So the war between the UK and the Republic of Ireland has been concluded and put away by the ceremonial visit of Her Nibs to the Garden of Remembrance. The British have finally conceded defeat in that matter.
At least that is what we were told repeatedly and authoritatively during the visit by Her Nibs. Fintan O'Toole of the official newspaper of the State told us so on Radio Eireann. And he said, if she had only come earlier, things would have been settled earlier.
If there were any truth in all of this, it would be a case of Britain snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But of course there isn't any truth in it.
The purpose of the visit by Her Nibs was to consolidate the great displacement of Irish political culture by British influence that has been accomplished during the past generation, and particularly since Mary Robinson made the mission of her Presidency to bring over Her Nibs and refused a second term when she did not think it would happen quickly enough.
What war was it that the visit symbolised the end of? The war between Britain and Ireland fought in Northern Ireland in which the fighting was brought to an end by the Good Friday Armistice of 1998, it seems.
So the Provos must have been acting on the authority of the Dublin Governments, pursuant to Articles 2 & 3 of the Constitution!!
We must confess to a profound misunderstanding of the history of the past forty years. We were misled by appearances into thinking that Dublin Governments sided with Britain in that war. The Provos were harrassed and imprisoned by Dublin Governments during that war, and wild allegations were made about them. And, when Britain eventually made peace with the Provos, and made a tacit admission of blame for the war by opening the prisons, Dublin found it very hard to do likewise. It gave way inch by inch, dragging its heels resentfully, having more than once accused the British of being soft on terrorism.
Now that the war in the North is over, is the Republic claiming the credit for it on the ground of Articles 2 & 3, which were given an outing on RTE during Her Nibs's visit? If not, it is hard to make sense of much that as said in mid-May.
Eamon Dunphy came out as a great enthusiast for Her Nibs and what she stands for. We recall that Dunphy was a venomous opponent of the peace process when it was got going by Gerry Adams, representing Sinn Fein, and John Hume, not representing the SDLP. Dunphy conducted a propaganda campaign against Hume. Of course, he jumped on the bandwagon when it got rolling.
The war was fought in the North, being made possible and necessary by the mischievous mode of government that Britain set up in its Six County region. It was made possible and necessary by that mode of government. It was fought by the community which suffered from that mode of government. It was settled by negotiations between leaders of that community and Britain when Britain came to understand that it could neither win the war nor dissolve it by political chicanery. The only Dublin leader who played a significant part in bringing about a settlement seems to have been the disgraced Charles Haughey, acting behind the scenes, who was the only Taoiseach with some sense of what Northern Ireland was. And then Albert Reynolds was the only Taoiseach who could tend to the end game without dragging up old resentments.
We note that Her Nibs did not visit the region where the war was fought, and where a radical re-structuring was undertaken when it was understood that otherwise the war would continue. She did not visit her own back-yard. Dublin was protected from her. West Belfast didn't have to bother its head about her.
Her Nibs Visits. Editorial
Whodunit? Jack Lane
Bin Laden Welcomes The Arab Spring. David Morrison
The Queen Of England Descends Amongst Us. Conor Lynch
Royal Ritual. George Bernard Shaw (Report)
'Outrage' At 1916 Commemoration. Tom Stokes (Report)
Poems: The Marriage Of Figura. March Of The Yes-Men. Honey, I'm Home. Wilson John Haire
Readers' Letters: Sing Sing. Gerard Murphy
The Moriarty Tribunal. John Martin (Part 2)
Easter Commemorations. Conor Lynch
Crusading Again. Pat Walsh
Shorts from the Long Fellow (Indo Grovelling; Sindo Grovelling; Obama; China; Irish Economy Resilience)
The War Of Independence. Jack Lane (Review: Wm. Sheehan history)
Judaism & Zionism. Editorial
Es Ahora. Julianne Herlihy (Cork By Royal Appointment; Women's Magazines)
Stickie Sneer Or 'Stalinist Smear'? Manus O'Riordan
Naval Warfare. Pat Walsh (Part 11)
Does It Stack Up? Michael Stack (Shakespeare; NAMA Storm; Brian Lenihan)
Editorial Digest. (The South: Corporate Donations; Gilmore; Prince Albert; Croke Park Agreement; Anti-Union)
Dáil Motion On Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. Report
Labour Comment, edited by Pat Maloney:
Ulster, The Next Paradis Fiscal ? Mark Langammer
Private Agenda In Northern Economy. NICC Labour Party Conference Motion.
Irish LP Response To Draft PPS 23 and PPS 24. Press Release |
