Wolfe Tone’s ideal is still attainable and we could do worse than again look north for inspiration
ON MAY 5th, Assembly elections will be held in Northern Ireland, after which the DUP and Sinn Féin will be returned as, respectively, the largest and second largest parties.
This will allow Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to reclaim their positions as the assembly’s First and Deputy First ministers, which is all that need concern us about the elections. It is of secondary importance that on governance the assembly is largely inept.
When we have progressed far enough on reconciliation, this will naturally assume precedence. For anyone who had begun to take Robinson and McGuinness for granted, Constable Ronan Kerr’s murder was a grim reminder of the vital role the two leaders are playing. The contrast between what they represent and what dissident republicans are offering is stark.
But what of these dissident groups, what is their ultimate vision? Tempting though it is to pretend otherwise, they cannot consist entirely of grudge-bearers, romantic fools, criminal elements and easily-led youngsters. There are surely some activists among them who, as self-professed republicans, have an idea of the kind of all-Ireland polity they want.
Is it maybe their intention, as was ludicrously proposed by their forbears, to unite the island first and then let the people decide? Hardly, since they reject what the people of Ireland as a whole have already decided, which raises the question of whether those who use force to try to overthrow the democratically expressed will of the people can legitimately claim to be republicans at all.
Perhaps the dissidents are best described as extreme nationalists. Still, they are not alone in seeking to unite Ireland without making plans for the other side. This is far from being just an abstract discussion point.
The Belfast Agreement allows for reunification. In the eventuality, disparate people with widely differing loyalties, suddenly thrown together, would require accommodating. Such would be the core changes to societal dynamics, relying on the extension of pre-existing arrangements would be disastrous. The occasional rhetorical flourish from those seeking unity is no substitute for preparedness.
Besides, self-professed republicans haven’t a great record when it comes to matching reality with fancy rhetoric. Every time I see or hear Wolfe Tone’s famous line misquoted (which is often) to give “Catholic” pre-eminence over “Protestant”, it strikes me as a fitting metaphor for the Republic that was created supposedly in line with his ideals. They too were distorted to elevate “Catholic” above everyone else.
A Republic was built, but not on Irish republican principles. Protestants and dissenters were frozen out of teaching, nursing, policing, the Civil Service, and much else besides. Pushed to the margins of society, all but the most tenacious fled north or over the water to Britain.
A Catholic state for a Catholic people was hardly the singular Irish identity that Tone had in mind. It is striking how few of the annual pilgrims to Bodenstown ever thought to publicly challenge this marriage of Church and State, which would have been anathema to the man they were paying homage to. Perhaps they were too fixated with the mote in their Northern neighbour’s eye to notice.
In fairness, moves are now eventually under way to wrest control of education – though not yet control of health – from the Catholic Church, but there remains a fixed, narrow sense of what constitutes a true Irish person.
The land envisaged by Tone is still out there, requiring only courage and conviction to build it. The dissidents can’t manage it, but neither can anyone else who confuses narrow Irish nationalism with Irish republicanism as outlined by its founders. We ignore the possibilities opened up by the Belfast Agreement at our peril. Paradoxically, those interested in uniting Protestant, Catholic and dissenter could do worse than again look northwards, this time for inspiration.