One of the saddest features of the Free State that was born from the Treaty was the lapdog position the Irish state was forced to adopt towards Britain. The Irish currency followed the British pound around, the Free State was roundly abused for not coming into the Second World War on Britain’s side, the Irish state depended on Britain to take its thousands of emigrants every year in order to continue functioning.
Then in the 1970s Britain joined the EU and of course so did the now-Republic of Ireland. But while entry may have occurred with the Republic trotting along at the heel of its master, participation in the EU transformed Ireland. There was growth, there was a massive new market for Irish goods. That’s not to say that the south didn’t screw up spectacularly from time to time; but something happened to the Irish psyche. It became outward-looking, modern, confident in its own abilities – again, with occasional economic cock-ups. Yes, the Republic had to follow directives from Brussels; but those directives were something that Ireland consciously opted into and from which it derived huge benefits. Until, that is, the recession came along and Fianna Fail did what it could to drive the state over the cliff-edge.
But now Britain has exited or is in the process of exiting from the EU. And guess what? On RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live show two nights ago, several voices, notably that of columnist Tom McGurk, late of this parish, were raised in favour of Irexit.
Yes indeed, Virginia, an ugly word for an ugly thing. Britain is going to leave the EU, so we had better do the same thing. The EU is a mess, so let’s trot behind Mother Britain. Which might make some sense, however humiliating, if Britain herself wasn’t in a far greater mess. But the ghastly word has been released from the bottle. Watch this space: you’re going to hear more and more about the wonders of Irexit.
Which if nothing else may earn us a pat on the head from Mother.
‘Until, that is, the recession came along and Fianna Fail did what it could to drive the state over the cliff-edge’
Jude, I, again must disagree with such assertion and make the point that Fianna Fail were only to blame for the recession because they were in government at the time.
Successive Ahern governments had, with full support of Fine Gael, ILP and Sinn Fein in Dail Eireann, introduced policies, on foot of two Directives from Brussrls, one in ’99 the other ’04, aimed at deregulating the financial services sector, Fine Gael and ILP indeed wished they would go further, for reference, interested persons should view the Dail Debates from the period.
It was therefore the fault, not solely of Fianna Fail but, in the main the same bureaucratic elite which Britain has now rebelled against with their masters in the banking industry and insurance, along, of course with foolish politicians from across Dail Eireann whom are to blame for not doing their job.
The same crisis occured world wide, if only we had had the return of the IIP.
Until Ireland is fully independent from Britain this will always be the case. The sooner the people and government of the Republic realise this the better. But that poses another question. How much fervour is there for full independence? Britain still has overt and covert control of Ireland while it rules 6 counties of it. Full stop.
“Ireland” became outward looking after joining the EEC / EU.
Is that accurate?
I seem to recall – for Catholic Ireland at least, something called ‘The Missions’ – we, even as children were concerned about parts of the planet, Whitehall mandarins probably couldn’t have found on a map.
I recall, in 1968, children along the Falls Road selling toys and other odds and ends, making genuine sacrifices, to send money off to other children in ‘Biafra’.
This ‘insular’ business appears to mean not being obsessed with London-oriented matters. But so what? Popular culture came from New York, Nashville and Los Angeles (and Liverpool), ‘high’ culture came from the same places, along with Paris, Berlin and Moscow.
watch this space.your going to hear more and more about the wonders of irexit..certainly your going to hear more once the uk closes its entry points.the press have duty to show people what to expect from mass immigration that their tds have signed up to and a referendum called before any more damage is done.
I should agree Billy, as above, if we could return to the ‘Irish Independence Party’ which was cross community, but this time to provide a platform on which those who are Republican might campaign for power tobe exercised by the taxpayer rather than the current state throughout the EU/EEA.
Unfortunately we were previously so downtrodden by the brits, we have a habit of doing what the masters in Brussels/Berlin tell us
maybe their waiting on italy and france voting to see how serious things could turn.jungle camps along the border couldnt be ruled out if italy and france pull the pin on the eu.
People are people Billy. As soon as you let go of the fallacy that land can belong to a particular race or creed your concerns about illegal immigration will be transformed into compassion for fellow human beings.
we let the brits stay then by your reasoning.
The Brits as you call them, and the Empires they imitated are the authors of the fallacy to which I refer Billy. Of course people from Britain have as much right to live in Ireland as the next woman.
PS. When we are looking back on this period of fascism don’t say that nobody told you that it is wrong to judge people because of where they are from, what language they speak, or the colour of their skin.
PS. When we are looking back on this period of fascism don’t say that nobody told you that what is happening now is wrong.
Always found Tom McGurk, Esteemed Blogmeister, a curious work-in-progress.
There was, on the one Red Hand , this insightful political commentator from Brokagh with a Republican slant and then, there was, on the other Red Hand, that IRFU- aligned rugby guru, chock-a-block full of the garrison if not Garrison game, cant.
The unlikely alickadoo who tends to tie himself and his barfy scarf up in knots with his, hey, Wimoweh jungle chants of West Britannia along the lines of :
Uggi-uggi uggi !
I likes me breakfast guggy like a rugby ball and all:
Ruggi-ruggi-ruggi !
Go, The Brit and Irish Lions is wot we likes to bawl !
Not since MGM plucked Leo the Lion in the, erm, Roaring Twenties from the Zoological Gardens of Dublin as its logo to growl the opening sequence , has there been a more raucous roarer of and for the Oval Bawl than the Main Man from Tyrone of the leonine mane.
(Point of info: though widely known in Hollywood , County UP, as Leo the lion’s actual name was Cairbre before it was changed to Slats. Does one, erm, detect a certain whiff of the agreeable Lansdowne Road nomenclature about the latter two names?)
One was never quite sure which version of the Avuncular One would show up on any given television panel. On the Claire Byrne Show the other night it was, indubitably, the latter which was to Red Hand.
Must be the week that’s in it, and all: as Ireland United Inc. bids to become the Goal-y Hosts of the Rugby World Cup 2023. Its goal in chief being to make Oirland see balls through an oval lens, primarily. Just like Dev the Chief wished .
(Only a social pariah, utterly lacking in polite parlour-talk nous, would utter ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’, going forward, no such passes being allowable) .
Not the least fascinating aspect of this Bid from the Land of Biddy is that 8 of the 12 stadia will be on, erm, short-term lens from the GAH.
Hmmmm.
The Broth of a Brokagh Bhoyo has never been slow to diss the vastly inferior quality of the ghastly nativist game of Bogball. With rolled eyes he has been heard on high to sigh:
-The Tackle ?
Now, it is well known that the Royal and Neo-Ancient Game of Rugby has never had a problem with its own, erm, Tackle. One has only to note the narrowing (to near-harrowing proportions !) of the oval-balled game’s knicks in recent times, including The Unionist Times.
Still, there are many Hard Yards to traverse between now and this time next year when the Winning Biddy will be chosen as Miss Rugby World Cup, going forward.Betweentimes, a tight-rope of Carrickarede fragility indeed, from Páirc Uí Chaoimh up to Páirc Mhic Easmuinn and from Páirc an Phiarsaigh to Páirc an Chrochaigh that will require a lot of balance and cheques..
The mantra from Antrim to National Tantrum from Lansdowne Road will be:
– Let’s not be beastly to the Boggers !
Will, though, the Avuncular One ease up on grubber-kicking the game of the Bog-Oak Monolith in the goolies ? Who knows, who can tell?
Meanwhile, let’s all haste to the Home Nations Knot-Tie of the Year, the Wedding of Ire and Bre, as they strive to husband and wive and so, become – be upstanding for – Mr and Mrs Oval-shaped Exit.
THE NEO-VICAR of TWICKERS OFFICIATES
Dev-long, he’s our Rev. Uncle Tom McGurkha
Who favours not the Queen of Ulster in burka
This unlikley alikado
Urges a spikey ‘I do!’
To a Blood Weddiing of UK and Us, a la Lorca.
And a kick up the arse from father. I’m
The ghost from Brocach has been called many a thing but Republican was never one of them.
Tom McGurk, I would have thought was typical brexit/irexit material. Portadown college man and rugger fellow. You could write the script for these guys, the self loathing/garrison Irish. He’d be up in arms big time if you had the temerity to remove the British Royal prefix from the horse show etc. You know the type. Would not be seen dead in Omagh cheering on the great Red Hands, but would be all over the Aviva. And yet and yet, that’s just me venting. Live and let live.
Well said Freddie.
“On RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live show two nights ago, several voices, notably that of columnist Tom McGurk, late of this parish, were raised in favour of Irexit.”
Our dear own Nelson McCausland was echoing a similar stance in his Belfast Telegraph column recently. As everyone should already know, Nelson is no more an expert in economics than he is in reconciliation and social cohesion. An “Irexit” at this time really is the talk of economic illiterates. Yes I have bashed the EU many times on this blog and advocated an Irexit in the LONG term, the very long term, but not now. Or if the EU were to reform itself, then I would be Pro-EU. One of the major reasons why the South gets huge economic investment from US firms and many other sources is because its an EU member. You will see that investment increasing because of Brexit too as companies relocate from Britain to Ireland. So obviously if the South leaves the EU at this time, expect economic decline.
Of course Nelson has other sinister motives why he wants the South to leave the EU. He knows it will make the South more dependent on Britain for economic trade and thus Westminster would use this against the South when it comes to the political situation here. Obviously contention over the border would be removed too, which would be satisfactory for Unionism in this case. And, believe it or not, some Unionists actually do delude themselves into believing there’s a chance the South might want to join the UK…..its been a reoccurring theme on different social media websites for a long while, mainly spurred on by the Unionist worry over demographic changes in the North…..I think some Unionists feel that if the South joined the UK then that eliminates any chance of a Republican Government. Its basically a yearning for the past, thinking Westminster will be supreme over all Ireland if such a thing were to occur…..
Needless to say Ireland should be moving away from Britain, not getting closer. I was glad when Micheal Martin the Fianna Fail Leader said that Ireland needs to stop being dependent on trade with Britain, to look to other states and that for the foreseeable future the UK will be in economic limbo. We cant be dependent on a state that is very hostile towards us, not to mention occupies 1/5 of our country and went on mass murder sprees of our people in the North and deny them Truth/Justice to this very day. We should be focusing on building more trade with the USA and other EU states, such as Germany, France, Spain, etc all of which are very friendly to us.
But in the long term we need to stop being extremely dependent on FDI too. We need our own entrepreneurs to build the next Apples, Microsofts, EBay’s, etc and we need our best talent to stop leaving these shores and to stay and help build Ireland up. We’re a very young country, Britain economically ravaged Ireland in the past (like many other countries, such as India) that’s why our economy isn’t as big as it should be but we’ll continue to grow and hopefully make Ireland a great, united country.
Ryan, I have noted the odd contributor to Jude’s blog hinting that a united Ireland should become part of the Commonwealth, and their attempts to twist wording relating to Irish reunification as if it meant Ireland reunified with Britain. These comments might have been tongue in cheek but obviously there are unionists who would seriously believe in this notion, such as that very righteous man Nelson McCausland. It is really delusional to think that Ireland would take such a backward step, and I could imagine the public reaction if it was ever put up as a serious motion. People like McCausland are clearly too detached from reality to understand that.
Fine Gael senator Frank Feighan tried to open up a debate on this topic a few months ago and it got put down very quickly. Comments in ‘thejournal.ie’ were a good indication of the public mood where many contributors ridiculed the two naive contributors from the Reform group.
For once Ryan I think you do a unionist too much credit, in this case I simply can’t see McCausland having that strategic foresight.
The DUP’s big wigs are academically gifted, tactically smart but as an offset them are strategically blind and can’t see the wood for the tall brown leafy things in the way.
The EU is committed to ever closer to union which will one day resemble a super state. I have concerns over that, especially a super state run for the benefit of big business. Ireland will have to do what’s best for Ireland regardless of how it is perceived.