The Queen in Northern Ireland - No Cause for Alarm

Today is the day that HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh will visit Northern Ireland as part of the U.K.-wide Diamond Jubilee tour. That, in itself, is rather newsworthy as previous royal visits to Northern Ireland were never announced ahead of time for fear that republican terrorists would launch an attack on the Royal Family. It says a great deal about the peace of that region that this is now being done. What really made the headlines, of course, was that the Queen would meet with, even for just a moment, with Martin McGuinness, a leader of Sinn Fein, deputy first minister of the power-sharing government of Northern Ireland and a former member of the Irish Republican Army. This weighs heavily particularly in light of the murder of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma in a bombing by the Provisional IRA in 1979. Last year when HM the Queen visited the Republic of Ireland in a historic state visit the leadership of Sinn Fein (long regarded as the political arm of the IRA) said no to any meeting with the British monarch by any of their members because, in their words, it was still too soon since the infamous “Troubles” which shook the British Isles decades ago.

The decision was taken, apparently, by Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams who said, “it’s good for Ireland” and added that it will cause difficulties with his own members, at least the most staunchly republican among them. The context of this is a charitable meeting with members of Co-operation Ireland which fosters a coming together between the Catholic and Protestant communities which McGuinness will attend and which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be visiting. Nothing earth-shattering in and of itself but even a momentary meeting of just a few seconds in a place still so sensitive and where so many hard feelings still remain it is extremely symbolic. Yet, because of this atmosphere and the way in which such extreme sensitivity prevails, it can be easy to overlook just how things have developed since the Good Friday Agreement and the ensuing peace. When one considers the basic facts, one can only view this as something of a triumph for the United Kingdom over those who have challenged the sovereignty of the Queen over Northern Ireland.

When Irish independence became a real possibility and later, for the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) a reality all of the major Irish parties asserted their support for the unity of the entire island of Ireland and an end to the partition. This was not forthcoming and the IRA began their guerilla campaign against the British and Protestant-Unionist forces in Northern Ireland in an effort to force the British out of Northern Ireland and unite the counties with the Republic of Ireland. They consistently refused to recognize the sovereignty of the Queen over Northern Ireland and those who were captured by British authorities claimed to be political prisoners rather than common criminals or terrorists (as of course they were held to be in London). Yet, since that time, the Republic of Ireland has made no effort to reclaim the north and has accepted partition in fact if not always in name. The IRA at last agreed to lay down their arms and Sinn Fein now sits in a coalition government with the Unionists to administer Northern Ireland under the British Crown. The public has shown itself to be tired of conflict and ready to accept things as they are to go on with their lives in peace and no longer regard their disagreements or their situation as worth fighting about.

In short, the United Kingdom won and the Irish republicans lost, whether they are inclined to admit it or not. British sovereignty over Northern Ireland was challenged, that challenge was defeated, those opposing it have, in their deeds if not their words, accepted the “rule” of the Queen over Northern Ireland and while Sinn Fein was given a cold shoulder when they stood for election in the Republic of Ireland, Protestant firebrand Ian Paisley was given a seat in the House of Lords by former British Prime Minister Gordon (is alive) Brown. The Republic of Ireland accepts British sovereignty over Northern Ireland as do the majority of Catholics in Northern Ireland now, even though they might not be enthusiastic about, they are not willing to challenge it. Of course, some still make trouble as some probably always will but these IRA fringe groups are few and far between with virtually no popular support behind them and whose actions are denounced by both Catholic and Protestant communities in Ulster.

As soon as the news of this brief meeting (and even “meeting” is probably too strong a word, for the most part they will simply be in the same room for a few minutes) I have seen a great deal of British outrage over it. There may be just as much Irish republican outrage but I have not heard it (we do tend to move in rather different circles as they say). However, while I understand why anyone would be upset that the Queen would ever come into contact with someone who was ever in the IRA, I would like to tell all loyal Britons to just take a deep breath, relax and don’t get all worked up over this. It’s really not that important and Britons, and the whole Unionist-Protestant crowd, have the least reason to be upset over any of this since, as we have seen, they have relatively little to be upset about. If I could say anything to the British who are upset over this it would be simply, “Relax! You’ve won!” Northern Ireland is still under the British Crown, it is not part of the Republic of Ireland and even Dublin doesn’t really want it to be and even Sinn Fein have, by their actions, accepted British sovereignty over Northern Ireland and (in fact if not in name) recognized the authority of HM the Queen over Northern Ireland. There’s no real reason for Britain or Ulster loyalists to be upset about this. The Irish republicans have more cause to be upset (they lost their fight) but even most of them, it seems, have exhausted their reserves of anger and have just accepted the situation as it is. The fact that this meeting can happen only goes to show how Irish partition is a non-issue for the vast majority of people in both countries. The Crown was challenged and the Crown prevailed.

News Flash: Gerry Adams Against Monarchy

In the British Isles some slight dust up has been made concerning the Thursday-Friday visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II to Northern Ireland, her eighteenth such visit. Obviously that is nothing all that unusual but there had also been speculation that Her Majesty might cross the border to visit Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. That would be a bit unprecedented as no reigning British monarch has set foot in the Irish republic since the end of British rule. Not surprisingly Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is against the idea, calling it “premature”. Pointing to a lack of delivery on the part of the peace process and a lack of real reconciliation and harmony in Northern Ireland Adams thinks this is the wrong time for a royal visit to Dublin. My favorite part was when Adams said, “I’m saying none of this to be provocative to unionist sensitivities [which means he is about to seriously provoke unionist sensitivities]. But I am not a supporter of any monarchy. It’s just a concept beyond me.” I may have to check again but does not Mr. Adams at least claim to be a Roman Catholic? Surely then there should be at least *one* monarchy he should be a supporter of.

However, to give Gerry his due he did go on to hit on the real crux of the issue saying, “This island is partitioned and despite all the advances that have been made, the English still claim sovereignty in this part of it [he was speaking in Belfast], so I wouldn’t make the English queen welcome at any point until that is resolved in any part of the island”. All of that is perfectly true and one reason why I never held out much hope for the current peace process as a long-term solution because nothing at all has been resolved. Clear away all the clutter and the fact of the matter is that so long as the north remains a part of the United Kingdom the nationalists will not be satisfied (and even then some will not) and the unionists will never agree to anything that separates them from Great Britain -so there you are. I can only marvel at the fact that Gerry Adams and company do not yet realize or do not admit that the Queen is not the problem and nothing to do with the difficulties the Irish face. She is not or should not be seen as his enemy.

Who might that be then? Forget the Queen Gerry, forget London. Your enemies are the unionists (no big surprise there) and more importantly Dublin. Most of the British people (and for quite some time now) would like nothing better than to be shed of the problem that is Northern Ireland. England ruled Ireland longer than any other country, that era is over, Ireland is independent, it’s done and dusted and the British people have, for the most part, moved on. They would like to wash their hands of the matter, having pretty much given up entirely on the whole idea of what was the British Empire (just as they would like to wash their hands of Gibraltar and some other possessions) but the unionists will not allow it and London will not force the issue. Now, I say Dublin is a problem, perhaps even the biggest problem, for Irish nationalists because they have been pushing a campaign of dishonesty for a very long time. In public all the major parties say they stand for a united Ireland yet they are not prepared to do anything about it and, when not in public, do not really want the problem that is Northern Ireland dumped in their lap.

After all, the Republic of Ireland could take advantage of some incident (they happen often enough) and just invade Ulster and annex the place. Does anyone seriously believe that the British would fight them for it? Does anyone seriously believe that the international community would let them fight for it if they wanted to? After all, the British government has openly admitted now that when it comes to military action they can no longer operate independently. However, Dublin does not really want Northern Ireland no matter what their official public line is. Because, if the Republic of Ireland finally achieved national unity they would find the tables turned on them. Unionist militants go positively fanatic and instead of the British government having an IRA problem the Irish government would inherit a UDA problem. In short, Gerry Adams, misguided though he is, has said at least one thing right. True harmony and reconciliation remains elusive in Northern Ireland and that does not seem likely to change. Right now the problem belongs to Britain and, despite what they may claim, Dublin is perfectly fine with it remaining their problem.

*Additional Note* Gerry Adams should perhaps study the history of his own party before speaking so slightingly of monarchy. Though few today would guess it, Sinn Fein was actually founded as a monarchist party. Their original platform was independence from Britain but within a dual-monarchy under a shared crown along the lines of Austria-Hungary. Not that a socialist republican would care much about history...

Funny News from Northern Ireland

I was recently informed that, after so many decades in power, some are talking that it may be time for Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to step down. What?! Are they kidding? Surely this must be a joke. Why should Adams even think of turning in his resignation? Look at all he has done for Sinn Fein since taking over: Ireland is not one step closer to unification than it was when the partition was first agreed upon, Northern Ireland is still part of the U.K. and under the sovereignty of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Adams has defacto recognized British sovereignty by taking part in the power-sharing government and does not seem to have any more desire to push for reunification than the politicians in Dublin (which is 'zero' desire), that basic situation is not about to change anytime in the foreseeable future and Sinn Fein has lost the last of the few seats they held in the south. Heck, now that I think about it, with a record like that, if he does get turned out by Sinn Fein he could probably fit right in with the DUP!