So. Looking out your window at the white-draped world this morning, do you feel that all your Christmases have happened together or do you think you’ve entered a hell composed not of fire but ice and snow ?
Were I a unionist, I’d take comfort from Leo Varadkar’s promise that the southern government is in no way seeking to further a united Ireland through Brexit Phase One deal that’s been agreed. As a nationalist/republican, I’d be (and am) pleased that the most destructive outcome has been avoided : no hard border in Ireland, now or in the future. In short, the Good Friday Agreement stands.
For obvious reasons, Arlene Foster has welcomed the absence of a border in the Irish Sea. What kind of dunderhead wouldn’t? The level of trade between all of Ireland, north and south, with Britain would make that a disaster. But of course what Arlene was thinking of was, if we’re lumped together with those paddies south of the border rather than Mother Britain, we might be dumped out in the snow by Mother Britain and the door of the Union firmly banged behind us.
Which gets to the nub of the matter. These are economic matters that are being arranged – not political and certainly not constitutional. The firm guarantee that unionists have is the Good Friday Agreement, and the Good Friday Agreement stands unaltered. No economic arrangement is going to trump that.
And yet, Leo Varadkar felt obliged to assure the DUP that the southern government wasn’t trying to use the Trojan Horse (OK, those are my words, not his) of economic common sense in order to wreak constitutional damage and weaken the north’s links with Westminster Mummy.
But it’s not that hard to see why the DUP are right to be nervous this morning. Not just because of the rising demographic tide, but because any action can have a primary result but a secondary result as well. The present-and-to-be-continued absence of border in Ireland, recognized by a majority of people in the south and a majority in the north, is a good thing. But this does send an echo into the constitutional world.
Because what has been one of the reasons unionists have turned their faces from Irish unity? That a reunited Ireland would bring no economic benefits to them. I think the case against that has been pretty comprehensively smashed over the past week or two. I haven’t heard a single voice, unionist or nationalists/republican, arguing that a hard border would be good economics for people in the north or in the south. Economically,we are all united Irelanders now.
But not, of course, politically united Irelanders. Keep in mind, though, that when the state called Germany was first created in the nineteenth century, it had been preceded by an economic and customs union: when the different sections of Germany saw how economic unity would benefit them, political unity was a logical progression.
The Guardian’s Paul Mason has said this morning that he believes Theresa May has just given a massive boost to the case for an economically united Ireland.If Mason is right, interesting constitutional times ahead. If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
So. Looking out your window at the white-draped world, do you feel that all your Christmases have happened together or do you think you’ve entered a hell composed not of fire but snow and ice?
Were I a unionist, I’d take comfort from Leo Varadkar’s promise that the southern government is in no way seeking to further a united Ireland through the kind of Brexit deal, Phase One that’s been agreed. As a nationalist/republican, I’d be pleased that the two most destructive outcomes have been avoided : no hard border in Ireland, now or in the future. In short, the Good Friday Agreement stands.
As it happens, Arlene Foster was the one who welcomed the absence of a border in the Irish Sea. What kind of dunderhead would? The level of trade between all of Ireland, north and south, with Britain would make that a disaster. But of course what Arlene was thinking of was, if we’re lumped together with those paddies south of the border rather than Mother Britain, we might be dumped out in the snow by Mother Britain and the door of the Union firmly banged in our faces.
Which gets to the nub of the matter. These are economic matters that are being arranged – not political and certainly not constitutional. The firm guarantee that unionists have is the Good Friday Agreement. No economic arrangement is going to trump that.
And yet, Leo Varadkar felt obliged to assure the DUP that the southern government wasn’t trying to use the Trojan Horse (OK, those are my words, not his) of economic common sense in order to wreak constitutional damage and weaken the north’s links with Westminster Mummy.
But in one way the DUP are right to be nervous. Not just because of the rising demographic tide, but because any action can have a primary intention but a secondary result as well. The present-and-to-be-continued absence of border in Ireland, recognized by a majority of people in the south and a majority in the north as a good thing, does send an echo into the constitutional world.
Because what has been one of the reasons unionists have turned their faces from Irish unity? That a reunited Ireland would bring no economic benefits. I think the case against that has been pretty comprehensively smashed over the past week or two. I haven’t heard a single voice, unionist or nationalists/republican, arguing that a hard border would be good economics for people in the north or in the south. Economically, as far as Ireland is concerned, we are all united Irelanders.
But not, of course, politically united Irelanders. Keep in mind, though, that when the state called Germany was first created in the nineteenth century, it had been preceded by an economic and customs union: the different sections of Germany saw how economic unity would benefit them. From that to political unity was a logical progression.
The Guardian’s Paul Mason has said this morning that he believes Theresa May has just given a massive boost to the case for an economically united Ireland. Stand by for Phase Two of that project, then.
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