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Partitionism Rules.
Simon Harris has said that Irish unity is not a priority for
him. That is self-evident. But for him to say so is at odds with the
stated position of most senior Irish politicians including An Taoiseach Micheál
Martin. Their position is one of verbalised adherence to the constitutional
objective of unity. In other words, they are verbalised republicans. Rhetorical
United Irelanders. Mr Harris doesn't even pay lip service to this. Some may
think this clarity from him is good for the unity debate. And they have a
point.
Simon Harris words reflect the reality of the position
of successive governments. Thus far no Irish government has a strategy or a
plan for unity. So unity is not only not a priority for Simon Harris. It is
clearly not a government priority either.
The truth is he reflects a deep-rooted view within the
southern establishment which sees partition as acceptable. For 100 years Fianna
Fáil and Fine Gael have run the southern state – in their own interests. One
led the government. The other led the opposition. And every so often they would
walk across the floor of Leinster House, play musical chairs and change places.
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Now they are Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dum.
But their position on unity remained unchanged. They knew it
was popular with the electorate. Consequently, sometimes it was important to
play along with the public mood. So Yes, to the rhetoric. No to doing anything
about it. But as the debate about unity continues and unity becomes a doable
project these positions are coming into sharp relief.
To this end Harris and Martin will continue to distort the
political reality as its suits their aims. On the same day that Harris
dismissed unity, “That’s not where my priority is today” he waffled
on how about what he described as the core fundamentals of the Good Friday
Agreement.
For his information the first part of the Agreement, after
the Declaration of Support, is Constitutional Issues. It’s about
constitutional change – and creating the means by which voters here, as
equals can determine the future of this island democratically and freely.
So constitutional arrangements are a core part of the
Good Friday Agreement which Mr Harris praises and which The Irish Government is
a co-guarantor of. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of The
Good Friday Agreement acknowledges this in its recent report and calls on the
Irish government to plan for Irish unity.
For Simon Harris and Micheál Martin to turn their backs on
this and on the fundamental issue of constitutional change and of the need
to plan for it is partitionist short termism.
Harris and Martin should be leading on constitutional
change. They are obliged to do so in accordance with their respective party
policies and objectives, as well as the Irish Constitution. Do I expect they
will? Only if public opinion North and South makes the political price too high
for them to ignore.
So, United Irelanders, whoever you are, from whatever party
or none, Mr Harris has pointed the way forward. Let’s make unity a priority.
That means you need to plan and organise to get the Irish government to plan
for unity. Only in that way can we consolidate the substantial momentum that
has already developed in recent years and build the new, united Ireland that is
so desperately needed for the future.
International support grows for Palestinian Struggle
As the Israeli state’s brutal assault on the rights of the
Palestinian people continues in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank nine
countries came together last Friday at The Hague, in the Netherlands, to
inaugurate a new international alliance in support of Palestinians.
‘The Hague Group’ supports South Africa’s genocide case
against the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice, and also seeks
to maximise international diplomatic and legal action in support of Palestinian
national and human rights.
The establishment of The Hague Group came one year to the
day last year when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional
measures deeming a “plausible case of genocide” by Israel in
Gaza, following South Africa’s legal action under the Genocide
Convention.
Declan Kearney MLA, Sinn Féin’s National Party Chairperson,
who is playing a leadership role in supporting the Palestinian cause, was
invited to attend and address the event. The nine states making up this
new international alliance includes South Africa, Malaysia, Namibia, Colombia,
Chile, Honduras, Bolivia, Senegal and Belizes.
Declan told me on Monday that Cuba has now joined the
Group. Critically he said; “I think one of the most important aspects
of this initiative is that for the first time an international alliance of
states from the global south is telling states in the global north that their
position on Palestine is not good enough.”
Declan described the establishment of The Hague Group
as “a pivotal moment for the Palestinian struggle for justice.” He
was especially grateful for the role played by the Republic of South Africa.
The ending of apartheid in South Africa and the creation of a new democratic
South Africa owed much to the solidarity of the international community. So too
with our own peace process. The international community, governments and
individuals played an important part in achieving the Good Friday Agreement and
sustaining the peace. International initiatives and solidarity with the people
of Palestine are vital to their winning their freedom and independence.
A joint statement by the group declared that
they were; “Determined to uphold our obligations to end the
Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realization of the
inalienable right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, including
the right to their independent State of Palestine.”
Yvonne Dausab, Namibia’s Minister of Justice urged other
governments to follow the lead of The Hague Group. She said: “When
future generations inquire our contribution to Palestine’s right to
self-determination, our response must be that we took concrete measures, or we
will be remembered as leaders who watched and did nothing.”
This is especially pertinent for the Irish government which
recently adopted the pro-Israeli definition of Anti-Semitism and whose negative
approach to the Occupied Territories Bill is causing grave disquiet.
OFF LINE.
I ordered a pair of jeans on line recently. Why, by the way,
do we say a pair of jeans? It’s the same with trousers. A pair of trousers is
what we say. That means literally two trousers. Or does it? Maybe it’s a
generational thing. Do younger people just say jeans? Or trousers? And why is
it plural? Maybe because most jeans and trousers have two legs? A pair of them.
So maybe that’s the answer to my question.
Anyway however you describe it or them I recently ordered
jeans on line. Waist 36 and leg 32. It all seemed very simple and straight
forward. However, when the aforementioned jeans arrived one leg was 38 inches
long. The other one was 34 inches. Maybe the vendor sent me someone
else’s jeans. Maybe some person with a 38 inch leg and a 34 inch leg is waiting
for their purchase. Incidentally the 38 inch one is for the right leg. The
other one is for the left leg.
Now I know I can just send them back though that may be too
complicated a process for me at this stage of my online apprenticeship. It
certainly makes the process more convoluted and less simple or
straightforward. Hence the reason for this mention in my column.
If you ordered jeans with a 38 inch right leg and a 34 inch
left leg I have them. If you have the ones I ordered we could do a swap. Or for
the right price you can have yours. Otherwise next week sometime I’m getting
out my needle and thread. That’s one of the benefits of being a former
prisoner. I am very handy at sewing. Sewing is much easier than the
machinations of on line purchasing. So there you have it. No more online jeans
for me.
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