4 Rotherwood Drive Tel 028 71 285 807 Email macgil@hotmail.co.uk
Killfennan
L’Derry
N. Ireland
BT47 5SY
13/July/ 09
Dear Mr Durkan
I have taken courage and am making bold to write to you on a complex political theme; the theme is the reform of the United Kingdom Constitution as the only route out of the inherent violence of N. Ireland. The violence of this 12th prompts this.
I was formerly a teacher but I retired from that to devote my energies to work on the Irish problem and its solution. On that theme I have published a novel with Authorhouse titled THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE. I have a second novel coming out shortly on the same theme titled THE RAPE OF VIRGIN MUNCHINDUN where Munchindun is a fictional district in Tyrone. I also maintain an extensive blog on this theme on: -
www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
This blog is read as far afield as California. My version of the National Government of Ireland Act, which is central to this letter, can be found in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE.
My political views in this writing are personal but the views are sincerely held. In terms of the politics of this island I am not a Nationalist, Republican or Union Jack Unionist. These are now past their use by date and should be disposed of, and replaced by the new improved concept of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn. In my reading of Irish political history initially Arthur Griffiths who founded Sinn Fein in 1904, wanted a government for Ireland with a dual monarchy. When this is examined in depth Early Sinn Fein was federal unionist and if Griffith’s initial ideas had been developed with patience and hadn’t been swept away by the sectarian violence of 1916 Ireland today would be united under the Crown, a nation similar to Canada. But that, I admit is an “if only” of Irish history. 1916 changed things but the changes were for the worse.
Two things have prompted me to write to you. As noted there is the upsurge in violence during the current 12th demonstrations. Windbags on the media and in the press have roundly condemned this but that is a waste of time. Violence is endemic in Northern Ireland. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein can ask and answer the question ---“Why is this?”
My second reason for writing has to do with a quote of Sir Reg Empey taken from the Belfast Telegraph, which goes like this: -
“My parties role in the Belfast Agreement is to free this country from the shackles that tied us all to sectarian based head counts and mutual distrust.”
The sentiment is fine and is to be applauded but he doesn’t say how to achieve this. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein can supply the know-how in freeing us from the shackles of sectarianism and mutual mistrust.
To grasp the know-how one must understand Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein’s analysis of the problem. That concept identifies sectarianism as the sickness of Ireland (all of it) and the cause of the sickness can be traced to the U.K. constitution. This constitution is flawed in that it is undemocratic and unwritten and because it lacks the support of all of the people of N. Ireland it is imposed militarily on those who object to it. A purpose of the 12th demonstrations is to ram the constitution down the throats of those who object to it and a significant body of people find U.K. constitution objectionable, to wit the De Brun vote in the recent European election. The Orange Order can throw up a smoke screen of Protestant cultural expression (whatever protestant culture is) but the people aren’t fooled. The flaunting of Union Jacks on the streets and the making of union speeches at the field demonstrate that Orange Parades are about the imposition of the U.K. constitution on those who object to it.
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein rejects dogma in politics and embraces secularism, which replaces political dogma with reason, logic and observation. The adoption of secularism and the rejection of political dogma in Ireland is another prerequisite in finding a solution to the Irish Problem.
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein puts forward as basic to the solution of the Irish Problem, the reform of U.K. constitution in the written National Government of Ireland Act. In this way the existing unwritten undemocratic constitution can be changed from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa. As it is now constituted N. Ireland is unstable and prone to communal violence. It is observable that there are two heads of state involved, two conflicting national flags being flown, two conflicting national anthems being sung and two conflicting national passports being travelled on. The state thus constituted is a state at war with itself and in such a state violence is endemic. Such a state requires a new written constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act as follows: -
(a) One head of state: the reformed Crown whose constitutional duties in all Ireland are defined and clearly stated in writing in the Act.
(b) One National Flag. In the case of the National Government of Ireland Act the national flag would be The Royal Flag of Ireland. This flag should be the existing Tricolour with the Red Cross of St Patrick imposed on the white central panel of the tricolour along with the Crown and harp symbols in blue and with a shamrock symbol. This flag should be defined in the Act as The Royal Flag of Ireland which is at one and the same time, the National Flag of Ireland and the symbol of the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa. The Union Jack should remain as the National Flag of Great Britain and be the symbol of The Federal Kingdom of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation of Ireland. in Great Britain. Joining the two national flags together as one, is more sensible than trying to join Martin Mc Guinness and Peter Robinson together at the hip in the Assembly. These men symbolize irreconcilable constitutional positions and conflict. This is only one piece of the constitutional jigsaw. The version of the Act given in THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE runs to 20,000 words and attempts to deal with all aspects of life on this island.
©One National Anthem, which can be sung by all. There are many good songs in Ireland that would suit this.
(d)One National Passport written in Irish and English showing a picture of the Crown as head of state
(e) One central government in Dublin named Dail Eireann with legislative powers devolved to four Provincial Houses: -
The Ulster House
The Munster House
The Leinster House
The Connaugh House
All of that is part of the know-how of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein and in the National Government of Ireland Act a written constitution can be designed for Ireland that should be as acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry. This is possible feasible and doable but to do it will require the restructuring of the political centre in Northern Ireland. In N. Ireland the political centre is fractured in three between the U.U.P. the S.D.L.P. and the Alliance Party. A single central party should be set up under the banner of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein. Such a party should take as its platform the reform of the U.K. constitution as outlined in this letter and have as its flag The Royal flag of Ireland. The party should make clear to all that it is united Ireland friendly, union friendly and Crown friendly. In that way the party is for all, is non-sectarian and crosses the communal divide.
I have also written to Ms Ruane minister for education not about politics: we are poles apart on politics but about education where we can communicate. The good lady gave me a written reply that was positive, well informed and at length In general she said her views on selection in education were not incompatible with mine. A copy of this article can be found at the blog address given at the beginning of this letter by scrolling down to page 3 to Selection at Eleven.
I would be most grateful if you would reply to this letter either by letter or by email in a positive informed and significant way. The views in this letter are sincerely put forward as the only way to a genuine peace in Ireland. The current so called peace is a bogus peace. You can show this letter to your colleagues in the party.
Yours Sincerely
Michael Gillespie B.Ed B.Sc(Econ) DipEd D.A.S.E. M.A.(Ed)
Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Monday, 31 August 2009
Religion, Culture and the Constitution
Religion Culture and the Constitution.
It is clear that Orange parades are contentious in parts of the six counties/ N. Ireland. In catholic areas these parades are at least protested against and at most opposed with violence. Why is this? Is the root cause religion or culture or the constitution. Which?
Religion
If the Orange parades were simply about Protestantism and those taking part paraded with bibles alone then in such circumstances an eyebrow wouldn’t be raised. If the parades ended solely in the preaching of sermons full of biblical quotes and in the singing of robust revivalist hymns, the parades would go unnoticed. So since the parades are opposed sometimes with spitting, sometimes with violence, some thing more than Protestantism is being put on display.
Culture
It is currently fashionable for the Orange Order to claim that the parades are about the expression of Protestant culture. So what is culture and more especially Protestant culture? Culture is a slippery concept. Chairman Mao said the people move in culture as fish move in water. According to the dictionary culture in the broadest sense is the totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns arts, beliefs, institutions and all other works of human thought characteristic of a community or a people. If however Orange Parades were simply socially transmitted behaviour patterns and seen as artistic expressions on banners and the upholding of beliefs and institutions Protestant culture would pass unnoticed. More particularly the popular view of culture is that it has to do with literature, art works, music, language, dance, folklore and legend. In all of that in what sense are Orange parades an expression of all works of thought in the Protestant community? What is Protestant literature? All there is, are the Weaver poets but for those who take poetry seriously those are local doggerel pieces and express a weak culture. So the Orangemen aren’t being stoned over poetry. Of course Ulster Scots claim Robert Burns as part of their culture but the culture expressed by Burns is not indigenous to Ulster but is apart from it. What then are the art works of the protestant community? There are folk murals painted on gable walls by folk artists. Again this art is the expression of a weak culture. What of music? There’s a slim volume of Orange songs but the songs are characteristic of Irish culture. What of language? Some Protestants claim they have a native tongue in Ulster Scots. This is part of the claim that N. Ireland is a nation but the people are split over both claims. A referendum to sort out whether Ulster Scots is a language or not would be useful. What of dance? Some Protestants adopt Scottish dance as their culture but if the Orangemen were dancing strath-speys on Royal Avenue in Belfast and if the Apprentice Boys were doing Highland Flings on Derry’s walls no one would give a damn The Orange Order demonstrations are about much more than that. What of folklore and mythology? There’s Irish folklore but no Ulster Scots folklore. There are those who connect N. Ireland with the legendary Finn Mc Cool but Finn belongs to Irish legend. The upshot of this evaluation of protestant culture is that it is weak in nature but if the Orange parades were solely about culture no hair would be turned on anyone’s head. So why the violent bitter reaction connected with such parades?
The Constitution.
To get to the root of this question one must examine U.K. constitution. The problem here is that Protestantism and the constitution have been intertwined since the battle of the Boyne. The U.K. constitution is unwritten and proceeds by historic precedent, historic practice and convention. The battle of the Boyne is part of the historic precedent of U.K. constitution and from that has arisen the notion of a protestant ascendancy and protestant ruling class. In that way church and state in U.K. constitution isn’t separate and apart but are closely interwoven so in effect U.K. constitution gives a protestant state for a protestant people. While U.K. constitution may be no longer be seen that way in secular Great Britain this view of the constitution is alive and seen as valid in Protestant Ireland. While this is unwritten it is intuitively felt in Ireland. For that reason U.K. constitution has understandably been rejected by Catholic Ireland and clung to by Protestant Ireland. Because of this U.K. constitution has a violent history in Ireland. This constitutional conflict is still observable today in the streets of Belfast and Derry Orange parades nowadays are an assertion of the Protestant ascendancy mentality built into U.K. constitution. The Protestant ascendancy notion was copper fastened in Ireland in the1801 Act of Union. Thereafter protestant Ireland hijacked the protestant Crown so that in Ireland the Crown is seen as a Crown for Protestants. This is the situation in present day N. Ireland where the Queen on state visits to N. Ireland is confined to protestant districts. Catholic districts are no-go areas for the Queen but on state occasions a handful of tame Catholics are brought into the Queen’s presence to gloss the matter over.
To resolve this deep-seated problem of the U.K. constitution in Ireland church and state will have to be separated. While the intertwining of church and state in Great Britain doesn’t present a problem because there church and state go hand in glove in the established Protestant church (the Church of England is the Tory party at prayer); in Ireland it does present a serious problem in that the vast majority of the people are Catholic. In Ireland in U.K. constitution church and state will have to separate. This can be done in a specific written Irish constitution for Ireland, namely The National Government of Ireland Act. In this Act the Crown should be defined as Christian as far as Ireland is concerned and neutral in relation to the denominational churches. In doing this the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would need to change to The Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa depending upon ones perception of these islands.
The National Government of Ireland would require much more and should cover life in Ireland and the history thereof. A version of the national Government of Ireland can be found in the book THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE---published by Authorhouse and it will give a good idea of what the Act would require. In the Act the battle of the Boyne and the Orange Order would still remain as a centrepiece of the new Federal Kingdom Constitution. The Orange Order would need reform in this manner: -
(1) The Order should become the Royal Orange Order of Ireland.
(2) Each member would take an oath to be loyal to the Crown, to uphold civil and religious liberty, to be Christian in belief, religious practice, moral outlook, behaviour and in speech.
(3)The expectation that each member would adopt an ecumenical spirit.
(4)The 12th July t o be declared a National Holiday in Ireland.
(5)Freedom of access to Irish territory in all its aspects.
A detailed development of this reform can be found in the book –THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE—article 10 The Orange Order Page 231
It is clear that Orange parades are contentious in parts of the six counties/ N. Ireland. In catholic areas these parades are at least protested against and at most opposed with violence. Why is this? Is the root cause religion or culture or the constitution. Which?
Religion
If the Orange parades were simply about Protestantism and those taking part paraded with bibles alone then in such circumstances an eyebrow wouldn’t be raised. If the parades ended solely in the preaching of sermons full of biblical quotes and in the singing of robust revivalist hymns, the parades would go unnoticed. So since the parades are opposed sometimes with spitting, sometimes with violence, some thing more than Protestantism is being put on display.
Culture
It is currently fashionable for the Orange Order to claim that the parades are about the expression of Protestant culture. So what is culture and more especially Protestant culture? Culture is a slippery concept. Chairman Mao said the people move in culture as fish move in water. According to the dictionary culture in the broadest sense is the totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns arts, beliefs, institutions and all other works of human thought characteristic of a community or a people. If however Orange Parades were simply socially transmitted behaviour patterns and seen as artistic expressions on banners and the upholding of beliefs and institutions Protestant culture would pass unnoticed. More particularly the popular view of culture is that it has to do with literature, art works, music, language, dance, folklore and legend. In all of that in what sense are Orange parades an expression of all works of thought in the Protestant community? What is Protestant literature? All there is, are the Weaver poets but for those who take poetry seriously those are local doggerel pieces and express a weak culture. So the Orangemen aren’t being stoned over poetry. Of course Ulster Scots claim Robert Burns as part of their culture but the culture expressed by Burns is not indigenous to Ulster but is apart from it. What then are the art works of the protestant community? There are folk murals painted on gable walls by folk artists. Again this art is the expression of a weak culture. What of music? There’s a slim volume of Orange songs but the songs are characteristic of Irish culture. What of language? Some Protestants claim they have a native tongue in Ulster Scots. This is part of the claim that N. Ireland is a nation but the people are split over both claims. A referendum to sort out whether Ulster Scots is a language or not would be useful. What of dance? Some Protestants adopt Scottish dance as their culture but if the Orangemen were dancing strath-speys on Royal Avenue in Belfast and if the Apprentice Boys were doing Highland Flings on Derry’s walls no one would give a damn The Orange Order demonstrations are about much more than that. What of folklore and mythology? There’s Irish folklore but no Ulster Scots folklore. There are those who connect N. Ireland with the legendary Finn Mc Cool but Finn belongs to Irish legend. The upshot of this evaluation of protestant culture is that it is weak in nature but if the Orange parades were solely about culture no hair would be turned on anyone’s head. So why the violent bitter reaction connected with such parades?
The Constitution.
To get to the root of this question one must examine U.K. constitution. The problem here is that Protestantism and the constitution have been intertwined since the battle of the Boyne. The U.K. constitution is unwritten and proceeds by historic precedent, historic practice and convention. The battle of the Boyne is part of the historic precedent of U.K. constitution and from that has arisen the notion of a protestant ascendancy and protestant ruling class. In that way church and state in U.K. constitution isn’t separate and apart but are closely interwoven so in effect U.K. constitution gives a protestant state for a protestant people. While U.K. constitution may be no longer be seen that way in secular Great Britain this view of the constitution is alive and seen as valid in Protestant Ireland. While this is unwritten it is intuitively felt in Ireland. For that reason U.K. constitution has understandably been rejected by Catholic Ireland and clung to by Protestant Ireland. Because of this U.K. constitution has a violent history in Ireland. This constitutional conflict is still observable today in the streets of Belfast and Derry Orange parades nowadays are an assertion of the Protestant ascendancy mentality built into U.K. constitution. The Protestant ascendancy notion was copper fastened in Ireland in the1801 Act of Union. Thereafter protestant Ireland hijacked the protestant Crown so that in Ireland the Crown is seen as a Crown for Protestants. This is the situation in present day N. Ireland where the Queen on state visits to N. Ireland is confined to protestant districts. Catholic districts are no-go areas for the Queen but on state occasions a handful of tame Catholics are brought into the Queen’s presence to gloss the matter over.
To resolve this deep-seated problem of the U.K. constitution in Ireland church and state will have to be separated. While the intertwining of church and state in Great Britain doesn’t present a problem because there church and state go hand in glove in the established Protestant church (the Church of England is the Tory party at prayer); in Ireland it does present a serious problem in that the vast majority of the people are Catholic. In Ireland in U.K. constitution church and state will have to separate. This can be done in a specific written Irish constitution for Ireland, namely The National Government of Ireland Act. In this Act the Crown should be defined as Christian as far as Ireland is concerned and neutral in relation to the denominational churches. In doing this the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would need to change to The Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa depending upon ones perception of these islands.
The National Government of Ireland would require much more and should cover life in Ireland and the history thereof. A version of the national Government of Ireland can be found in the book THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE---published by Authorhouse and it will give a good idea of what the Act would require. In the Act the battle of the Boyne and the Orange Order would still remain as a centrepiece of the new Federal Kingdom Constitution. The Orange Order would need reform in this manner: -
(1) The Order should become the Royal Orange Order of Ireland.
(2) Each member would take an oath to be loyal to the Crown, to uphold civil and religious liberty, to be Christian in belief, religious practice, moral outlook, behaviour and in speech.
(3)The expectation that each member would adopt an ecumenical spirit.
(4)The 12th July t o be declared a National Holiday in Ireland.
(5)Freedom of access to Irish territory in all its aspects.
A detailed development of this reform can be found in the book –THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE—article 10 The Orange Order Page 231
Mark Durkan and a United Ireland
4 Rotherwood Drive Tel 71285807 Email macgil@hotmail.co.uk
Kilfennan
L’Derry
BT47 5SY
13/08/09
Dear Mr Durkan
I thank you for your reply to my letter and for bringing to my attention your policy document A United Ireland and the Agreement, which I have read carefully. M y first impression of the document is that it bears no relationship to the Ireland in which I live. The document says that the S.D.L.P. is 100% for a United Ireland and is 100% for the Good Friday Agreement. These are fine words but they spring from Republican dogma about a united Ireland but Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein disavows dogma as the curse of Irish Politics and puts in its place secularism, which operates on reason logic and observation.
On observation what has followed from the Good Friday Agreement? There is now a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist Assembly at Stormont propped up by Republican/Nationalist people. Sectarianism is now institutionalized and partition copper fastened. In Belfast and Derry the people sulk behind peace walls flying a sectarian Union Jack on the one hand and flying a sectarian Irish Tricolour on the other. Kerbs are painted red white and blue by some and green white and orange by others. This actual world is absent from the S.D.L.P. document on a United Ireland. For Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein this observed world is irrational and illogical and needs change. These circumstances in the cities can only be changed with a new genuinely Irish constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act which will give symbols and emblems acceptable to all, namely loyalists and others. That vision of unity is clear. The S.D.L.P. see unity in Ireland through a glass darkly.
You highlight the following: -
We seek a united Ireland that is confident pluralist and non-sectarian. One that can find the magnanimity to offer a home to those who are Irish but also to those among us who are British. One that is not afraid of differing identities and allegiances. One that will respect and protect them all.
And Also
The right to identify ones self as British or Irish
I say with respect that all of this is dangerous nonsense The S.D.L.P. and many others misunderstand pluralism Correctly understood a pluralist society or state is one made up of many religions. There is no difficulty with that. America is a prime example, so is Germany but I can’t think of any stable democracy in the world that is made up of many identities. From the melting pot in America the citizen emerges with a single identity American. The S.D.L.P. recognition of a spurious right to recognise oneself as either British or Irish would perpetuate sectarianism in Ireland and would build instability into the country just as the six counties /N. Ireland is now unstable with a dual identity.
In this the S.D.L.P. lacks insight into the nature and sensitivity of being British just as Right Wing Union Jack Unionism lacks insight into the nature and sensitivity of being Irish. In your document you say the S.D.L.P is the party of true Republicanism. In that statement is written the death sentence of an S.D.L.P. UNITED Ireland. The sap of being British is the right to be loyal to the Crown so how can that right be recognised in an S.D.L.P. Republic? Loyalty to the Crown is the sine qua non of being a unionist as well so how can a unionist exist in a United Ireland proposed by a Republican S.D.L.P.? In a Republic the right to be loyal to the Crown would be suppressed just as loyalty to the Crown has been suppressed in the 26 county Republic. Because of that loyalist Ireland in the South voted against the state with their feet by walking out until Protestant loyalists on the banks of the Shannon are nowadays as scarce and rare as Sioux Indians are on the banks of the Mississippi. On the other hand Catholics in the six counties increased and multiplied under the Crown.
Unlike the S.D.L. P. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein has a vision of a new united Ireland in which there is no inconsistency in being loyal to the reformed Crown and in being Irish. In Ireland the right of loyalty to the reformed Crown would be freely expressed in a Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland And Great Britain. It should be noted that loyalty would be to a reformed Crown not a BRITISH Crown. To ask the Irish to be loyal to a British Crown would be an historic inconsistency. The necessary reforms of the Crown are examined in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE (Authorhouse). In the National Government of Ireland Act all on the Island would be defined as Irish citizens but the sap of loyalty would still rise in the historic trunk of loyalist Ireland and surge into its traditional branches so that in a united Ireland, Loyalist Ireland would flourish increase and multiply.
To look at loyalty in a human way as a secularist using reason logic and observation, it can be observed that loyalty is a praiseworthy worthwhile human attribute be it loyalty to wife, husband, family, friend, company, church, country, or the Crown. Because loyalty is a human attribute its free expression is a human right. Loyalty to the Crown goes with out mention in the S.D.L.P. document a United Ireland and because of that the document is seriously flawed. This blind spot in the vision of the S.D.L.P. wounds the historic psyche of Protestant Ireland and thus wounded, Protestant Ireland will avoid unity.
The S.D.L.P. document talks of an Irish constitution. What does an Irish constitution mean to the S.D.L.P.? Is it a code for a Republican constitution in which Irishness and Republicanism are intertwined and loyalism is excluded like the 1937 constitution? The National Government of Ireland Act is a genuinely written Irish Constitution giving equal recognition to both Irish Ireland and Loyalist Ireland. Its full content can be found in the novel mentioned previously.
The S.D.L.P. states that in their United Ireland there would still be Unionists. These unionists Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein calls Right Wing Union Jack Unionists to distinguish them from Royal Flag of Ireland unionists, as is Federal Unionism. So in a S.D.L.P. united Ireland these union Jack Unionists would fly the Union Jack while others would fly the Republican Irish Tricolour. In such a United Ireland sectarianism would be writ large and civil strife would be endemic. Has the S.D.L.P. got s policy document on the eradication of sectarianism? In a United Ireland with the Irish constitution, The National Government of Ireland Act, sectarianism would wither away and die out.
Federal Unionism- Early Sinn Fein states clearly it is union friendly. In principle there is no objection to a union between these islands just as there can be no objection in principle to a union between European Nations. What can be objected to is the implementation and maintenance of such a union? If the 1801 Act of Union had been implemented democratically according to the wishes of the Irish People there would never have been a problem with the union. It is recognised that democracy wasn’t in place in the Ireland of the time. Instead the Union was implemented by chicanery deceit and corruption and imposed and maintained militarily. Such a union is unacceptable and was right fully opposed. In 1922 the Act of Union was again imposed militarily on those who didn’t want it and objected to it. The Union was challenged in the Civil Rights Movement and that movement altered the nature of Union Jack Unionism but Civil Rights became infected with the dogma of sectarian catholic 1916 uprising. This dogma infects the thinking of The S.D.L.P. The secularist Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein maintains and rightly so that the U.K. constitution which has been rejected by the vast majority of the people of this Island and by a significant body of people in the six counties/N. Ireland, needs to be replaced by the Federal Kingdom expressed in the Irish constitution, The National Government of Ireland Act, which will give an Irish Constitution acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry and to the Protestants of Derry.
The S.D.L.P. also lay great stress on a majority in the six counties/N Ireland. It is accepted by the S.D.L.P. that N. Ireland can remain within the U.K .for as long as the Majority so wish. When analysed that means that the U.K. constitution will remain for as long as the majority so wish. But this deception should be nailed in Ireland. For a constitution to be democratic it has to enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of the people not a marginal majority, as is the case in N. Ireland. Suppose in the U.S.A. the constitution was supported by the white community but was opposed by the black community. Suppose this set-up resulted in the flying of the Stars and Stripes for whites and The Hammer and the Sickle for blacks with an Anthem for whites and an anthem for blacks, with a passport for whites and a passport for blacks, with a first president for whites in the Oval Office and a deputy first President for blacks also in the Oval Office, the U.S.A. would be torn with civil strife and the United States would fall apart. But that constitutional set-up is in place in the Six counties so it is small wonder there are walls in the cities and sectarian strife in the streets despite the Good Friday Agreement.
It is also mentioned in the S.D.L.P. document that Late Sinn Fein accepts Union Jack Unionism’s consent and assent to a United Ireland. That day will only come when Right Wing Union Jack Unionism converts en masse to Republicanism and does an historic volte-face and disavows the Crown.
A regional Parliament is also recognised at Stormont. Why should Ulster be given special treatment in Ireland? Why not devolve power from the central government in Dublin to assemblies in the capitals of the four Irish provinces and bring the democratic legislative process as close to the grass roots as possible.
Finally the S.D.L.P. makes no mention of the presence of a British garrison in Ireland That presence is now accepted by the S.D.L.P. and Late Sinn Fein. The presence is not acceptable to Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein but it has the Know-how to deal with the problem. If the National Government of Ireland Act were in place in Ireland then it would be a Constitutional Imperative that the British garrison leave Ireland and take the Union Jack with them, the Union Jack being replaced by The Royal Flag of Ireland the design of the flag being described in my original letter. This is a complex military matter; the full complexity is dealt with in THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE (Authorhouse) and can be found in article 9 page 223
All of this requires that the U.U.P., The S.D.L.P. and the Alliance Party form a central coalition as Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein. In that way these three parties would cease to be small fish in three small ponds but would become large fish in one large United Ireland pond. In such a United Ireland, Irish Ireland and Loyalist Ireland would live happily together with a single Irish identity and with the children of each tradition cherished equally in a Federal Kingdom where Catholic Protestant and Dissenter are united in the name of Irishman under the Crown. . The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the island only the National Government of Ireland Act can unite it
With Regards Michael Gillespie
Kilfennan
L’Derry
BT47 5SY
13/08/09
Dear Mr Durkan
I thank you for your reply to my letter and for bringing to my attention your policy document A United Ireland and the Agreement, which I have read carefully. M y first impression of the document is that it bears no relationship to the Ireland in which I live. The document says that the S.D.L.P. is 100% for a United Ireland and is 100% for the Good Friday Agreement. These are fine words but they spring from Republican dogma about a united Ireland but Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein disavows dogma as the curse of Irish Politics and puts in its place secularism, which operates on reason logic and observation.
On observation what has followed from the Good Friday Agreement? There is now a Right Wing Union Jack Unionist Assembly at Stormont propped up by Republican/Nationalist people. Sectarianism is now institutionalized and partition copper fastened. In Belfast and Derry the people sulk behind peace walls flying a sectarian Union Jack on the one hand and flying a sectarian Irish Tricolour on the other. Kerbs are painted red white and blue by some and green white and orange by others. This actual world is absent from the S.D.L.P. document on a United Ireland. For Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein this observed world is irrational and illogical and needs change. These circumstances in the cities can only be changed with a new genuinely Irish constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act which will give symbols and emblems acceptable to all, namely loyalists and others. That vision of unity is clear. The S.D.L.P. see unity in Ireland through a glass darkly.
You highlight the following: -
We seek a united Ireland that is confident pluralist and non-sectarian. One that can find the magnanimity to offer a home to those who are Irish but also to those among us who are British. One that is not afraid of differing identities and allegiances. One that will respect and protect them all.
And Also
The right to identify ones self as British or Irish
I say with respect that all of this is dangerous nonsense The S.D.L.P. and many others misunderstand pluralism Correctly understood a pluralist society or state is one made up of many religions. There is no difficulty with that. America is a prime example, so is Germany but I can’t think of any stable democracy in the world that is made up of many identities. From the melting pot in America the citizen emerges with a single identity American. The S.D.L.P. recognition of a spurious right to recognise oneself as either British or Irish would perpetuate sectarianism in Ireland and would build instability into the country just as the six counties /N. Ireland is now unstable with a dual identity.
In this the S.D.L.P. lacks insight into the nature and sensitivity of being British just as Right Wing Union Jack Unionism lacks insight into the nature and sensitivity of being Irish. In your document you say the S.D.L.P is the party of true Republicanism. In that statement is written the death sentence of an S.D.L.P. UNITED Ireland. The sap of being British is the right to be loyal to the Crown so how can that right be recognised in an S.D.L.P. Republic? Loyalty to the Crown is the sine qua non of being a unionist as well so how can a unionist exist in a United Ireland proposed by a Republican S.D.L.P.? In a Republic the right to be loyal to the Crown would be suppressed just as loyalty to the Crown has been suppressed in the 26 county Republic. Because of that loyalist Ireland in the South voted against the state with their feet by walking out until Protestant loyalists on the banks of the Shannon are nowadays as scarce and rare as Sioux Indians are on the banks of the Mississippi. On the other hand Catholics in the six counties increased and multiplied under the Crown.
Unlike the S.D.L. P. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein has a vision of a new united Ireland in which there is no inconsistency in being loyal to the reformed Crown and in being Irish. In Ireland the right of loyalty to the reformed Crown would be freely expressed in a Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland And Great Britain. It should be noted that loyalty would be to a reformed Crown not a BRITISH Crown. To ask the Irish to be loyal to a British Crown would be an historic inconsistency. The necessary reforms of the Crown are examined in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE (Authorhouse). In the National Government of Ireland Act all on the Island would be defined as Irish citizens but the sap of loyalty would still rise in the historic trunk of loyalist Ireland and surge into its traditional branches so that in a united Ireland, Loyalist Ireland would flourish increase and multiply.
To look at loyalty in a human way as a secularist using reason logic and observation, it can be observed that loyalty is a praiseworthy worthwhile human attribute be it loyalty to wife, husband, family, friend, company, church, country, or the Crown. Because loyalty is a human attribute its free expression is a human right. Loyalty to the Crown goes with out mention in the S.D.L.P. document a United Ireland and because of that the document is seriously flawed. This blind spot in the vision of the S.D.L.P. wounds the historic psyche of Protestant Ireland and thus wounded, Protestant Ireland will avoid unity.
The S.D.L.P. document talks of an Irish constitution. What does an Irish constitution mean to the S.D.L.P.? Is it a code for a Republican constitution in which Irishness and Republicanism are intertwined and loyalism is excluded like the 1937 constitution? The National Government of Ireland Act is a genuinely written Irish Constitution giving equal recognition to both Irish Ireland and Loyalist Ireland. Its full content can be found in the novel mentioned previously.
The S.D.L.P. states that in their United Ireland there would still be Unionists. These unionists Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein calls Right Wing Union Jack Unionists to distinguish them from Royal Flag of Ireland unionists, as is Federal Unionism. So in a S.D.L.P. united Ireland these union Jack Unionists would fly the Union Jack while others would fly the Republican Irish Tricolour. In such a United Ireland sectarianism would be writ large and civil strife would be endemic. Has the S.D.L.P. got s policy document on the eradication of sectarianism? In a United Ireland with the Irish constitution, The National Government of Ireland Act, sectarianism would wither away and die out.
Federal Unionism- Early Sinn Fein states clearly it is union friendly. In principle there is no objection to a union between these islands just as there can be no objection in principle to a union between European Nations. What can be objected to is the implementation and maintenance of such a union? If the 1801 Act of Union had been implemented democratically according to the wishes of the Irish People there would never have been a problem with the union. It is recognised that democracy wasn’t in place in the Ireland of the time. Instead the Union was implemented by chicanery deceit and corruption and imposed and maintained militarily. Such a union is unacceptable and was right fully opposed. In 1922 the Act of Union was again imposed militarily on those who didn’t want it and objected to it. The Union was challenged in the Civil Rights Movement and that movement altered the nature of Union Jack Unionism but Civil Rights became infected with the dogma of sectarian catholic 1916 uprising. This dogma infects the thinking of The S.D.L.P. The secularist Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein maintains and rightly so that the U.K. constitution which has been rejected by the vast majority of the people of this Island and by a significant body of people in the six counties/N. Ireland, needs to be replaced by the Federal Kingdom expressed in the Irish constitution, The National Government of Ireland Act, which will give an Irish Constitution acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry and to the Protestants of Derry.
The S.D.L.P. also lay great stress on a majority in the six counties/N Ireland. It is accepted by the S.D.L.P. that N. Ireland can remain within the U.K .for as long as the Majority so wish. When analysed that means that the U.K. constitution will remain for as long as the majority so wish. But this deception should be nailed in Ireland. For a constitution to be democratic it has to enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of the people not a marginal majority, as is the case in N. Ireland. Suppose in the U.S.A. the constitution was supported by the white community but was opposed by the black community. Suppose this set-up resulted in the flying of the Stars and Stripes for whites and The Hammer and the Sickle for blacks with an Anthem for whites and an anthem for blacks, with a passport for whites and a passport for blacks, with a first president for whites in the Oval Office and a deputy first President for blacks also in the Oval Office, the U.S.A. would be torn with civil strife and the United States would fall apart. But that constitutional set-up is in place in the Six counties so it is small wonder there are walls in the cities and sectarian strife in the streets despite the Good Friday Agreement.
It is also mentioned in the S.D.L.P. document that Late Sinn Fein accepts Union Jack Unionism’s consent and assent to a United Ireland. That day will only come when Right Wing Union Jack Unionism converts en masse to Republicanism and does an historic volte-face and disavows the Crown.
A regional Parliament is also recognised at Stormont. Why should Ulster be given special treatment in Ireland? Why not devolve power from the central government in Dublin to assemblies in the capitals of the four Irish provinces and bring the democratic legislative process as close to the grass roots as possible.
Finally the S.D.L.P. makes no mention of the presence of a British garrison in Ireland That presence is now accepted by the S.D.L.P. and Late Sinn Fein. The presence is not acceptable to Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein but it has the Know-how to deal with the problem. If the National Government of Ireland Act were in place in Ireland then it would be a Constitutional Imperative that the British garrison leave Ireland and take the Union Jack with them, the Union Jack being replaced by The Royal Flag of Ireland the design of the flag being described in my original letter. This is a complex military matter; the full complexity is dealt with in THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE (Authorhouse) and can be found in article 9 page 223
All of this requires that the U.U.P., The S.D.L.P. and the Alliance Party form a central coalition as Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein. In that way these three parties would cease to be small fish in three small ponds but would become large fish in one large United Ireland pond. In such a United Ireland, Irish Ireland and Loyalist Ireland would live happily together with a single Irish identity and with the children of each tradition cherished equally in a Federal Kingdom where Catholic Protestant and Dissenter are united in the name of Irishman under the Crown. . The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the island only the National Government of Ireland Act can unite it
With Regards Michael Gillespie
Monday, 20 July 2009
Blame the Constitution not the Rioters
Blame the Constitution not the Rioters
IN his letter July 18 Mr Stevenson adopts the blinkered viewpoint that for him and people in general all that matters in a country is the bread and butter economy, to paraphrase his position. As a Christian economist I would bring this quote to Mr Stevenson’s attention: -
Not by bread alone does man live but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4
This suggests to me there is higher spiritual order in the life of the individual than bread and butter economics. An individual’s belly isn’t the whole person, as the adherents of a consumer, debt driven, obesity ridden, socio-economy would have us believe.
With that in mind I would point out to Mr Stevenson that in any state there is a higher order than the economy. It is the constitution. A state constitution that has the support of all of the people is a pre-condition for a stable peaceful state that will enjoy vital economic growth and wealth creation. This is missing in the six county/ N. Ireland state. There the state constitution has only the support of some of the people but not all. There are two conflicting heads of state involved two conflicting national flags and anthems, with two conflicting national passports. Such a state is constituted, as being at war with itself so it is not surprising that hotheaded youths in Ardoyne will resort to warlike acts. For Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein these misguided individuals cannot be written off as mindless thugs as the press does but are seen as the tragic victims of an unwritten, undemocratic, imposed and indefensible six county/ N. Ireland state constitution. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein can supply an answer. It is the reform of the United Kingdom constitution to the written Federal Kingdom constitution. The know-how for this is set out in the Blog: -
www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
The know-how to change the United Kingdom to a Federal Kingdom will require the political centre in N. Ireland to unite into a single central party under the banner of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein. The political centre in N. Ireland is fractured in three into the U.U.P., the S.D.L.P. and the Alliance Party. These three parties should form a single party as indicated. This new central party should take as its platform the reform of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland into the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa depending on whether one is speaking from an Irish or British perspective. This reform should be expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act. The central party should make clear to all that it is United Ireland friendly, Union and Crown friendly. In this way the new central party Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein will be a party for all and is non-sectarian.
In such a reformed Federal kingdom in relation to Ireland expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act there would be: -
(a) One Head of State – a reformed Crown whose constitutional duties in all Ireland would be defined and stated clearly in writing in the Act.
(b) One national flag in Ireland---the Royal Flag of Ireland. This should be a redesign of the existing tricolour with the Red Cross of St Patrick imposed on the white central panel of the Tricolour along with a Crown and harp emblems in blue. At the bottom of the central panel there should be a shamrock in outline. This flag should be defined in the Act as being, at one and the same time, the National flag of Ireland and the symbol of the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain. The Union Jack would be defined in the Act as the national flag of Great Britain and the symbol of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation of Ireland. This is only a small piece in the jigsaw of the Act. A fully developed version of the Act can be found in the novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- Published by Authorhouse and available at Amazon Books. This version of the Act runs to over 20,000 words and is an attempt to cover all aspects of life in Ireland Joining the flags together as a composite is more sensible than attempting to join Peter Robinson and Martin Mc Guinness at the hip at Stormont; these men stand for division and violence in Ireland and their coalition at Stormont is a constitutional absurdity.
© One National Anthem, which can be sung by all. There are many fine songs in Ireland, any one of which would suit this.
(d) One National passport written in Irish and English showing a picture of the Crown as Head of State.
(e) One National Central Government in Dublin called Dail Eireann with legislative power devolved to four Provincial Houses: -
(1) The House of Ulster.
(2) The House of Munster.
(3) The House of Leinster.
(4) The House of Connaugh.
The main problem to be faced in all of this is the reality that Ireland is bedevilled with rigid political doctrinal mindsets. If a Federal Kingdom is to be put in place these doctrinal mindsets will have to be replaced with secular politics. Secular politics are grounded in reason, logic and observation. To eradicate rigid mindsets that are frozen in belief about personalities of bygone times will be a difficult uphill struggle. Mind sets that embody Tone and Pearse on the one hand and King William at the Boyne, the U.V.F. at the Somme and Craig, Carson and the Ulster Covenant on the other,. are deeply embedded in the Irish psyche and will be difficult to uproot but this will have to be undertaken if a Federal Kingdom of peace harmony and reconciliation is to be realized. This rigid doctrinaire belief can be a preamble to violence.
But even so it is still possible to design a Federal Kingdom constitution for all Ireland, which should be as acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry and in that way a peaceful stable United Ireland arrived at in which Catholic Protestant and Dissenter are united as Irishmen. The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the Island only the National Government of Ireland Act can reunite the island
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
IN his letter July 18 Mr Stevenson adopts the blinkered viewpoint that for him and people in general all that matters in a country is the bread and butter economy, to paraphrase his position. As a Christian economist I would bring this quote to Mr Stevenson’s attention: -
Not by bread alone does man live but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4
This suggests to me there is higher spiritual order in the life of the individual than bread and butter economics. An individual’s belly isn’t the whole person, as the adherents of a consumer, debt driven, obesity ridden, socio-economy would have us believe.
With that in mind I would point out to Mr Stevenson that in any state there is a higher order than the economy. It is the constitution. A state constitution that has the support of all of the people is a pre-condition for a stable peaceful state that will enjoy vital economic growth and wealth creation. This is missing in the six county/ N. Ireland state. There the state constitution has only the support of some of the people but not all. There are two conflicting heads of state involved two conflicting national flags and anthems, with two conflicting national passports. Such a state is constituted, as being at war with itself so it is not surprising that hotheaded youths in Ardoyne will resort to warlike acts. For Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein these misguided individuals cannot be written off as mindless thugs as the press does but are seen as the tragic victims of an unwritten, undemocratic, imposed and indefensible six county/ N. Ireland state constitution. Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein can supply an answer. It is the reform of the United Kingdom constitution to the written Federal Kingdom constitution. The know-how for this is set out in the Blog: -
www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
The know-how to change the United Kingdom to a Federal Kingdom will require the political centre in N. Ireland to unite into a single central party under the banner of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein. The political centre in N. Ireland is fractured in three into the U.U.P., the S.D.L.P. and the Alliance Party. These three parties should form a single party as indicated. This new central party should take as its platform the reform of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland into the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain or vice versa depending on whether one is speaking from an Irish or British perspective. This reform should be expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act. The central party should make clear to all that it is United Ireland friendly, Union and Crown friendly. In this way the new central party Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein will be a party for all and is non-sectarian.
In such a reformed Federal kingdom in relation to Ireland expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act there would be: -
(a) One Head of State – a reformed Crown whose constitutional duties in all Ireland would be defined and stated clearly in writing in the Act.
(b) One national flag in Ireland---the Royal Flag of Ireland. This should be a redesign of the existing tricolour with the Red Cross of St Patrick imposed on the white central panel of the Tricolour along with a Crown and harp emblems in blue. At the bottom of the central panel there should be a shamrock in outline. This flag should be defined in the Act as being, at one and the same time, the National flag of Ireland and the symbol of the Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain. The Union Jack would be defined in the Act as the national flag of Great Britain and the symbol of Great Britain and the Sovereign Nation of Ireland. This is only a small piece in the jigsaw of the Act. A fully developed version of the Act can be found in the novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- Published by Authorhouse and available at Amazon Books. This version of the Act runs to over 20,000 words and is an attempt to cover all aspects of life in Ireland Joining the flags together as a composite is more sensible than attempting to join Peter Robinson and Martin Mc Guinness at the hip at Stormont; these men stand for division and violence in Ireland and their coalition at Stormont is a constitutional absurdity.
© One National Anthem, which can be sung by all. There are many fine songs in Ireland, any one of which would suit this.
(d) One National passport written in Irish and English showing a picture of the Crown as Head of State.
(e) One National Central Government in Dublin called Dail Eireann with legislative power devolved to four Provincial Houses: -
(1) The House of Ulster.
(2) The House of Munster.
(3) The House of Leinster.
(4) The House of Connaugh.
The main problem to be faced in all of this is the reality that Ireland is bedevilled with rigid political doctrinal mindsets. If a Federal Kingdom is to be put in place these doctrinal mindsets will have to be replaced with secular politics. Secular politics are grounded in reason, logic and observation. To eradicate rigid mindsets that are frozen in belief about personalities of bygone times will be a difficult uphill struggle. Mind sets that embody Tone and Pearse on the one hand and King William at the Boyne, the U.V.F. at the Somme and Craig, Carson and the Ulster Covenant on the other,. are deeply embedded in the Irish psyche and will be difficult to uproot but this will have to be undertaken if a Federal Kingdom of peace harmony and reconciliation is to be realized. This rigid doctrinaire belief can be a preamble to violence.
But even so it is still possible to design a Federal Kingdom constitution for all Ireland, which should be as acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry and in that way a peaceful stable United Ireland arrived at in which Catholic Protestant and Dissenter are united as Irishmen. The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the Island only the National Government of Ireland Act can reunite the island
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Friday, 10 July 2009
The Orangefest on the Shankill
The Orangefest on the Shankill
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein has read in the press that the purpose of the Orangefest on the Shankill is to make the 12th of July parades more inclusive. What does inclusive mean? Inclusive of what? Does it mean in the future Catholics will be out on the Twelfth waving Union Jacks and singing—God Save the Queen? Or could it mean the Orangemen will be out waving Tricolours and singing Amhran na bhFiain. Any one with half a brain knows that neither scenario will ever happen so what does Inclusive mean?
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn sees clearly that the sectarian problem typified by the Twelfth demonstrations springs from the nature of the U.K. constitution. This constitution is unwritten undemocratic and imposed and the Orange marches are part of the imposition of this constitution on those who don’t want it. That is how this unwritten constitution works. Hence the inherent violence connected with Orange parades. The Orangefest fools no one. Those who object to the U.K. constitution are having it rammed down their throats by the Orange Order.
The only way the Orange Parades can be made genuinely inclusive and peaceful and acceptable to all is by reforming the U.K. constitution in relation to Ireland as envisaged in the Blog: -
www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
Scroll down to page 2 of-- Martin and the Orange Order-- and also c.f. the version of the National Government of Ireland Act given in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE, published by Authorhouse in Article 10 the Orange Order page 231
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein Derry
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein has read in the press that the purpose of the Orangefest on the Shankill is to make the 12th of July parades more inclusive. What does inclusive mean? Inclusive of what? Does it mean in the future Catholics will be out on the Twelfth waving Union Jacks and singing—God Save the Queen? Or could it mean the Orangemen will be out waving Tricolours and singing Amhran na bhFiain. Any one with half a brain knows that neither scenario will ever happen so what does Inclusive mean?
Federal Unionism-Early Sinn sees clearly that the sectarian problem typified by the Twelfth demonstrations springs from the nature of the U.K. constitution. This constitution is unwritten undemocratic and imposed and the Orange marches are part of the imposition of this constitution on those who don’t want it. That is how this unwritten constitution works. Hence the inherent violence connected with Orange parades. The Orangefest fools no one. Those who object to the U.K. constitution are having it rammed down their throats by the Orange Order.
The only way the Orange Parades can be made genuinely inclusive and peaceful and acceptable to all is by reforming the U.K. constitution in relation to Ireland as envisaged in the Blog: -
www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
Scroll down to page 2 of-- Martin and the Orange Order-- and also c.f. the version of the National Government of Ireland Act given in the novel THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE, published by Authorhouse in Article 10 the Orange Order page 231
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein Derry
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Mr Doibhilin is Dispirited
Mr O Doibhilin is dispirited.
Mr O Doibhilin in his letter to the press feels that since Nelson Mc Causland(the culture minister in the assembly) is Oxford educated he should be open minded, free from prejudice and bias when it comes to Irish culture. Mr O Doibhilin fails to understand the weighting educationalists give to schooling in the formation of person, character, attitude and mentality in the individual.
According to the thinking of educationists, in the formation of the individual, family background is given a weighting of 60, the community background is given a weighting of 30 and education and schooling are weighted as 10. So Mr Mc Causland’s Oxford education is neither here nor there. It is his family and community background that matters in the formation of Mr Mc Causland’s mentality.
These weightings are borne out in my own experience. Many years ago when I was a student in Belfast students came up to Queens from Republican/ Nationalist backgrounds carrying with them a baggage of prejudice and bias. In Queen’s they joined Republican/Nationalist clubs and societies and had their bias and prejudice reinforced. They went down from Queens with their family and communal prejudice intact and strengthened. On the other hand students from a Union Jack Unionist family and community background went up to Queen’s with a different baggage of bias and prejudice joined Union Jack Unionist clubs and societies and went down from the university with their bias and prejudice intact and reinforced This is the only realistic verdict to be passed on education in the six counties/N. Ireland. Change will only come from the new unbiased thinking of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein not from Oxford or Q.U.B. Ireland needs new thinking, which can be found in the blog www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
Mi9chael Gillespie B.Ed B.Sc(Econ) Dip.Ed D.A.S.E. M.A.(Ed)
Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Mr O Doibhilin in his letter to the press feels that since Nelson Mc Causland(the culture minister in the assembly) is Oxford educated he should be open minded, free from prejudice and bias when it comes to Irish culture. Mr O Doibhilin fails to understand the weighting educationalists give to schooling in the formation of person, character, attitude and mentality in the individual.
According to the thinking of educationists, in the formation of the individual, family background is given a weighting of 60, the community background is given a weighting of 30 and education and schooling are weighted as 10. So Mr Mc Causland’s Oxford education is neither here nor there. It is his family and community background that matters in the formation of Mr Mc Causland’s mentality.
These weightings are borne out in my own experience. Many years ago when I was a student in Belfast students came up to Queens from Republican/ Nationalist backgrounds carrying with them a baggage of prejudice and bias. In Queen’s they joined Republican/Nationalist clubs and societies and had their bias and prejudice reinforced. They went down from Queens with their family and communal prejudice intact and strengthened. On the other hand students from a Union Jack Unionist family and community background went up to Queen’s with a different baggage of bias and prejudice joined Union Jack Unionist clubs and societies and went down from the university with their bias and prejudice intact and reinforced This is the only realistic verdict to be passed on education in the six counties/N. Ireland. Change will only come from the new unbiased thinking of Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein not from Oxford or Q.U.B. Ireland needs new thinking, which can be found in the blog www.blogstoday.co.uk/irishproblemsolved.blog
Mi9chael Gillespie B.Ed B.Sc(Econ) Dip.Ed D.A.S.E. M.A.(Ed)
Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Monday, 6 July 2009
The Ascendancy
The Ascendancy
Reflecting on the Irish problem as I often do, it seems to me that the existence of the protestant ascendancy in Ireland is at the root of this historic problem. The protestant ascendancy in Ireland rose to prominence and power in Ireland at the battle of the Boyne where the protestant King William defeated the catholic King James. In Ireland the protestant minority community became the ruling class as of right and ruled a defeated penalized catholic majority. This convention was retained in the 1801 Act of Union and thereafter the will of the protestant minority was what mattered while the will of the catholic majority was of little consequence.
With the setting up of the Northern Ireland six county statelet whose constitution was the unwritten imposed 1801 constitution, protestant ascendancy rule continued in the six counties and the state was kept constitutionally stable by the suppression of the catholic minority identity. I can recall living in West Belfast prior to the upsurge of the civil rights campaign in a new housing development whose inhabitants were 50/50 catholic/protestant. Relationships in the estate were excellent even though a few Union Jacks appeared on the Twelfth of July at the marching season but a display of the Irish Tricolour couldn’t be considered, as the police wouldn’t tolerate it. Indeed there are those who date the beginning of the troubles to a protestant protest led by Ian Paisley, against the display of an Irish Tricolour in a shop window in the catholic Lower Falls. My reading of the civil Rights Movement is that historically it mounted a challenge to Protestant ascendancy rule in the six counties and had the reforms envisaged by Terence O Neill been implemented with the backing of Ian Paisley there wouldn’t have been violence in the six county state. In later times Ian has made the magnanimous concession that in Northern Ireland Catholics can have anything they want and so they can, provided they don’t want rid of an unwritten imposed undemocratic U.K. constitution and don’t demand a catholic as first minister. However The Civil Rights Movement was hijacked by Republicans and corrupted by Republican violence and atrocity.
While there is now a bogus peace in the six counties since the Assembly was set up yet there remains an under-belly of violent discord in sectarian clashes in the streets of Derry between Catholic and Protestant youths, in the defacing of Orange and G.A.A. halls and in the continued existence of dissident Republican groups, namely the Real and Continuity I.R.A. to say northing of the peace walls in Belfast. Still in this analysis, this violence and discord will persist as long as an imposed unwritten undemocratic constitution remains in place in the six counties. The impact of this constitutional set-up is a clash of wills between the marginal Protestant majority and a significant Catholic minority. This clash of wills is expressed in the painting of kerbstones red, white and blue, and green, white and orange and in the flying of disparate conflicting flags. In this dichotomy the two communities sulk in mutual resentment behind peace walls in Belfast and in Derry in a bogus peace.. In the Assembly defeated Republicans sit in collaboration with a diametrically opposed Party, Right Wing Union Jack Unionism who have still to come to terms with the new reality that the days of the ascendancy are now over, but these are being propped up by Late Sinn Fein who are the arch enemies of and the implacable foes of the Union and are out to destroy it. Late Sinn Fein first used brute force but that effort was defeated; now they resort to political stealth but the destruction of the union remains their sole aim. But Late Sinn Fein must accept the cold reality that the only strategic rout to an all Ireland Republic is by the Protestant minority in Ireland converting en masse to Republicanism, a conversion that will not happen now or never since the central plank of Protestant culture is loyalty to the Crown. That said the Protestant loyalist community must also face the cold reality that since the days of the protestant ascendancy are over, the unwritten imposed U.K. constitution that goes with the ascendancy notion, has collapsed and is finished. There was a strong whiff of ascendancy rule about Ian Paisley and this whiff lingers with the D.U.P. and as long as this remains there will be Republicans to oppose it. There is also a strong whiff of ascendancy in the mentality of the Orange Order in the clash of communal wills at Garvaghey Road. The British cut the Provisional head off the I.R.A. monster but like the Lernean Hydra of old, the decapitated I.R.A. monster sprouted two new heads, The Real and Continuity I.R.A.
If this horror scenario is to be avoided in the six county state, then the people there will have to think again and anew about their constitutional future. New thinking will need a new party, which should be a united Ireland friendly, and the union and Kingdom friendly party. Such a party can be Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein, which should promote a new concept of a Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain in a National Government of Ireland Act. This Act should synthesise Unionism and Nationalism and in so doing draw up institutions and symbols, in a written constitution, which is acceptable to all, be they Catholic Protestant or Dissenter. In this way a genuinely peaceful united Ireland can be realized within a Federal Kingdom dimension.
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
Reflecting on the Irish problem as I often do, it seems to me that the existence of the protestant ascendancy in Ireland is at the root of this historic problem. The protestant ascendancy in Ireland rose to prominence and power in Ireland at the battle of the Boyne where the protestant King William defeated the catholic King James. In Ireland the protestant minority community became the ruling class as of right and ruled a defeated penalized catholic majority. This convention was retained in the 1801 Act of Union and thereafter the will of the protestant minority was what mattered while the will of the catholic majority was of little consequence.
With the setting up of the Northern Ireland six county statelet whose constitution was the unwritten imposed 1801 constitution, protestant ascendancy rule continued in the six counties and the state was kept constitutionally stable by the suppression of the catholic minority identity. I can recall living in West Belfast prior to the upsurge of the civil rights campaign in a new housing development whose inhabitants were 50/50 catholic/protestant. Relationships in the estate were excellent even though a few Union Jacks appeared on the Twelfth of July at the marching season but a display of the Irish Tricolour couldn’t be considered, as the police wouldn’t tolerate it. Indeed there are those who date the beginning of the troubles to a protestant protest led by Ian Paisley, against the display of an Irish Tricolour in a shop window in the catholic Lower Falls. My reading of the civil Rights Movement is that historically it mounted a challenge to Protestant ascendancy rule in the six counties and had the reforms envisaged by Terence O Neill been implemented with the backing of Ian Paisley there wouldn’t have been violence in the six county state. In later times Ian has made the magnanimous concession that in Northern Ireland Catholics can have anything they want and so they can, provided they don’t want rid of an unwritten imposed undemocratic U.K. constitution and don’t demand a catholic as first minister. However The Civil Rights Movement was hijacked by Republicans and corrupted by Republican violence and atrocity.
While there is now a bogus peace in the six counties since the Assembly was set up yet there remains an under-belly of violent discord in sectarian clashes in the streets of Derry between Catholic and Protestant youths, in the defacing of Orange and G.A.A. halls and in the continued existence of dissident Republican groups, namely the Real and Continuity I.R.A. to say northing of the peace walls in Belfast. Still in this analysis, this violence and discord will persist as long as an imposed unwritten undemocratic constitution remains in place in the six counties. The impact of this constitutional set-up is a clash of wills between the marginal Protestant majority and a significant Catholic minority. This clash of wills is expressed in the painting of kerbstones red, white and blue, and green, white and orange and in the flying of disparate conflicting flags. In this dichotomy the two communities sulk in mutual resentment behind peace walls in Belfast and in Derry in a bogus peace.. In the Assembly defeated Republicans sit in collaboration with a diametrically opposed Party, Right Wing Union Jack Unionism who have still to come to terms with the new reality that the days of the ascendancy are now over, but these are being propped up by Late Sinn Fein who are the arch enemies of and the implacable foes of the Union and are out to destroy it. Late Sinn Fein first used brute force but that effort was defeated; now they resort to political stealth but the destruction of the union remains their sole aim. But Late Sinn Fein must accept the cold reality that the only strategic rout to an all Ireland Republic is by the Protestant minority in Ireland converting en masse to Republicanism, a conversion that will not happen now or never since the central plank of Protestant culture is loyalty to the Crown. That said the Protestant loyalist community must also face the cold reality that since the days of the protestant ascendancy are over, the unwritten imposed U.K. constitution that goes with the ascendancy notion, has collapsed and is finished. There was a strong whiff of ascendancy rule about Ian Paisley and this whiff lingers with the D.U.P. and as long as this remains there will be Republicans to oppose it. There is also a strong whiff of ascendancy in the mentality of the Orange Order in the clash of communal wills at Garvaghey Road. The British cut the Provisional head off the I.R.A. monster but like the Lernean Hydra of old, the decapitated I.R.A. monster sprouted two new heads, The Real and Continuity I.R.A.
If this horror scenario is to be avoided in the six county state, then the people there will have to think again and anew about their constitutional future. New thinking will need a new party, which should be a united Ireland friendly, and the union and Kingdom friendly party. Such a party can be Federal Unionism-Early Sinn Fein, which should promote a new concept of a Federal Kingdom of the Sovereign Nation of Ireland and Great Britain in a National Government of Ireland Act. This Act should synthesise Unionism and Nationalism and in so doing draw up institutions and symbols, in a written constitution, which is acceptable to all, be they Catholic Protestant or Dissenter. In this way a genuinely peaceful united Ireland can be realized within a Federal Kingdom dimension.
Michael Gillespie Federal Unionist-Early Sinn Fein
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