From Dublin, the six counties look ‘unnaturally sundered’ – British ambassador

A valedictory despatch from Sir Nicholas Fenn, outgoing British ambassador to Ireland, on his five-year experience of Irish affairs caused a stir in British government circles in 1991, according to declassified files released today in Belfast.

In his final despatch to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London, dated August 12ath, 1991, Sir Nicholas, using the pseudonym “G D Fergusson”, revealed that, on his arrival in Dublin, he had been struck by “the naturalness . . . of the moderate Nationalist position, as I had previously been struck by the naturalness in Belfast of the moderate Unionist position’. (Fenn makes clear he was a regular visitor to Belfast during his tenure in Dublin.)

Of Northern unionism, he wrote: “Most Unionists are not exotic Protestant fundamentalists . . . Much of their heightened sense of identity with the symbols of nationhood is attributable to the many years during which vigorous attempts have been made to sever them from their natural identity ...” However, Fenn noted, “Among the great majority of apolitical unionists ... Northern Ireland is now seen as natural a unit as many identified by man-made frontiers . . .”

He admitted, however, that “seen from Dublin, the ‘missing’ six counties do look unnaturally sundered. The twenty six counties do not constitute a satisfying map [with] an oddly-hinged County Donegal flapping about at the top . . . And the sense of nationalism here is heightened by past persecution and the history of struggle . . .”

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The diplomat added: “Combine all this with a still astonishing lack of knowledge of the two parts of Ireland about the other, and it is not surprising that each group’s motives and objectives are misunderstood.”

Turning to east-west relationships, Fenn felt that, despite their ignorance of Northern unionists, the South had a wide understanding of Britain: “We are not seen as foreign, even by Irish people who don’t like us . . .”

On British attitudes to Ireland, he asserted: “It has been sobering seeing British ignorance and prejudice from the Irish end of the telescope”, particularly the “offensive” treatment of “the Irish” in the British press. In his view, “the simultaneous bitterness and friendly warmth in our relationship are closely reminiscent of a family feud” where each side defends the other against outsiders. However, he cautioned: “. . . we do ourselves harm when we pander to the Irish assumption that we do not believe, deep down, that we ever let the Free State/Republic become truly independent”, as in the wartime British declarations that “Eire had no right to be neutral”.

To encourage a wider perspective, Fenn proposed that embassy staff in Dublin should spend some days in Northern Ireland in order to give them a feel for the region. This, he believed, would help to foster North/South links.

Fenn’s memo drew a warm response from the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Brooke who shared his view of the importance of promoting a more realistic understanding of the Northern Ireland problem in the Republic. Brooke endorsed his view that they should be seeking to develop a more “normal” relationship with the Republic in areas of common interest. “One such, in the longer term, seems certainly the European Community”. In conclusion, Brooke felt that “the practical effects of the Republic’s policies is to isolate the North from the South” whereas taoiseach Charles Haughey’s professed aim of unity required the opposite approach.