IN the 1960s, John Hume declared: “The civil rights movement in the United States was about the same thing [as the Irish Civil Rights movement], about equality of treatment for all sections of the people, and that is precisely what our movement was about.”
Later in the 1990s Hume drove the point home: “We are living in a post-nationalist age,” he told us. As far as he was concerned, Irish reunification was, if anything, a distraction from more important business.
How things change. Fast forward to today, and the party he once led is falling over itself to present a document titled ‘Success by Design: Preparing for a New Ireland’. In it, the SDLP point to ‘frictions’ between North and South which are impeding the benefits that an all-Ireland economy would bring. It says that the perpetual focus on the annual British subvention – which unionists claim is around £10 billion and many nationalist say is nearer £4 billion – is a mistake and assumes the subvention is a permanent fixture, which, they imply, it’s not. “That’s why the SDLP has brought forward serious proposals around a ministry for a new Ireland in the Irish Government and an economic vision that allows us to take those important next steps.”
Stirring stuff, and clearly very different from John Hume’s civil rights focus.
So should we rejoice that the SDLP is now leading the way in planning for a reunited Ireland? Well, yes and no.
To be blunt, this all sounds like commendable virtue-signalling – telling the world that the SDLP has its eye on a reunited Ireland and here are some of the areas that need addressing. There’s a lot to be said for virtue-signalling, but practicality isn’t one of its merits.
Take the idea of a Ministry for Unification in the Southern government. No nationalist could possibly quarrel with the (not-very-original) idea, but unfortunately it doesn’t tell us how and when such a Ministry would be set up and what exactly it should do and by what date.
There are some Northern republicans who have for some time been aware that opposition to a united Ireland could well be greater in the South than in the North. Why? Because establishing such a Ministry and making sure it was effective would be like the Taoiseach calling for a revolver so he could play Russian roulette. The Dublin government is keenly aware that if there were a reunited Ireland, it would shatter the present set-up in the Dail; the Fianna Fail-Fine Gael axis of power, over 100 years old, would come to a permanent end. That’s because hundreds of thousands of voters from the North would smash the century-long Fine Gael-Fianna Fail grip on power. If you like irony, remember that Fianna Fail’s full titile is ‘Fianna Fail: The Republican Party’. Few people feel so strongly about something that they’re willing to arrange for the demolition of their cosily-insulated family home for it.
Over the past five years, a lot of ink has been spilt on the topic of Irish reunification. There’s been ‘A Shared Ireland: A Hundred Years of Agreement’ by Micheál Martin; ‘The Economic Case for Irish Unity’ by Ireland’s Future; and ‘Testing the Temperature: What Do People in Northern Ireland Think About a United Ireland?’ by Lucid Talk.
Publications like these probe around the edges of possible future unity, in some cases arguing for the importance of reconciliation before the creation of a united country.
Give me a break. Forget the stirring calls for unity in infrastructure, health, education, blah blah blahty blah. It’s past time we moved from these bland generalities and started putting meat on the bone. Forget about scoping the advantages of unity, focus on what needs to be done, by whom, by what date. If we fail to provide solid structures for reunification, we will simply be kicking not a can but our country’s future down the road.
Time to cut the crap, guys.
