It goes without saying that the British have a horrific record in Ireland; ranging from the evils of Cromwell, an Gorta Mór and the undemocratic partition that gave birth to the bigoted statelet. Many apologists of British imperialism will argue that other empires were worse – which is sort of akin to the Khmer Rouge saying, ’Sure the Nazis had more deaths on their hands.’ However, despite all their countless evils, modern British attitudes are far more preferable to those of many Unionists.
When the British introduced gay marriage, some of their most vociferous opponents were the Unionists. When post-war Britain created the NHS, it was Unionists – who ironically now have this as one of their biggest pro-Union arguments- that resented the growing dependence of the occupied territory on the British treasury. While minority language rights are protected in Britain, Unionists conveniently oppose it in the North of Ireland. All of this begs the question; if these are British initiatives then surely strident supporters of the UK would be happy to be aligned? Joe Brolly’s succinct comment about Gregory Campbell’s version of the North being a fantasy land feels fairly apt and applicable to many other Unionists.
This disconnect between Britain’s and Unionism’s values was acutely demonstrated in the average British person’s reaction to DUP’s confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Tories. Until then many British people had never heard of them but after a quick online search, they quickly realised how out of sync they were with the 21st century. Strangely enough, the typical British liberal who cares about tolerance, gay rights and language rights would find themselves more closely aligned with many Irish Republicans on these issues. This is in sharp contrast to the bigotry we frequently hear espoused by the likes of TUV and DUP.
So, what exactly is unionism’s idea of what it means to be British? Is it the health service they resented the creation of? Is it the works of Shakespeare or the brilliant films of Ken Loach that perfectly capture the lives of ordinary working-class people in Britain? Republicans are constantly challenged to sell our vision of what United Ireland precisely looks like. If Unionists had any foresight, they should at least attempt to sell us reasons for continuing with the failed partition that they proclaim is hugely beneficial – although, this would be similar to Zionists selling Israeli apartheid to the Palestinians. However, before they can do this, we need to know what their idea of being British means.
I seldom (if ever) hear the DUP, TUV or Orange Order promote British music, sport, or films. Whereas Republicans promote Irish Language, Gaelic games, and traditional music amongst many other things; Unionists instead defend a ‘culture’ that involves burning nationalist effigies, sectarian slogans e.g., KAT, and triumphalist marches. One can only ascertain from their actions that they merely use the term ‘culture’ as a euphemism for intolerance and bigotry.
While there are certainly many tolerant and liberal minded Unionists, these adjectives unfortunately cannot be used to accurately describe many of their mainstream voices. Therefore, when we were told that ‘Northern Ireland’ is a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people and every 12th of July this must be emphasised, then it is only logical to conclude that their idea of Britishness is rooted in sectarianism.
The reality is that one day this statelet will cease to exist and will merge into a new 32 county Republic. In contrast to Craig’s assertion about who the state represents; we instead want to create something new that represents all the people of Ireland, including those who identify as British. When that day comes Ulster Unionists will need to come to terms with what culture actually means. This current idea of Britishness that many in their community believe in will have no place in what we aspire to have: a modern, progressive, and tolerant country.
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