Occasionally I bump into an old school friend and class mate in Enniskillen. He is a retired teacher who now spends most of his time on the golf course. He does not take much part in politics now but one of his favourite sayings when asked about the current situation is, ‘Britannia Delenda Est.’(He recalls our Latin teacher teaching us Cicero and his call, ‘Cathago Delenda est’. My friend does not elaborate much but leaves one to come to one’s own conclusion about his simple solution to our problem. Empires have all come to a bitter end sooner or later. They eventually self destruct. My friend is convinced that there will be no permanent settlement in Ireland until Britannia/the UK is finished-is no more.
With the Brexit result there is clearly the beginning of that possibility or even the probability that the last part of the British empire is being demolished and this time it is being done and will be accomplished by the people at the ballot box. England/Wales want to go it alone. Scotland and Northern Ireland want to remain in the European Union. The twenty-six counties will be staying in the European Union for they know it is best for them economically. What about the border? We are told there will be no ‘hard’ border. But why should there be a border at all? The future is uncertain. Things will never be the same again. The fall-out of that Brexit result continues to shake theUnited Kingdom to its foundations. It was on very shaky legs anyway, but this has taken the legs from under it.
The Scots, led by Nicola Sturgeon MP, are now demanding another referendum on independence which they will surely win this time round. There have been calls from a number of Irish politicians for a referendum on the border in Ireland. So my friend’s solution that Britannia Delenda Est might become a reality sooner than he thought. Meanwhile, we watch with interest as the right-wing unionists begin to realise the real threat to the future of their beloved ‘wee country’ Norn Ireland. This cloud could have a beautiful silver lining. The future will be ‘wild interesting’, as they say west of the Bann.
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Some of us lived through the last vestiges of the British Empire. Indeed, as children in the 1950’s many still really believed that they were still part of an empire . In the comics we read ,the second world war was still being re-fought every week, but in the background the empire was already crumbling away with bits dropping off month by month . After the war ended , of course Britain disengaged from the untenable India and did its usual thing of dividing it into India and Pakistan before leaving. There was Suez withdrawal in the early 1950’s where they were proven to be toothless on the world stage and then they were out of Africa when Rhodesia became Zimbawe.By the early 1970’s they were pretty much out of Africa …out of the far East…Malaysia and Singapore, Aden, Bahrain and so on..The Caribbean territories went too I think the last vestige of it finally fell off almost twenty years ago with the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 . It’s hard to believe that it happened so long ago, eh . An empire gone within a single life-time …hard to believe, really .
There is no empire now. What you’ll find now increasingly will be that old 1950’s word “Commonwealth” which will be much discussed as Britain thrashes about to gather a few economic friends from across the world to its bosom to replace the EU which it has foolishly jacked. The “Commonwealth” might have its own ideas though, because Britain has not been too kind to them in the past….and then of course there’s that big elephant in the room…Norneverland, Ireland…..
The state Northern Ireland needs to be dismantled. Brexit has started the ball rolling on that. And i agree with the writer, it will be dismantled from within by its own people.
There are too many border roads for any proper border controls to come back, – i live along it and cross it everyday, so i know. There are many places in Monaghan were the road is actually the border for several mile. A border is artificial, its unnatural, and as night follows day it will also be dismantled by what ever means.
Funnily i am in the process of reading several publications of the Anglo Celt from 1840 to 1850. The paper clearly being a protestant triumphalist paper, very much promoting the Orange Order in Cavan, with its 30 lodges at that time. All references to people was always made in terms of their religion. The paper made many references to the British empire at that time. It also (1843) hinted at bad weather in the area and potato crops being effected – the local protestant gentry, the Farnhams, were holding an agricultural demonstration about the proper storage of potatoes.
Anyway, it is amazing how things can change.
Rest assured, the future of Northern Ireland is not secure and who knows, in 100 years time there will be no reference to it at all.
The British Empire ended decades ago.
It was Cato the Censor who used say Carthago Delenda Est.
What a load of hyberbolic, hypocritical drivel. The oh so pious writer wants to end the injustice and subjugation created by a 17th century empire, by…… turning Ireland into a global beatch of International finance and ready to be slapped down on the whim of Berlin, which runs the non democratic, centralised power of the United States of Europe. Every great federal country/empire deserves a capital and while a token gesture can be rolled out every 6 months, the real dominance rests and resides in Berlin.