With Loyalists threatening violence over the NI Protocol and their loss of something they call “freedom”, I wonder if they are pondering the actions of the IRA and even the civil disobedience surrounding the struggle of the Irish people of the North for freedom? After all, the very posters they are erecting on walls and billboards across the North state, “How is freedom measured? By the effort which it costs to retain.” Freedom from what? The European Union? A Union which made the North infinitely richer? If you look at buildings and indeed roads across the North you will see plaques stating “Part funded by the European Union” or indeed entirely funded by the European Union in some parts.
There are rows of shops all over the North in places like Greenisland, near Carrickfergus and in Ballykeel in Ballymena where people have set up businesses in shop premises funded by the EU. Barbers, chip shops, convenience stores – all supplying jobs and livelihoods for their communities, Loyalist communities. Putting money in people’s pockets to live their lives, go on holiday, feed their children, have a roof over their heads. Isn’t that a positive thing? It’s more than can be said for what the British Government did for Catholics and Nationalists across the North. Let’s be honest, they did the polar opposite. In fact they treated Catholics and Nationalists so badly that hundreds of thousands left our shores. Ironically, some headed to England with some going as far afield as America and Australia.
The much needed A8 dual carriageway from Larne to the Hillhead Roundabout above Ballyclare was part funded by the EU to the tune of £15 million. Other infrastructure projects which have received EU funding include £10.7m from Interreg, mostly towards the Enterprise service, and £19m towards the Derry to Coleraine line, and works on Knockmore to Lurgan lines. Peace Plus for instance, is a new funding programme designed to support peace and prosperity across the North and the border counties of Ireland in general, building upon the work of the previous peace and Interreg programmes. The design of the programmes reflect the importance the EU places on peace-building activities and initiatives, but also the importance of actions that will contribute positively to the economy, building prosperity and adjusting to the new environment and challenges we face in the North…which is exactly what it has been doing in Loyalist communities. That Loyalist terrorists syphon off the funding for themselves should be challenged at every turn, especially by Unionist politicians who claim to stand up for their people.
The EU has literally pumped millions upon millions of pounds into the North. Millions of pounds which may have been contributed by other EU nations. It has made the North and Ireland in general a better place. There are people who say we pay more to the EU than it provides back into our communities which is absolutely false. There is a €500 million figure quoted by some, which the European Commission ploughs into the North. However, this is not a ‘net’ figure and does not take into account the North’s proportion of the UK’s contribution to the EU. A more complete statement, not acknowledged by many within Unionism and indeed Loyalism, would be to say that Northern Ireland receives €55 million more than we pay into the EU. So in reality, the EU actually funds the North more than we fund the EU.
So the question begs asking – what is Unionism’s problem with the EU? One of their main oppositions to the EU was that we were paying more in than we got out, which is clearly false. In fact, the UK in general actually got more out of the EU than it paid in, contrary to what the UK Government and Unionists have previously claimed. While there was indeed an £11 Billion deficit between what the UK paid into the EU and what it got out in return, UK groups, concerns, charities, funds, communities, businesses, research groups and more could apply independently for funding from the EU, substantially reducing that deficit to £1.8 Billion. However, the North specifically, most definitely gained greatly from both infrastructure, communities and peace funding. So back to the question – what does Unionism actually want freedom from? From all that peace funding? From better funding for roads than what our own Infrastructure Minister can provide? Indeed the EU even stepped in to save Ulster Scots language, funding parts of tha Boord o Ulstér-Scotch or The Ulster-Scots Agency when the British Government refused to provide more funding.
No, Unionists, strangely, want freedom from the EU because it has brought Ireland North and South closer together. They want freedom from a Union which has done more for them than their own mother Government and a bloc which has brought untold trade opportunities to this island of Ireland which can make us more prosperous through a variety of markets than connections to England ever could. Not surprisingly, at the end of the day and in conclusion, Unionism wants to go back to the days when England was ultimately our biggest market but they refuse to understand there is a huge untapped world of trade out there and in the end the word ‘Irish’ has massive power out there while, sadly for Unionism, the word ‘British’ has become toxic.
It’s time for Unionism to drop the falsehood of their trade border complaint and simply come out once and for all and tell us their complaint is constitutional. They want to remain part of the UK. However, as a minority in that view Unionism is on the back foot and will find it hard to persuade anyone to stay within a Union which has shown it values the North of Ireland less than it does Scotland or Wales. It’s time for Unionism to choose which Union they want to be a part of. One will treat them like subservient fools to be used and discarded at will and the other will show them the respect they deserved from their own Union. Their choice.
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