Changes – by Michael Lagan

From waging an all-out guerrilla war against one of the most powerful nations of this earth, to having the Republican First Minister Designate in that capacity, attending the coronation of Charlie boy, one has to marvel at how much we have actually achieved as a people.  By no means is this writing an attempt to whitewash the past out of existence, quite the opposite in that while many within our Unionist neighbours camp consistently call for gestures or actions showing we are moving forward, little or nothing of the same emanates from the Northern Irish Unionist camp but is strangely more forthcoming from the British Royal family.  It’s almost as if Unionism in this little part of the world is more interested in saying to its supporters ‘Look what we made them do’ and in turn, Loyalism can’t help but take the outstretched hand of friendship and generosity and spit on it in its usual fashion.

A prime example of this came from the much-ignored but frustratingly apparent, Donaghadee Balloon.  No sooner had Sinn Fein announced our First Minister Designate was attending the coronation along with Alex Maskey in his capacity as Speaker of the Assembly, than the Donaghadee Balloon sent forth his tweet from the digital ether, no doubt guffawing as he did so, thinking it was some sort of political broadside – “It is welcome to see Sinn Fein becoming part of the UK constitutional system, and giving their endorsement of the new King who reigns over NI as a core part of our precious Union.”

You see, this is how far we’ve come in NEI.  I put it to the readers that we in NEI have really come quite far from that all-out guerrilla war waged against not only the British forces here but the British entrenched establishment…but Unionism hasn’t.  Those in this little country of ours, a people respected around the world for being hard-working, well-trained, and ambitious have had to fight tooth and nail for the most simple of rights, recognition, and acknowledgment.  

An indigenous language act that every other respective part of these islands has had for years was refused for over a decade because? Unionism.  A national stadium that should have been built on the grounds of Long Kesh was refused because? Unionism (while on holiday).  We were jeered at for shaking the hand of the late British Queen Elizabeth, something every Republican and nationalist found hard to swallow but Martin McGuinness did it so we didn’t have to.  We now can’t even go to the coronation of Charlie without people like the Hot Air from Donaghadee having a jibe from the sidelines (yes…the sidelines, just remember that).

You see, fifty-one years ago, on 28th March 1972, the British government, realising that Northern Irish Unionism was literally incapable of handling the requirement to change by giving civil rights to Catholics and nationalists, shut down the Northern Irish parliament and imposed direct rule, and rightly so to an extent.  However, in true Unionist style, Brian Faulkner, the last of the province’s Unionist Prime Ministers, declared it a betrayal.  A betrayal? A betrayal of what? Human rights? Of people living here…all people?  So much for ‘The Land of Hope and Glory’ and all that nonsense.  

The problem in 1972 was the refusal of Northern Irish Unionists to share power and rights with Catholics and nationalists, and recognising the rights of Irish citizens in NEI, and the problem today is the same. Even though the arrangements at Stormont and the Good Friday Agreement are founded on a mandatory power-sharing coalition and the First and Deputy First ministers are actually joint and equal, the DUP and NEI Unionism as a whole has been pretending to itself and to its gullible voters that because the First Minister’s office has always been held by a Unionist, Northern Ireland essentially still had a Unionist Prime Minister and that it was therefore still in charge of its beloved wee country with the right to say “NO”, over and over again (God forbid they say YES).

Nationalism’s and Republicanism’s power resides deep in the fact that we are willing to do what it takes to get what we want.  Believe it or not, we are respected by the British for just that reason.  While we are willing to talk to the British, shake hands and do what needs to be done to show we are the right people for the job, Unionism continues to echo its past leaders in constantly proclaiming “NO” while pointing to the likes of Carson, Paisley, and Faulkner.  The British are beginning to see that NI Unionism is nothing but a NO machine and does not want to move forward to a brighter NEI for everyone here because they know a brighter NEI is a more lucrative NEI, and a lucrative NEI is a more attractive NEI to those both here and the South of Ireland who would never have looked near us a few years ago.  Ultimately, a lucrative NEI makes a united Ireland easier and more attractive to everyone if both ends of this wee island are powerhouses.

In the end, sadly, we may have to move on without Unionism which will be hard politically.  It is becoming ever more evident that while telling everyone here we have to move on, they are happy to stay in the past dragging up past atrocities, blocking inquests, and generally stopping the progress of a land they claim to love.

Look how far we’ve come, we still have a way to go but we made this happen, and while Unionism may jeer at us and insult us for holding out the hand of peace and friendship to those who did us wrong, if that’s what needs to be done then that’s what we need to do.

Ironically, Winston Churchill once said – “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”  something even those within Unionism’s ranks who indulge in quoting Churchill often refuse to take on board.  Here’s another person NI Unionism should have listened to – “What a fool I was. I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster……”