Last night with Prof Brendan O’Leary and three unanswered questions

 Last night, Professor Brendan O’Leary was a central figure in a Zoom meet-up of an awful lot of people, including me. Th professor is from south of the Black Pig’s Dyke but has been teaching and researching in the University of Pennsylvania  since 2003. He is a prodigious writer and has published more books than you are ever going to read. Which is a pity, because a number of them deal directly with Ireland, partition and what is needed for a reunited Ireland.

Last night he covered a lot of ground.His interviewer, Kevin Meagher, got him to elaborate regarding “losers’ consent”, the contrast between the economy of Ireland north and south, Britain’s role in a border poll and a lot, lot more. While I was glad to have listened to Professor O’Leary, I was disappointed with the interaction between him and his audience from all over the world. So here are some questions I wish had been addressed.

1. Why is Professor O’Leary high-lighting this thing called ‘Losers’ consent’? All it really means is that the people who lose a plebiscite, in this case a border poll, have a choice between accepting the outcome of a democratic vote  and refusing to accept it. Unionist politicians have already grabbed greedily at the phrase, as though it was necessary that unionism, regardless of any border poll outcome, must give its assent to what has happened. In other words, unionism will have a veto on Irish reunification.Those of us who believe in democracy simply don’t buy this.
2. Why did Professor O’Leary not mention a citizens’ assembly on reunification? He suggested that the border poll should be held sometime between seven and ten years. He did not explain why he chose that time period – why not between five and eight years, or four and seven, or…You get the idea. Nor did he say how we must use this time. There is one big bear-trap that any border poll on a reunited Ireland could fall into, and that’s the Brexit trap: saying yes or no to something you have only a vague idea about. A citizens’ assembly or a similar body must be set to work immediately, to establish through expert testimony, discussion, reflection and finally reporting what kind of new Ireland is being envisaged. Without this, a border poll would be misguided and dangerous.
3. Why did Professor O’Leary stress the need for a fuller understanding of the south of Ireland by the north, and vice versa, while failing to suggest ways in which this could happen? There can be little doubt that the professor’s ideas are worthwhile and add to the momentum for a border poll, but it is crucial that he and people like him spell out what needs to be done, what steps taken and in what order, if this momentous poll is to occur. Oh, and how people in general can apply themselves to this work.

I have deliberately confined myself to these three headings, in the hope that others will assess their importance and find ways to go from the talking to the walking, from vague idea/emotion to practical preparation for the most important moment in Ireland’s history over the last 100 years at least.