Category Archives: Views
Distant dreaming
In considering the article by academics Christopher Kissane and David Kenny (one from London School of Economics and the other from Trinity College Dublin) in today’s Irish Times (18 August), it is worth keeping in mind the title “Imagination is needed to achieve a united Ireland”.
Based on the article it would take a great deal of imagination, perhaps verging on the fantastic, if this Opinion piece was to be considered a start point.
Cultural effrontery
On 9 August there was an interesting and revealing article in The Irish Times by Rosemary Jenkinson, artist-in-residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. The title was: ‘I’m a Belfast Protestant but I’m an Irish writer’.
Jenkinson’s subject was really the question of belonging, that complex relationship between politics, culture and national identity, explored in the intersection of her own personal history and career.
Academic jargon, propaganda and agitprop…
It is often the absence of critical thought in the academic world which continues to shock.
It is hard sometimes to avoid the conclusion of those like Roger Scruton that universities have been captured by political jargon and propaganda:
“Almost every belief system that in the past seemed objective and important is now dismissed as an ‘ism’ or a ‘phobia’ so that those who stand by it are made to look like ideological fanatics.”
Irish problem with border is an EU one
Over at the Policy Exchange, Ray Bassett has some interesting points on the recent hissy fit from Varadkar and Coveney on the Irish land border with the UK.
A United Ireland: why unification is inevitable…. Likely not.
Kevin Meagher, A United Ireland: why unification is inevitable and how it will come about (Biteback, London, 2016)
Book Review
The only thing ‘inevitable’ about this book is its failure to persuade.
That said, Kevin Meagher has produced a thought provoking, well written, but ultimately flawed book.
The failure of A United Ireland to persuade stems from a selective use of evidence and an overreliance on implicit assumptions and counterfactuals (which often don’t hold up to even the most cursory scrutiny).
David McWilliams is wrong to say demographics will deliver a United Ireland
The history of the twentieth century dictatorships, whether of the extreme left or extreme right, proves that when anyone claims something is historically ‘inevitable’ we should be extremely cautious.
The (long) culture war
The emergence of an Irish Language Act as a ‘red line issue’ for Sinn Fein may be deemed to have its origins in the St. Andrew’s Agreement, indeed, under ‘Annex B’, it is stated that:
It should of course be pointed out that this was an agreement made under the Labour Government, and we know that it, namely Blair, were keen on making promises to Sinn Fein: indeed they made promises and commitments to everyone to some extent and with not an inconsiderable shot of constructive ambiguity. Something strongly suggested by Peter Robinson.
Use a position of power wisely, with caution.
The election results of the 8th June came as shock to many.
The Governing party, the Conservative & Unionist (the Unionist being something people seem to forget) Party was short of a majority, having at the outset expected a fantastic election: which would give them a huge majority; put Corbyn’s (Old) Labour ‘out-of-business’; and strengthen the United Kingdom negotiation position ahead of Brexit.
Didn’t quite work out that way. The most unexpected outcome, amongst all the ramifications and recriminations, has been the increased attention towards Northern Ireland and principally the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Why Ruth Davidson et al are wrong on the DUP and gay rights
Ruth Davidson and others have taken fright at the idea of the Conservatives doing a deal with the DUP — because of its record on gay rights and social issues generally. Here’s why they are wrong.
Opportunity knocks
We don’t yet know how Brexit will affect Northern Ireland exactly, but the referendum result certainly revived the nationalist trope that Irish unity is ‘inevitable’.
The Republic’s national parliament recently published plans for a forum “to achieve the peaceful reunification of Ireland”, Sinn Fein blithely assure unionists that the “British identity” will be protected in a thirty-two county state and newspaper columnists rush to tell readers that the fourth green field will soon “bloom again”. One particularly excitable author, Kevin Meagher, a former special adviser to Shaun Woodward, (remind me again why unionists didn’t trust that former secretary of state), even called his book “A United Ireland: Why unification is inevitable”.
In response, unionists have challenged nationalism’s “self-regarding, single certainty” in a series of astute articles.