@RaymondCrotty is right.
The staters seem to be of the view this is their choice to allow us move in to their house when it’s not.
It’s about the end of partition in Ireland, the end of two rotten and failed states and the change for new and fresh beginnings.
Thanks LR. I think the Irish state can often get conflated with Ireland/being Irish in southern commentary/media/conversations. Many in the south can feel they are entitled to pass judgement on the Irishness of those who do not come from the state. ‘Nordies’ can be regarded as less Irish. To be Irish there are often connotations in mindset of some from the south and those connotations are restrictive and binary. Building a shared island means educating some people in the south that they don’t have a monopoly on Irishness.
It actually is. Ye lads need to fall the fuck in and stop insulting us as a starting point.
You’re touching on the crux of the issue there Raymondo… Ireland as we think of it, or more so its past, is something that was invented in the 19th century by poets. This romantic form of nationalism took hold in Europe throughout the 19th C. It basically gave us WW1 and WW2 and a host of other problems across Europe that can still be felt today… Unionists subscribe to their own version of it but we’ve hemmed ourselves in to have a extremely green outlook on Irishness… Can we relinquish values that we think are truths? The younger generation probably can more so than anyone over 40… You’ve people of unionist persuasion who can trace their roots on the island back 400 odd years…90% actually have gaelic Irish surnames and bloodlines. When you look at it from just that perspective alone we are literally cousins sharing the same origin story and DNA, just separated by different religions or political identity. But as emotional creatures we disengage with that type of objectivity and let things like romantic nationalism rule us… I suppose every country has its own version of truth that is hard to shift but not many have two sets of completely different takes on it sharing such a small space in the way we do.
Flags and songs and the likes mean nothing. They can change any time. Anyone getting bent out of shape here is just a slave to the old narrative I spoke about above… We share a small space and have a shared history and bloodlines - these are the real truths worth focusing on. The more we realize what we have in common the easier it will be to overcome the other differences.
Romantic Ireland is dead and gone it’s with McGuiness in the grave.
People completely underestimate the DUP, they might even underestimate themselves. They’ll be just as sickening, ill-mannered and irrational in a united Ireland…but with added perceived grievances, which will be endlessly indulged bu the likes of MM, rte and drew harris…both in the media and in terms of legislation and handouts. Thankfully they can still be relied on to fuck it all up for themselves.
They’ve never had a regulator like Joe Duffy to keep them honest.
They’ll boycott him
Because I was born 5 miles on the southern side of the border the media call the way I feel “nationalism” and it’s a very respected viewpoint. If I had been born just 5 miles away in South Armagh it would be called “tribalism” and dismissed as a dirty, unrespectable thing.
I thought this was an interesting enough piece and probably a better reflection of the views of hard-line unionists than the playing to the gallery nonsense you get from DUP elected representatives.
Exactly. A false construct. Should be divided properly.
I gave you a like but have to disagree with you somewhat. Irish Republicanism does not stem so much from nationalism, it’s lineage flows from the ideals of the French revolution when being left wing meant something. The United Irishmen were formed in Belfast, the Fenians through the IRB were all Republicans first before being nationalists. It all went tits up after the treaty vote and Dev the cunt went on a solo run and later took the entire country with him.
I’m less confident about a United Ireland than I was. I think the latest polling is 50% of people in Ireland support it, that’s nowhere near enough, I’d say you would need at least 70% in the south before it becomes viable. It probably needs a new generation of leaders in the North to embrace the idea, and perhaps Brexit will do it, although the UK versus EU outcomes of the pandemic could impact that.
Agree on flags and songs, embrace them all, every other country with multiethnicities has had to do the same. Take it down from the mast followed by the sash. Fuck it why not.
If it happens in my lifetime it will be the Federal Nation of Ireland, new constitution, rejoin the Commonwealth, Queen to be head of State, new flag with a Union Jack in the corner of it, Ireland’s Call as the national anthem, guaranteed Northern seats at the cabinet table.
2 soccerball teams ???
One
Pint of Carlsberg for yourself?
Political parties both sides of the border would have to rebrand. No pointvin a Unionist party if Unionism has been conceded. Parties with twee Irish names would give them up to try and get votes from Northerners. Sinn Fein would keep theirs because they’ll always be toxic to Protestants. Ffg would have to contend With having less chance of forming a stable government. Indeed the political class would have to consider carefully the implications of all this for themselves and the cost of a massive civil service. There would be some unpopular decisions to be made.
A bit like Australia but without the big insects and forest fires.
Republicanism and Irish identity are somewhat different tho…they share strands but I’m on about the idea of Ireland and Irishness that most people have stems from the 19th century. True republicanism does indeed stretch back further… But I’m not sure many people in this island subscribe to equality, fraternity etc.
The young lad watching news this week asked me when they would have to evacuate Australia.
I’ll stick on Mad Max this weekend and tell him it’s a documentary.