The missing element in the peace process is truth and reconciliation.
It is undeniable that Sinn Fein have been making just about all of the effort in this regard. Can anyone say with any degree of modicum that the leadership of unionism have made even the remotest effort to reconcile with the rest of this island?
Unionism remains totally and absolutely intransigent to the idea of Irish unity or the fact that northern Ireland remains and always will be a part of Ireland.
Do they think that by insulting us, denying us an Irish language act or obstructing any moves to embrace that connection we will suddenly give up on our desire for Ireland to be a 32 county independent and sovereign nation?
Even now with the prospect of brexit leaving us with a potential economic catastrophe, they still refuse to contemplate the thought of unification to guarantee economic stability and reject outright the offer of discussing these issues in a forum as suggested by our Taoiseach.
What this means is our first minister is putting the union with Britain above the interests of our people. Sure, this attitude will put nationalists off voting for the Stormont assembly, it will create division within the nationalist community over how much we are prepared to tolerate with some more frustrated than others – but is that what they want?
We have more and more people in the south now who would understandably be happy to build a wall around the border and get rid of us all for good.
I have in the past said here that we should be tolerant towards unionism, their flag burning and irrational need to have the union flag on every building every moment of the year but now I see that we simply cannot afford to tolerate this attitude any longer.
How can we expect there to be support for unification in the south while Stormont is led by yahoos who encourage bigotry in their words and actions, who support the building of huge infernos next to people’s homes so they can burn Irish flags, symbols and effigies as a blatant display of sectarianism?
The number of nationalists prepared to vote for such a farce is going to continue to decline. This is a mockery of parliament and Stormont needs to be closed down and turned into a museum.
These problems are being created seemingly deliberately by unionism through their refusal to acknowledge the truth.
How many in the unionist community are even aware that it was unionism through Carson who introduced paramilitaries into Ireland and brought the gun into Irish politics?
How many know that Ireland expressed a democratic wish for independence which was overturned even against the wishes of the then London government who caved in over threats of violence and civil war?
How many know that unionism abused the power they were given and blatantly discriminated and controlled the wealth for 50 years in the gerrymandered state that their threats and violence rewarded them with?
How many know that it was unionism that started the conflict here between 1966 and 1969 with a violent response over their objections of equality for Catholics who copied the success of the peaceful civil rights movement un the US where blacks achieved equality with the white supremacists.
Unionist supremacy is the last remaining bastion of sectarian discrimination that remains in the modern world and it should be rightly be an embarrassment for England and a reflection of the true face modern Britain which the rest of the world should consider when dealing with them.
Just as white supremacy was faced down in the US, unionist supremacy must not be tolerated any longer, not in Ireland and not by the nations of the world.
This has to end now.
I agree totally with these sentiments especially the notion that Stormont should be closed down. I can’t understand why Sinn Fein keeps this going and why they are prepared to put up with displays of sectarianism
Absolutely correct, there should be a battle a day up there until manners are put upon them.
Jessica, interesting point re: the building of a ‘wall around the border’ especially given the policy of one US Presidential candidate to the border with their neighbours, albeit, Mexico is a bit full of Mexicans while here the prob’em would be, well, so is the six counties, even Ireland’s second city is mostly nationalist so, where could we build the wall? Certainly not to exclude the high number of nationalists living in north Antrim or south Down, so the potential for re-partition, oft lauded as a solution by some unionists in the early day’s of the ‘peace process’, almost as if they knew something they weren’t telling their voters, would be would be in a dreadfully small part of Ireland meaning they would have to Fivemiletown large parts of what’s left, namely, north county Down and south Antrim, not a huge amount of the old industry which once fed unionist families there nowaday’s and, given the old saying relating to Catholic and Protestant land in occupied Ireland ‘they got the land and we got the views’, the prospect of tourism would be somewhat limited as an economic activity.
On the issue of unionist abuse of power post partition, this was really not their fault, simply ‘learned behaviour’ from what their scot’s/english forbearers had taught them with a near milenia of law’s directed at killing or removing indigenious persons and their culture, you can’t blame children for copying their parents violent behaviour outside their home.
On converting Dail Dun Donaill into a museum, given the paucity of legislative activity emanating from there, and the age of most of it’s ‘legislators’ (and I use that term advisidly’) I would agree entirely, so long as the project at Long Kesh get’s the same support.
On your final point however I cannot agree, white supremacy in part’s of the US has not been faced down, ask the successors of the slaves brought over by Irish unionists like Mr. McMordie who donated the land for the building of my old alma mater, you might remember the previous name for the Mandella hall, blacks, are still more likely to be socio-economically disadvantaged, in gaol and, frankly like here a few years past, shot by the police for no reason other than whom they are.
Well I was getting the feeling that a growing number in the south would like the wall around all 6 counties and be shot of the lot of us.
In the north we are used to the intimidation of orange marches being forced down our streets by police, we have witnessed them beating our people off the road with batons, we are used to them burning our flag and their openly sectarian behaviour. I worked in portadown for 10 years and there was no effort to even hide their feelings of superiority and they would be openly sectarian to our faces as if it was normal.
If you think about it though, how would that look to someone in the south who has not had to face what we have had to and has grown up in a normal society?
Why would they want such contamination that we are seemingly by now immune to and tolerate?
The thing is, there is economic potential with unification.
The project at long kesh will be Irelands biggest tourism attraction by far and has the potential to triple tourism figures within a decade if not sooner as well as provide sufficient land that has so much potential.
The problem is unionism is holding us all back like a ball and chain and has no other interest other than sponging off someone else’s taxes.
That is simply not acceptable to me and should not be to any self respecting person either.
Strangely when Protestants did work with catholics in the 1798 revolt they got massacred by Catholics at Vinegar hill just saying not all injustices come from one side.
I thought Vinegar Hill was a battle involving the United Irishmen and the British army.
And guns against pikes
not buying into the narrative that there is an increasing amount in the south that want nothing to do with the north Jessica, recent opinion polls show the opposite.
Dear God you’re not half stuck in the past are you?
Didn’t read Jessicas rant did you?
There is a large element of society in the north of Ireland that will never sign on to a reunited Ireland regardless of what the nationalists do or don’t do. Regardless of what may happen regarding Brexit.
In my humble opinion it is a waste of time trying to reason with them.
At some future point in time they hopefully will be such a small minority and conditions will be such that reunification will make enough sense to a majority that it will happen and without a repeat of unionisms threats of violence in the early 20th century.
Totally agree Beachguy, pointless trying to reason with them as your reasoning will be twisted by them into some sort of Republican plot to gain unification by stealth.
“Unionist supremacy is the last remaining bastion of sectarian discrimination that remains in the modern world.” Surely this should read, “Unionist supremacy was the last remaining bastion of sectarian discrimination that remained in the modern world,” as this supremacy hasn’t existed for almost half a century now, since the ending of the old Stormont parliament in 1972. Clearly some Unionists aren’t the only ones stuck in the past. I’m also sure that people with a greater knowledge of world history than myself could point to other forms of sectarian discrimination which exist in the present day and are deadly to those who suffer from them. Doesn’t ISIS discriminate against Sunni and other Moslem sects, usually by killing large numbers of them?
The supremacy I refer to is more the superiority complex inherent within the unionist population. I agree, today it is really either in their heads or a burning desire to have the old days return.
Even now when your electoral majority is a house of cards standing on quicksand with an earthquake coming, unionism remains as stubborn and uncooperative as ever. The problem I have with this, is unionism is holding the rest of us back economically and that is getting harder to tolerate.