A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
The Irish Presidential election campaign is underway. This week, the first TV election debate was broadcast, allowing an in-depth examination of the policies, personalities, and positions of all three candidates.
Over the hour-and-a-half debate, the voters got an in depth insight into the candidates. Jim Gavin (Fianna Fáil) and Heather Humphreys (Fine Gael) represent parties that have effectively been in government since 2016. The remaining candidate is Independent TD, Catherine Connolly who has the backing of the main opposition parties.
Both Gavin and Humphreys offered meaningless political platitudes far removed from real life. They offered a vision of a passive presidency promising to listen to the Irish people, but would not countenance any criticism of their own parties in government.
In contrast Catherine Connolly offered a vision of a presidency which celebrated Irish culture and language and promoted the rights of citizens in the constitution and the nation beyond the boundaries of the state.
The final round of questions focused on Irish Unity, mirroring the previous comments by an Taoiseach, the two government candidates spoke of the need for reconciliation before unity. Neither offered any elucidation about what they meant by reconciliation or how this fit with the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement. It hung in the air, intangible and hollow, rendering reconciliation as a meaningless soundbite and an excuse to no not plan for unity.
Heather Humphreys attributed it to John Hume, yet failed to add that his party is calling for the government to start preparations for Irish Unity. Both government candidates mentioned the work being resourced by the government to promote all-Ireland working, or as it’s known, the “Shared Island” approach, yet the Taoiseach is on record as saying this is not connected to the unity project.
It would appear that the definition of the government parties of reconciliation is that either Irish Nationalists would accept partition as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did, or just as magically, unionists will, over time, become united Irelanders. This is as insulting as it is ignorant of the politics and identities in the North.
The Good Friday Agreement reconciles the position of those in favour of Irish Unity with those in favour of continued division by codifying a democratic process to address the issue. It is up to the people to determine their future in referendums north and south. That process is agreed and endorsed by the vast majority across Ireland. Both the British and Irish Governments are refusing to implement this right to national self-determination.
Irish Unity and reconciliation go hand in hand. Reconciliation, addressing the past, respecting difference, and working together is required in both a divided and a united Ireland. It is an ongoing process. Over a coffee this week, Glen Bradley, a friend who is from the unionist community and now an advocate for peaceful constitutional change, articulated the position that Irish reunification was nation-building and at its heart must be the process of reconciliation.
Speaking on Saturday at an event, Catherine Connolly reminded us that the Irish Constitution states that Irish Unity is the firm will of the Irish Nation. As President, she would advance the will of the nation and advocate for Unity, and build reconciliation. These are not mutually exclusive, nor does one precede the other. Unity and reconciliation go hand in hand.
