcher’s purpose in being Prime Minister to roll back the state. The Right Wing in the six counties should roll back the state out of the lives of children by allowing them to select themselves. The state should be kept out of it. The right wing is inconsistent in this but then they are consistent in being sectarian.

In all of this one must look at education in the inner city and education in the suburbs. When looking at inner city education I have in mind Late Sinn Fein (as distinct from my Federal Unionism – Early Sinn Fein) Late Sinn Fein having adopted a sectarian stance in relation to the protestant Shankill. I have heard Late Sinn Fein on the T.V. claim that the abolition of the eleven plus and the introduction of comprehensives is the cure all for low academic standards on the Shankill. More recently I heard Ms Ruane repeat this after a N.A.S/U.W.T. conference in Belfast but in singling out the Shankill in a problem that is an Inner City problem, Ms Ruane is being sectarian.

At the time I was President of the I.N.T.O. in Belfast I was also doing research into numeracy in the inner city in Belfast at the Faculty of Education at Q.U.B. The neighbourhoods selected for research were (1) The Shankill ( a protestant inner city enclave) (2) The Lower Falls (a catholic inner city enclave) (3) The Donegall Pass ( a protestant inner city enclave) (4) The Markets.(a catholic inner city enclave) The research looked at Basic Numeracy and Overall Numeracy at the end of Primary schooling.

Basic Numeracy This took as its criteria the ability to do simple addition subtraction, multiplication and division. The research revealed that over one third of the school population couldn’t do these basic operations at the end of primary schooling and were thus innumerate. When the statistics were tested rigorously for significance the performance of pupils in Controlled Schools (protestant) did not differ significantly from the performance of pupils in Maintained Schools (catholic) so the levels of innumeracy among pupils on the Shankill do not differ from the Levels of innumeracy among pupils on the Lower Falls. So why does Late Sinn Fein single out the Shankill when it comes to an Inner City problem in education. Does Ms Ruane and Late Sinn Fein think that innumeracy has something to so with religion and politics?

Overall Numeracy This level of numeracy was established in a wide-ranging test of mathematical knowledge at the end of Primary Education. When tested for significance between Maintained and Controlled Schools it was found that pupils in Controlled Schools out-performed pupils in Maintained Schools. So why does Ms Ruane knock the Shankill by singling it out? But there are swings and roundabouts in all of this. It has also been established in research that pupils in Maintained Schools out-perform pupils in Controlled Schools in verbal ability.

To take a still wider view of education one must look at inner city schools in relation to schools in the leafy suburbs. Had the research indicated been carried out in schools on the Malone it would be expected that pupils on the Malone would out-perform pupils in the Inner City. While this anomaly is true of Belfast it is also true of all cities in Ireland, in Great Britain, in Europe and in America. It was originally thought at the time of Harold Wilson that comprehensives were the corrective to this anomaly but this did not prove to be the case in England and Wales. There is now talk of bog standard comprehensives in England but these tend to be situated in the Inner City. Comprehensives in the suburbs tend to do well academically. The current Labour Government have tried to rectify this by having the state invade the classroom in telling teachers what to teach and how to teach it. It is now thought that this is making matters worse. It could be that the cause of the anomaly is due to the relative values that inner city families and suburban families place on educational attainment.

This is the problem that Ms Ruane will have to tackle in the six counties and there is no simple answer to it. So what is the point of Ms Ruane and Late Sinn Fein in singling out the Shankill for special note? To do that is raw sectarianism.

The Catholic Church has also climbed on the bandwagon of selection. Fr Farren argues that selection is an infringement of the catholic school ethos. Such hypocrisy! When it comes to selection the Catholic Church is a major culprit by insisting that children be taught apart in separate catholic and non-catholic schools. It is high time that integrated schools took over, and the teaching of divisive sectarian denominational religion was replaced with the teaching of unifying Christianity in all schools.


Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist --- Early Sinn Fein

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.