N. Ireland can’t be sold.
With Mary Dejevsky’s article --- Now its time to sell Ulster to the Republic. ---- i t is the silly season in the Belfast Telegraph. The Louisiana Purchase and the purchase of Alaska by America aren’t comparable with the sale of Ulster. Like Gibraltar and the Falklands the territory of N. Ireland is bound up with the deep- seated constitutional beliefs of the inhabitants so Ulster can’t be sold any more than can Gibraltar or the Falklands. If the home of N. Ireland were sold over the heads and heritage of protestant Ireland a disgruntled aggressive protestant minority would be sold down the river into a Republic against their wishes just as a disgruntled aggressive catholic minority were sold down the river into N. Ireland in 1921. IN such a Republic sectarianism and communal conflict would be inbuilt into the state as is now the case in N. Ireland
A more realistic and sensible approach to the resolution of Ireland’s historic problem can be found in the blogs www.sluggerotoole.com---in www.listenderry.org --- and in www.solvingthetheirishproblem.blogspot.com. A further in-depth analysis of the historic problem is given in the trilogy ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHTO BE – and in ---THE RAPE OF VIRGIN MUNCHINDUN---and in SIZE MATTERS (out shortly) available from Amazon where the reform of U.K. Constitution to a Federal Kingdom Constitution in the National Government of Ireland Act will establish a stable unified Ireland constitutionally acceptable to both the Protestants of Derry and to the Catholics of Kerry.
Derry/Londonderry
Friday, 3 September 2010
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Treat the Disease not the Symptoms
TREAT TH E DISEASE NOT THE SYMPTOMS.
COMMENT Page 30 in the Belfast Telegraph July 29 states: -
“The pledge by the first and deputy first ministers to lead to efforts to tear down the walls is a welcome one-----they cannot b e allowed to continue as symbols of a riven society”
In this proposition the symptoms of the sickness of sectarianism are being treated but the root cause of the illness is ignored. Tear down the walls and what does that change? There will still be two conflicting heads of state involved in Ireland, two conflicting national flags being flown, two conflicting national anthems being sung, with two conflicting national pass ports being travelled on. Even if the walls are down the people will skulk in sectarian ghettoes with the kerbstones painted red white and blue in one ghetto and green white and orange in the other. A right wing Protestant Union Jack Unionist First Minister voted in by Protestants and a left wing Catholic Irish tricolour Republican Deputy First Minister voted in by Catholics are in themselves symbols of a sick Irish society riven with sectarianism. COMMENT and the ministers have nothing to say about the tearing down of a sectarian border that scars the face of this island.
If the scars of sectarian walls and a sectarian border are to be removed radical corrective surgery will be necessary not the cosmetic of the G.F.A. Such surgery will require the change of U.K. constitution to a Federal Kingdom constitution to give a healthy non- sectarian written democratic constitution that is as acceptable to all. The procedure for such radical face transplant surgery to the face of Kathleen Ni Houlihan and my Dark Rosaleen is given in the trilogy –The Way Ireland Ought to Be – The Rape of Virgin Munchindun-- and in-- Size Matters (out in September) available from Amazon.
Derry/Londonderry
COMMENT Page 30 in the Belfast Telegraph July 29 states: -
“The pledge by the first and deputy first ministers to lead to efforts to tear down the walls is a welcome one-----they cannot b e allowed to continue as symbols of a riven society”
In this proposition the symptoms of the sickness of sectarianism are being treated but the root cause of the illness is ignored. Tear down the walls and what does that change? There will still be two conflicting heads of state involved in Ireland, two conflicting national flags being flown, two conflicting national anthems being sung, with two conflicting national pass ports being travelled on. Even if the walls are down the people will skulk in sectarian ghettoes with the kerbstones painted red white and blue in one ghetto and green white and orange in the other. A right wing Protestant Union Jack Unionist First Minister voted in by Protestants and a left wing Catholic Irish tricolour Republican Deputy First Minister voted in by Catholics are in themselves symbols of a sick Irish society riven with sectarianism. COMMENT and the ministers have nothing to say about the tearing down of a sectarian border that scars the face of this island.
If the scars of sectarian walls and a sectarian border are to be removed radical corrective surgery will be necessary not the cosmetic of the G.F.A. Such surgery will require the change of U.K. constitution to a Federal Kingdom constitution to give a healthy non- sectarian written democratic constitution that is as acceptable to all. The procedure for such radical face transplant surgery to the face of Kathleen Ni Houlihan and my Dark Rosaleen is given in the trilogy –The Way Ireland Ought to Be – The Rape of Virgin Munchindun-- and in-- Size Matters (out in September) available from Amazon.
Derry/Londonderry
Thursday, 12 August 2010
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL AS SWEET.
What’s in a name? Derry? --- Londonderry?---Which? It has to be conceded that Londonderry is the constitutionally correct name for the city but equally this constitutional name is rejected by the vast majority of the citizens along with U.K. constitution.
This constitutional dichotomy has bedevilled Ireland for centuries. After Republicans made a brute force futile attempt to overthrow the constitution and depose the Crown in ’98 the 1801 Act of union was imposed undemocratically in Ireland. This Union was opposed by O’ Connell who pressed for a return of government to Dublin under the Crown. O’ Connell’s stance would have been acceptable to Butt, Parnell and Griffiths in Early Sinn Fein but another futile brute force Catholic sectarian attempt to overthrow U.K. constitution was made in 1916 which ended in partition. The Provisional I.R.A. made a further Catholic sectarian brute force attempt to overthrow the constitution in the late 20th century but this was defeated. This attempt was laced with atrocity. A Republican constitution wounds the historic cultural psyche of Loyalist Ireland which is loyalty to the Crown so the Crown will have to be a constitutional part of Ireland (all of it).
In this thumb-nail sketch of history the U.K. has been a bone of contention in Ireland for centuries. The sensible intelligent thing to do in the 21st century is to change it to a Federal Kingdom constitution expressed democratically in the written Government of Ireland Act which can be made acceptable to all in Ireland. The ways and means of doing this are spelt out in the trilogy--- The Way Ireland Ought to Be(2007)---The Rape of Virgin Munchindun(2010)---Size Matters(Out in September 2010) available from Amazon.
Derry/Londonderry
What’s in a name? Derry? --- Londonderry?---Which? It has to be conceded that Londonderry is the constitutionally correct name for the city but equally this constitutional name is rejected by the vast majority of the citizens along with U.K. constitution.
This constitutional dichotomy has bedevilled Ireland for centuries. After Republicans made a brute force futile attempt to overthrow the constitution and depose the Crown in ’98 the 1801 Act of union was imposed undemocratically in Ireland. This Union was opposed by O’ Connell who pressed for a return of government to Dublin under the Crown. O’ Connell’s stance would have been acceptable to Butt, Parnell and Griffiths in Early Sinn Fein but another futile brute force Catholic sectarian attempt to overthrow U.K. constitution was made in 1916 which ended in partition. The Provisional I.R.A. made a further Catholic sectarian brute force attempt to overthrow the constitution in the late 20th century but this was defeated. This attempt was laced with atrocity. A Republican constitution wounds the historic cultural psyche of Loyalist Ireland which is loyalty to the Crown so the Crown will have to be a constitutional part of Ireland (all of it).
In this thumb-nail sketch of history the U.K. has been a bone of contention in Ireland for centuries. The sensible intelligent thing to do in the 21st century is to change it to a Federal Kingdom constitution expressed democratically in the written Government of Ireland Act which can be made acceptable to all in Ireland. The ways and means of doing this are spelt out in the trilogy--- The Way Ireland Ought to Be(2007)---The Rape of Virgin Munchindun(2010)---Size Matters(Out in September 2010) available from Amazon.
Derry/Londonderry
Friday, 23 July 2010
Bloody Sunday and a Perceived Constitution
Bloody Sunday, and a Perceived Constitution.
Nothing in this article gainsays the unjust and unjustifiable murder of innocent civilians and the enormity of that crime carried out by the Parachute Regiment in Derry on Bloody Sunday. This article attempts to explore how the U.K. constitution is perceived in Northern Ireland. In what follows perception is used in the dictionary sense of: -
“ The awareness of the external world or some aspect of it through physical sensations and the interpretation of these by the mind.”
The primary and ultimate role of the president of the U.S.A. is to support maintain and defend the constitution ultimately with the army. Apart from 9/11 the American constitution isn’t under threat. Here in N. Ireland the situation is different because the constitution is perceived to be under threat and has to be supported maintained and defended by the British Army and by an armed P.S.N.I.
Protestant Loyalist Ireland perceives Catholic Nationalist Ireland as a constitutional threat and perceives Catholic Nationalist Ireland as ambivalent about U.K. constitution and cannot be trusted. This is nothing new but stretches back in History.
Protestant Loyalist Ireland perceived Home Rule as Rome Rule. Home Rule in the fledgling Free State proved to be Rome Rule. This is evidenced in the Eucharistic Congress 1932 with a triumphant parading of Catholicism in Ireland. There was the enforced resignation of Dr Noel Browne by the Catholic hierarchy over Dr Brown’s mother and child scheme in 1948. There is also the case of Catholic Clergy intolerance of Protestant freedom of conscience of Sheila Cloney in Fethard on Sea over Ne Temere in 1957. In current times there was the turning of the blind eye by Dail Eireann to clerical child abuse in state institutions. So the perception by Protestant Loyalist Ireland that Home Rule would be something other than U.K. constitutional rule wasn’t wide of the mark.
The mistrust of Catholic Nationalists by Protestant Loyalists blighted the Civil Rights Association. Protestants Loyalists perceived the hidden agenda of Nationalists in the C.R.A. was to put them into a hated Republic by stealth. Ian Paisley captured this mistrust by calling the C.R.A. the I.R.A. and this misnomer was not without substance. The initial aims o f John Hume and the C.R.A. was to win equality of citizen ship for Catholics and this aim was laudable and needed. However the C.R.A. was infiltrated by Republicans whose constitutional agenda stretched far beyond the winning of equality for Catholics in N. Ireland to the over throw of the state’s constitution by violence. In Lord Saville’s report ~Republicans were a part of the Bloody Sunday march in the violent presence of Martin Magennis allegedly with a machine gun. So Ian Paisley’s naming of the C.R.A. as the I.R.A. has substance and Loyalist mistrust justified.
In N. Ireland the constitution is ultimately imposed by military might. This was the constitutional role adopted by the Paras on Bloody Sunday. The regiment perceived the marchers as a constitutional threat and a gut reaction of military fire- power followed. That doesn’t condone the murder of innocent people but illustrates the amorality and constitutional degeneracy of the soldiers involved. In this action the Paras drove the constitutional nationalism of John Hume’s C.R.A. off the streets of Derry and drove violent Republicanism onto the streets in strength. In a counter campaign of terror the Provisional I.R.A. attempted to impose a Republic on Loyalist Ireland by brute force and that campaign was as amoral, constitutionally degenerate and futile as was the murderous assault on marchers by the Paras.
U.K. constitution being unwritten relies on the ground on perception for interpretation. What Ireland now needs is a written constitution which goes beyond perception but is interpreted rationally. The written Republican constitution of the 26 counties won’t do as Republicanism is rejected by Loyalist Ireland whose historic psyche is Loyalty to the Crown, the free expression of which is a human right. By the same token the unwritten militarily imposed U.K. constitution is rejected by the vast majority of the people of Ireland. In the thesis put forward in Slugger the rejected U.K. constitution needs to be replaced with a Federal Kingdom Constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act. This is a position central to U.K. constitution and Republicanism. This Act can be made as acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry. The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the Island only the National Government of Ireland Act can unite it.
Protestant Church men have called on the people of Derry to unite but that begs the question ---Unite as what? As Union Jack Unionists? Surely not. As Irish Republicans? No way will they do that. But the people of Derry could unite under the National Government of Ireland Act. That is possible feasible and doable.
Michael Gillespie
Nothing in this article gainsays the unjust and unjustifiable murder of innocent civilians and the enormity of that crime carried out by the Parachute Regiment in Derry on Bloody Sunday. This article attempts to explore how the U.K. constitution is perceived in Northern Ireland. In what follows perception is used in the dictionary sense of: -
“ The awareness of the external world or some aspect of it through physical sensations and the interpretation of these by the mind.”
The primary and ultimate role of the president of the U.S.A. is to support maintain and defend the constitution ultimately with the army. Apart from 9/11 the American constitution isn’t under threat. Here in N. Ireland the situation is different because the constitution is perceived to be under threat and has to be supported maintained and defended by the British Army and by an armed P.S.N.I.
Protestant Loyalist Ireland perceives Catholic Nationalist Ireland as a constitutional threat and perceives Catholic Nationalist Ireland as ambivalent about U.K. constitution and cannot be trusted. This is nothing new but stretches back in History.
Protestant Loyalist Ireland perceived Home Rule as Rome Rule. Home Rule in the fledgling Free State proved to be Rome Rule. This is evidenced in the Eucharistic Congress 1932 with a triumphant parading of Catholicism in Ireland. There was the enforced resignation of Dr Noel Browne by the Catholic hierarchy over Dr Brown’s mother and child scheme in 1948. There is also the case of Catholic Clergy intolerance of Protestant freedom of conscience of Sheila Cloney in Fethard on Sea over Ne Temere in 1957. In current times there was the turning of the blind eye by Dail Eireann to clerical child abuse in state institutions. So the perception by Protestant Loyalist Ireland that Home Rule would be something other than U.K. constitutional rule wasn’t wide of the mark.
The mistrust of Catholic Nationalists by Protestant Loyalists blighted the Civil Rights Association. Protestants Loyalists perceived the hidden agenda of Nationalists in the C.R.A. was to put them into a hated Republic by stealth. Ian Paisley captured this mistrust by calling the C.R.A. the I.R.A. and this misnomer was not without substance. The initial aims o f John Hume and the C.R.A. was to win equality of citizen ship for Catholics and this aim was laudable and needed. However the C.R.A. was infiltrated by Republicans whose constitutional agenda stretched far beyond the winning of equality for Catholics in N. Ireland to the over throw of the state’s constitution by violence. In Lord Saville’s report ~Republicans were a part of the Bloody Sunday march in the violent presence of Martin Magennis allegedly with a machine gun. So Ian Paisley’s naming of the C.R.A. as the I.R.A. has substance and Loyalist mistrust justified.
In N. Ireland the constitution is ultimately imposed by military might. This was the constitutional role adopted by the Paras on Bloody Sunday. The regiment perceived the marchers as a constitutional threat and a gut reaction of military fire- power followed. That doesn’t condone the murder of innocent people but illustrates the amorality and constitutional degeneracy of the soldiers involved. In this action the Paras drove the constitutional nationalism of John Hume’s C.R.A. off the streets of Derry and drove violent Republicanism onto the streets in strength. In a counter campaign of terror the Provisional I.R.A. attempted to impose a Republic on Loyalist Ireland by brute force and that campaign was as amoral, constitutionally degenerate and futile as was the murderous assault on marchers by the Paras.
U.K. constitution being unwritten relies on the ground on perception for interpretation. What Ireland now needs is a written constitution which goes beyond perception but is interpreted rationally. The written Republican constitution of the 26 counties won’t do as Republicanism is rejected by Loyalist Ireland whose historic psyche is Loyalty to the Crown, the free expression of which is a human right. By the same token the unwritten militarily imposed U.K. constitution is rejected by the vast majority of the people of Ireland. In the thesis put forward in Slugger the rejected U.K. constitution needs to be replaced with a Federal Kingdom Constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act. This is a position central to U.K. constitution and Republicanism. This Act can be made as acceptable to the Catholics of Kerry as to the Protestants of Derry. The Government of Ireland Act partitioned the Island only the National Government of Ireland Act can unite it.
Protestant Church men have called on the people of Derry to unite but that begs the question ---Unite as what? As Union Jack Unionists? Surely not. As Irish Republicans? No way will they do that. But the people of Derry could unite under the National Government of Ireland Act. That is possible feasible and doable.
Michael Gillespie
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
The Pitfall of a Dual Identity
The Pit-fall of a Dual Identity.
The Reverend Stanley Gamble at the Orange demonstrations in Rossnowlagh in Donegal has called for a dual British/Irish identity to be recognised in the Republic just as a dual British/Irish identity is recognised in N. Ireland.
What the Reverend Gamble fails to understand is that the dual British/Irish identity in N. Ireland is a prime factor in the instability of the N. Ireland state and its proclivity to violence. A stable peaceful state should have only one citizen identity. In the United States of America the melting pot ensures that there is only one identity –American. It’s true there are Irish Americans, Italian American etc but when the chips are down these groups are first and foremost American who accept and abide by the American constitution. In N. Ireland one identity of citizens accept the constitution while another group rejects it. In such a socio- constitutional set up violence is the outcome as is obvious in recent rioting in Belfast.
In Great Britain there ought to be one identity i.e. British. If however a new wave immigrant population insists on retaining a different Moslem/Arab identity, inter- communal strife will be the future in Britain just as inter-communal strife has been the past and present in N. Ireland. The Republic would be well advised to retain a single Irish Identity and the Reverend Gamble should think again.
Derry/Londonderry
The Reverend Stanley Gamble at the Orange demonstrations in Rossnowlagh in Donegal has called for a dual British/Irish identity to be recognised in the Republic just as a dual British/Irish identity is recognised in N. Ireland.
What the Reverend Gamble fails to understand is that the dual British/Irish identity in N. Ireland is a prime factor in the instability of the N. Ireland state and its proclivity to violence. A stable peaceful state should have only one citizen identity. In the United States of America the melting pot ensures that there is only one identity –American. It’s true there are Irish Americans, Italian American etc but when the chips are down these groups are first and foremost American who accept and abide by the American constitution. In N. Ireland one identity of citizens accept the constitution while another group rejects it. In such a socio- constitutional set up violence is the outcome as is obvious in recent rioting in Belfast.
In Great Britain there ought to be one identity i.e. British. If however a new wave immigrant population insists on retaining a different Moslem/Arab identity, inter- communal strife will be the future in Britain just as inter-communal strife has been the past and present in N. Ireland. The Republic would be well advised to retain a single Irish Identity and the Reverend Gamble should think again.
Derry/Londonderry
Saturday, 17 July 2010
How Free is Free Derry?
How Free is Free Derry?
The statement --- You are now entering free Derry—came into existence with the violent disturbances in the Bogside in the late sixties. Protestant Derry in the Fountain and Waterside don’t identify with the statement so it has a sectarian connotation. The statement could mean that British/Unionist rule is at an end in Derry but it is indubitable that British/Unionist rule still holds in Derry as is clear in the title of the city ---Derry U.K. city of culture.
The statement throws up the question what does “Free Derry” really mean? In the novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- ( Amazon Books) freedom is examined in depth. In this analysis freedom is classified as: -
(a) Individual Freedom
(b) State Freedom
Freedom in the Bogside statement is really about individual freedom. Individual freedom consists of a hierarchy of freedoms: -
(1) Freedom from—such as freedom from unemployment poverty and ignorance et al.
(2) Freedom to become—in this sense the individual is free to become what the individual aspires to become according to age ability and aptitude. This freedom implies the individual has the right of access to an education of excellence.
(3) Freedom to be --- This freedom is realized when the individual is free to be that which the person has aspired to be. This implies the individual lives in a state that is economically strong with a multiplicity of job opportunities for the person.
In a free Derry in the Bogside or Fountain or in a free Falls Road in Belfast or in a free Shankill or Sandy Row in Belfast does these criteria of freedom hold? Certainly not. There is the tyranny of unemployment, poverty and low standards of educational attainment in an economy that is weak in the private wealth creating sector and top heavy in the non-productive public sector.
The Protestant Orange tradition in Ireland has its own sense of freedom bound up with a U.K. constitution. This tradition takes as freedom the right to maintain and impose the U.K. constitution by publicly posturing on the 12th of July through Catholic districts where a U.K. constitution is rejected. In this way a disputed U.K. is rammed by Orangemen along with an armed P.S.N.I. down the throats of those who object. Hence the recent riots in Belfast. However in this the Orange Order has the human right in state freedom to freely express loyalty to the Crown. This human right and state freedom of expression would be suppressed in a Republic of Ireland. For this reason the Orange Order is implacably opposed to a united Ireland. Recognising the free expression of this human right of loyalty to the Crown in Ireland, the Crown would have to be a part of a united Ireland.
It is recognised that U.K. constitution is rejected by the vast majority in Ireland but the state freedom to express Loyalty to the Crown is retained by a significant minority. To make Ireland a truly free democratic country will entail the reform of U.K. constitution in The National Government of Ireland Act to set up[U1] a Federal Kingdom for the Isles of the North Atlantic in which the state freedom of the expression of loyalty to the Crown would be recognised. The nuts and bolts of doing this are given in the Novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- (Amazon Books). If free Derry is to become truly free it will have to be freed from the shackles of unemployment, poverty and educational under achievement. This will require economic growth and extensive wealth creation throughout Ireland. This is freedom in its true sense and this true sense of freedom is missing in the working class Bogside, the Fountain and in working class inner city districts of Belfast. This true freedom can only be attained in an all Ireland setting with a constitution for all in the National Government of Ireland Act giving unity in a Federal Kingdom context.
Michael Gillespie
[U1]A Federtal
The statement --- You are now entering free Derry—came into existence with the violent disturbances in the Bogside in the late sixties. Protestant Derry in the Fountain and Waterside don’t identify with the statement so it has a sectarian connotation. The statement could mean that British/Unionist rule is at an end in Derry but it is indubitable that British/Unionist rule still holds in Derry as is clear in the title of the city ---Derry U.K. city of culture.
The statement throws up the question what does “Free Derry” really mean? In the novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- ( Amazon Books) freedom is examined in depth. In this analysis freedom is classified as: -
(a) Individual Freedom
(b) State Freedom
Freedom in the Bogside statement is really about individual freedom. Individual freedom consists of a hierarchy of freedoms: -
(1) Freedom from—such as freedom from unemployment poverty and ignorance et al.
(2) Freedom to become—in this sense the individual is free to become what the individual aspires to become according to age ability and aptitude. This freedom implies the individual has the right of access to an education of excellence.
(3) Freedom to be --- This freedom is realized when the individual is free to be that which the person has aspired to be. This implies the individual lives in a state that is economically strong with a multiplicity of job opportunities for the person.
In a free Derry in the Bogside or Fountain or in a free Falls Road in Belfast or in a free Shankill or Sandy Row in Belfast does these criteria of freedom hold? Certainly not. There is the tyranny of unemployment, poverty and low standards of educational attainment in an economy that is weak in the private wealth creating sector and top heavy in the non-productive public sector.
The Protestant Orange tradition in Ireland has its own sense of freedom bound up with a U.K. constitution. This tradition takes as freedom the right to maintain and impose the U.K. constitution by publicly posturing on the 12th of July through Catholic districts where a U.K. constitution is rejected. In this way a disputed U.K. is rammed by Orangemen along with an armed P.S.N.I. down the throats of those who object. Hence the recent riots in Belfast. However in this the Orange Order has the human right in state freedom to freely express loyalty to the Crown. This human right and state freedom of expression would be suppressed in a Republic of Ireland. For this reason the Orange Order is implacably opposed to a united Ireland. Recognising the free expression of this human right of loyalty to the Crown in Ireland, the Crown would have to be a part of a united Ireland.
It is recognised that U.K. constitution is rejected by the vast majority in Ireland but the state freedom to express Loyalty to the Crown is retained by a significant minority. To make Ireland a truly free democratic country will entail the reform of U.K. constitution in The National Government of Ireland Act to set up[U1] a Federal Kingdom for the Isles of the North Atlantic in which the state freedom of the expression of loyalty to the Crown would be recognised. The nuts and bolts of doing this are given in the Novel ---THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE--- (Amazon Books). If free Derry is to become truly free it will have to be freed from the shackles of unemployment, poverty and educational under achievement. This will require economic growth and extensive wealth creation throughout Ireland. This is freedom in its true sense and this true sense of freedom is missing in the working class Bogside, the Fountain and in working class inner city districts of Belfast. This true freedom can only be attained in an all Ireland setting with a constitution for all in the National Government of Ireland Act giving unity in a Federal Kingdom context.
Michael Gillespie
[U1]A Federtal
Thursday, 15 July 2010
When Will the Queen Visit U.K. Derry
When will the Queen visit the U.K. Bogside and the U.K.Falls Road?.
Since it is in order to call Derry the U. K. city it should also be in order to call the Bogside the U. K. Bogside and the Falls in Belfast the U.K. Falls. What brings this to mind is the proposed visit of the Queen to Dublin. It would be generally agreed that the Bogside and the Falls are no-go areas for a Royal visit and a heavy bitter history underlies that. In the early 20th century the relationship between the Crown and Ireland became ruptured. This rupture is aptly put in the ballad Kevin Barry: -
Another martyr for old Ireland
Another murder for the Crown
Whose cruel laws can kill the Irish
But cannot keep their spirit down
If the Queen’s visit is to repair the rupture and re-establish a new, close, permanent, working relationship between the Crown and the Irish that would be to the benefit of both but the visit could be about something else.
According to the Taoiseach the visit is to normalise an harmonious relationship between the two countries but that begs the question what exactly is being normalised. First of all a sectarian border is being normalized and with the Queen’s visit this sectarian border will be given the royal assent. Secondly the sectarian ghettoes in the 6 counties are being normalised and a Royal visit to Dublin will do nothing to eradicate this scandal but will perpetuate it. Thirdly the Royal visit will give the Royal assent to the constitutional mess the country is in. Two Heads of state in Ireland will be the established norm as will two conflicting national flags, two conflicting national anthems, along with two conflicting national passports. All of that will be reinforced by the Queen’s visit to Dublin and[U1] that reinforcement is perfectly acceptable to and condoned by a partitionist Dail Eireann, a Partitionist Westminster, a partitionist Irish President and now joining the partitionist ranks is a partitionist Queen.
Before the Queen visits Republican Dublin she should first visit the no-go areas in her own constitutionally dysfunctional disunited Kingdom in Northern Ireland. To date the Queen hasn’t made a Royal visit to the Bogside the Falls or Crossmaglen nor is it likely she will ever do so. It is hard to envisage the Queen doing a walk about in these districts with Martin Magennis waving a Union Jack and Martina Anderson presenting a red white and blue posy with a dutiful curtsy while Gerry Adams Peter Robinson Reg Empey and David Ford croon –God Save Our Queen—in four part harmony. But all of that is the real constitutional difficulty in Northern Ireland and Dublin and Westminster have washed their hands of that and now operate on the fallacy of a bogus G.F.A. constitutional settlement that cements sectarian division in Ireland and doesn’t bring peace.
While Dail Eireann Westminster the Irish President and now the Queen may be content to live with the constitutional mess Ireland is in, there must be those who see the mess as objectionable. Dr Hamilton has expressed concern about sectarianism but he sees the eradication of this as taking place in a U.K. constitutional frame work in N. Ireland. Archbishop Eames is of a similar outlook as is the Belfast Telegraph.. These people fail to realise that the border on the island is due to a sectarian mentality in Ireland North and South and if sectarianism is eradicated the border will be eradicated with it. To effectively combat sectarianism in Ireland it will have to be dealt with on an all Ireland basis since there is a sectarian mentality throughout Ireland. For those who are genuinely concerned about the eradication of this social disease an all Ireland approach is needed such as-- The National Government of Ireland Act---to give a written constitution for a Federal Kingdom. This Act is given in detail in the novel published by Authorhouse titled--- The Way Ireland Ought To Be and is available from Amazon Books In this approach the Crown would be constitutionally involved in a united all Ireland and would be constitutional Head of State of the Isles of the North Atlantic. If the visit of the Queen to Dublin were to be a step in that direction that would be welcome but if her visit is to ratify a sectarian border in Ireland Her Majesty would be well advised to stay put in Buckingham Palace and not become involved in Dublin in the historic constitutional mess Ireland is in. In the 21st century the rupture that happened between the Crown and the Irish in the early 20th century is repairable in a Federal Kingdom expressed in a written National Government of Ireland Act. The rupture repaired, Irish unity will follow. Why not do that?
Michael Gillespie
[U1]this
Since it is in order to call Derry the U. K. city it should also be in order to call the Bogside the U. K. Bogside and the Falls in Belfast the U.K. Falls. What brings this to mind is the proposed visit of the Queen to Dublin. It would be generally agreed that the Bogside and the Falls are no-go areas for a Royal visit and a heavy bitter history underlies that. In the early 20th century the relationship between the Crown and Ireland became ruptured. This rupture is aptly put in the ballad Kevin Barry: -
Another martyr for old Ireland
Another murder for the Crown
Whose cruel laws can kill the Irish
But cannot keep their spirit down
If the Queen’s visit is to repair the rupture and re-establish a new, close, permanent, working relationship between the Crown and the Irish that would be to the benefit of both but the visit could be about something else.
According to the Taoiseach the visit is to normalise an harmonious relationship between the two countries but that begs the question what exactly is being normalised. First of all a sectarian border is being normalized and with the Queen’s visit this sectarian border will be given the royal assent. Secondly the sectarian ghettoes in the 6 counties are being normalised and a Royal visit to Dublin will do nothing to eradicate this scandal but will perpetuate it. Thirdly the Royal visit will give the Royal assent to the constitutional mess the country is in. Two Heads of state in Ireland will be the established norm as will two conflicting national flags, two conflicting national anthems, along with two conflicting national passports. All of that will be reinforced by the Queen’s visit to Dublin and[U1] that reinforcement is perfectly acceptable to and condoned by a partitionist Dail Eireann, a Partitionist Westminster, a partitionist Irish President and now joining the partitionist ranks is a partitionist Queen.
Before the Queen visits Republican Dublin she should first visit the no-go areas in her own constitutionally dysfunctional disunited Kingdom in Northern Ireland. To date the Queen hasn’t made a Royal visit to the Bogside the Falls or Crossmaglen nor is it likely she will ever do so. It is hard to envisage the Queen doing a walk about in these districts with Martin Magennis waving a Union Jack and Martina Anderson presenting a red white and blue posy with a dutiful curtsy while Gerry Adams Peter Robinson Reg Empey and David Ford croon –God Save Our Queen—in four part harmony. But all of that is the real constitutional difficulty in Northern Ireland and Dublin and Westminster have washed their hands of that and now operate on the fallacy of a bogus G.F.A. constitutional settlement that cements sectarian division in Ireland and doesn’t bring peace.
While Dail Eireann Westminster the Irish President and now the Queen may be content to live with the constitutional mess Ireland is in, there must be those who see the mess as objectionable. Dr Hamilton has expressed concern about sectarianism but he sees the eradication of this as taking place in a U.K. constitutional frame work in N. Ireland. Archbishop Eames is of a similar outlook as is the Belfast Telegraph.. These people fail to realise that the border on the island is due to a sectarian mentality in Ireland North and South and if sectarianism is eradicated the border will be eradicated with it. To effectively combat sectarianism in Ireland it will have to be dealt with on an all Ireland basis since there is a sectarian mentality throughout Ireland. For those who are genuinely concerned about the eradication of this social disease an all Ireland approach is needed such as-- The National Government of Ireland Act---to give a written constitution for a Federal Kingdom. This Act is given in detail in the novel published by Authorhouse titled--- The Way Ireland Ought To Be and is available from Amazon Books In this approach the Crown would be constitutionally involved in a united all Ireland and would be constitutional Head of State of the Isles of the North Atlantic. If the visit of the Queen to Dublin were to be a step in that direction that would be welcome but if her visit is to ratify a sectarian border in Ireland Her Majesty would be well advised to stay put in Buckingham Palace and not become involved in Dublin in the historic constitutional mess Ireland is in. In the 21st century the rupture that happened between the Crown and the Irish in the early 20th century is repairable in a Federal Kingdom expressed in a written National Government of Ireland Act. The rupture repaired, Irish unity will follow. Why not do that?
Michael Gillespie
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