A couple of weeks ago I got the very rare chance to engage with a
“moderate unionist” on what he thought he, as a unionist, would
require to take the leap for a united Ireland. Granted, this was on
Twitter but the man was genuine in his attempt to reach out. “Throw
your shopping list at me” said I. The man had three points on his
‘shopping list’, two of which were surprising to me, not because of the points
themselves, but because of the reason he gave for them being an issue.
The three points on this man’s ‘shopping list’ were – The Tricolour would have
to go, Amhrán na bhFiann would have to go and the last, inevitably, an NHS
style health service would need to be in place. The reason he gave for
the Tricolour and Amhrán na bhFiann being replaced blind-sided me but made
sense after some thought. His reason was, and I quote from the thread of
this conversation … “The Tricolour and Amhrán na bhFiann symbolise
the IRA to unionists.” Yes, he used the fada and the Irish
translation.
I can understand this. Men and women marching down a road, mouth and nose
covered in net scarves, wearing oversized aviator sunglasses and a black beret
and adorned in military style uniforms…while carrying our national flag, the
Tricolour. At the end of these parades or commemorations Amhrán na
bhFiann is played or sung.
While I say “I understand this” – what unionists don’t seem to
understand or indeed may be totally unaware of, is that what they are asking
nationalists and Ireland to replace and the reasons for this, is exactly what
they are guilty of on the opposite side of the coin! Masked men and women,
marching down the road, in exactly the same style but flying a different flag
and singing a different anthem. The difference being, nationalists are
attempting to convince unionists to accept a united Ireland or a variation
thereof.
Nationalism will need to work out what it is willing to give up to quite
literally appease unionism regarding a united Ireland. It may not be a
lot – on the other hand, we run a very real risk of giving up a hell of a lot
if relations between unionism and nationalism don’t improve. In the
end…dialogue is key to making a united Ireland work. Without dialogue
it will be an unmitigated disaster because whether we want to admit it or not –
those same unionists labelling themselves ‘British’ were born right here in
Ireland, and have just as much right to be here as sovereign Irish
citizens. Maybe ‘unity’ means more than just a unified Ireland.
Maybe, just maybe, we will have to unite as a people before we can unite as a
country.
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