With a Border poll on — in my view — the not-too-distant horizon, it is worth considering that a single vote either side of 50 per cent will be enough to decide the constitutional future(s) of everyone on this island.
Of course, a simple majority is fully in line with the Belfast Agreement and, indeed, with democracy itself. It is not, however, what anyone genuinely interested in creating a peaceful, settled future would desire.
The onus, therefore, is on those with a fixed idea of where the best future for the people of Ireland lies to convince as many doubters as possible in advance of a Border poll. So far, so obvious. What should be equally obvious is that to achieve this, the past needs to be fully addressed by all concerned.
Our past(s) can’t simply be “put behind us”, as though of no more import than a bad day at the office. While time may be a great healer in many parts of the world, this has never been the case in Ireland, North or South. With us, time tends to act as an incubator for unacknowledged grievances. Along with others, now is the time for the Government of the Republic, on behalf of the State, to fully acknowledge its past.
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At the partition of Ireland, two religious minorities, one on either side of the Border, were simply abandoned to their fate. And neither was treated very well, to put it mildly.
The systemic discrimination suffered by the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland at the hands of unionism has, quite rightly, been well-aired and officially acknowledged.
This has not been the case where the much smaller Protestant minority south of the Border is concerned. Their experience has been all but ignored. On the rare occasion when not ignored, it is more often than not “contextualised” or simply excused in a bland “this sort of thing happens” fashion. The Irish Protestant experience includes, but is far from restricted to, the Dunmanway Massacre in Cork when, during the Civil War, 21 Protestants were killed, and also the armed attacks on Protestants, their businesses, homes, and places of worship in numerous parts of the country throughout 1935.
During the latter, “Remember 21″ was written in tar on the streets of Dunmanway. As if there was any chance that local Protestants might have forgotten. But just in case, threatening letters were sent to Protestant bank employees in the town.
In Limerick, during the same period, a 600-strong mob ran through the town smashing the windows of Protestant churches, businesses and homes. The local Garda superintendent reported that the Lord Mayor of Limerick and members of the Catholic clergy had suggested to him that investigations of the attacks should be discontinued and no further prosecutions initiated.
Today’s Republic of Ireland is of course light-years removed from how it once was. It is nowadays a self-confident, modern, progressive, liberal democracy
In Galway, dock workers, led by a fife band, marched through the town calling for a general strike by Catholics until all Protestant employees of local factories had been dismissed from their jobs.
Much of what went on was, strictly speaking, illegal. But none of it happened in a vacuum. The southern State was operating almost as a theocracy then, which surely set the tone — Ne Temere, and Fethard-on-Sea (1957) anyone?
In everyday life, it is how you are treated by your neighbours that matters, and there are infinite legal ways to make a person, or a people, feel unwanted. To make them feel that they don’t belong. Boycotting small businesses, cold-shouldering people on the street, making sneering remarks, and teaching children that the “other side” are heretics, are just some of these.
Not everyone in the South at that time was a bigot — I’m thinking of Noel Browne, here. But it only takes a few to have an entire community living in fear, as no doubt our fellow citizens, North and South, under attack because of their skin colour and religion would attest. And during the times in question, there were an awful lot more than a few bigots around.
Today’s Republic of Ireland is of course light-years removed from how it once was. It is nowadays a self-confident, modern, progressive, liberal democracy. In other words, it is well-placed to give official recognition to how, for a very long time, everyday life was for Irish Protestants. Not only would this give some solace to descendants (often living elsewhere, their Irish parents or grandparents having been driven out by violence or fear of it) it would help promote reconciliation across our island. And that after all is what a New Ireland, whatever shape it takes, is all about.
- David Adams is a commentator, former loyalist paramilitary and later charity worker with Goal
