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Andy Burnham is a Unionist
Should we have been surprised by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s crass assertion last week that the issue of the unity referendum promised in the Good Friday Agreement, “is one issue that will be off the table.”?
Two months ago as I watched Burnham address the media outside10 Downing St, on the day he replaced Keir Starmer, I wrote that he; “like every British Prime Minister governs in the interests of the English establishment. He like his predecessors is a Unionist.”
For as far back as England’s involvement in Ireland its policies have always been determined by British national interests. Not the interests of the Irish people.
In the 28 years since the Good Friday Agreement successive British governments have prevaricated and stalled and refused to accept the imperative of its commitments. Regrettably, they have been aided in this by Irish governments and in particular by the current Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who has refused to countenance planning for unity. Despite this the demand for Irish unity has grown in the political and popular discourse.
So, whatever Mr. Burnham thinks the right to self-determination is not going away. The demand for Irish unity is not going away. The growing strength of public opinion, North and South, in support of unity is not going away.
On the contrary Instead of taking the issue of unity “off the table” Mr. Burnham’s comments brought a renewed focus to it. US Congress members Brendan Boyle and Richie Neal, both stalwart defenders of the Good Friday Agreement, quickly reminded Burnham that the question of unity is for the people, “and for the people only.” Gordon Brown, a former British PM asserted that unity is inevitable. And a range of other political figures from within Fianna Fáil, the Social Democrats and Irish Labour party were critical of Mr Burnham. Ireland’s Future have asked for a meeting with the British Secretary of State on the issue.
Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald slammed Burnham's comments as "divisive and ill-informed." Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill, speaking at the National Hunger Strike march in Ballina at the weekend, bluntly told him that the “unity referendum is not a concession to be gifted to the people of Ireland by any English politician.”
One result of the blow-back to Burnham was a hurried statement from his Downing St. Office trying to defuse the row by restating his commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, “every part of it, including the principle of consent …" The Secretary of State, Chris Bryant also rushed to Burnham’s defence adding that the two, “stand full square behind all elements of the GFA including on a border poll.”
So what should our response be? I am not naïve. There is no certainty in this process but if we apply ourselves strategically and effectively our combined efforts can make unity happen. We can do it. By growing the greatest possible popular and political consensus we can build a new Ireland that belongs to everyone, including those who value their British identity. As Michelle O’Neill told the thousands in Ballina, the new Ireland “invites everyone to help shape what we can become together.”
To achieve that we need to be better organised than those who oppose unity and the Good Friday Agreement. That includes the British establishment. Freedom is rarely given. It is almost always taken by those who want it the most. That process is well under way. Let’s keep at it!
Drumcree – Unionism Stuck in the Past
In the early hours of Sunday 6 July 1997 I remember vividly driving back from an event in Tralee, County Kerry because of the growing tension over Unionist demands to march down the Garvaghy Road. I arrived home as David Blevins for Sky News broke the news that hundreds of British soldiers and RUC had swamped the nationalist streets of Garvaghy Road. Protestors were swept aside and the Orange Order got its march. There were widespread civil disturbances as nationalist areas reacted to the developments. 1997 was the last year a march took place. The Parade Commission decisions and the opposition of the local community had seen to that.
Last week Drumcree and the Garvaghy Road jumped back into the media headlines when the High Court in Belfast quashed a determination by the Parades Commission to ban this year’s Drumcree march. It did so because of a procedural flaw in how that decision was reached.
The High Court decision did not clear the way for an Orange Order parade to proceed down the Garvaghy Road. But it did lead to an increase in the sectarian bombast that has long been part and parcel of political unionism in the northern state. The UUP, DUP and TUV have all united to claim “a massive victory for unionism and loyalism” and to demand that the Orange Order be able to march through the nationalist Garvaghy Road area. They want to turn the clock back to the ‘No surrender’ ‘Not an Inch’ ethos of the Orange State. They want a return to the old order.
That will not happen. Nationalists and non-unionists are looking to the future not the past. The nationalist community of the Garvaghy Road area is greater now than it was in 1997. It has lived in peace for almost 30 years. It deserves to be able to continue to do so and there is no desire within that community to facilitate a sectarian Orange march.
Paddy Elliott
The Elliott’s and the Adams’s were cousins. They still are. Maybe second or third cousins by this generation. But back in the day my Granny Adams was a Begley. So was Paddy Elliott’s mammy. And Gerry Begley’s Daddy. Brother and sisters. Paddy and Gerry were six or seven years older than me. They were inseparable when I was growing up.
I was living in Abercorn Street North with my Granny. Gerry Begley lived in the same street. I think Paddy was reared in Gibson Street, but he spent a lot of time in Abercorn Street North. There were very few cars in those days so the streets belonged to the children. Especially during the summer. Girls and boys. Dogs. Hopscotch and Marlies. Skipping songs, swings on the lamp posts, rounders, street soccer with a ball made from a sock filled with newspapers, hurling and handball.
Paddy Elliott excelled in all these. For five or six year olds like me he was a big boy. A protector when the hellions from Getty Street intruded on our play space. It is a great comfort for a five or six-year-old to have a ten or eleven-year-old to look up to or to lead expeditions to Colin Glen, Tornaroy or the Hatchet Field. Or the Dunville Park at the foot of our street.
Paddy became a stalwart of Dwyers GAC. He was a fearlessly fierce hurler, passionate and skilled. As hard as nails. Competitive. He played well into his fifties. So too with handball. He won an All-Ireland doubles with Johnsey Dempsey. That was after his quadruple by-pass.
Paddy was also always great fun. That stayed with him until his death, aged 83, last week. I always associate him with slagging and banter and laughter. He was a pillar of the Gaeldom locally. Like many other men and women of their age and background. Great family and community people. The cement that held us all together through the years of conflict. Decent people. He and Sally reared a fine family in Lenadoon.
Paddy was also an avid pigeon man. Even when his health suffered he stuck with his birds.
He became profoundly deaf which led him to shout a lot. In order to hear himself, he said. So normal conversations quickly descended or ascended into yelling matches. This often created hilarious exchanges of loud comedic pantomime dialogue. Especially in the house between him and Pearse.
Paddy was very politically tuned in. A sound republican who cared about what was happening especially to young people. He was constructive and thoughtful and I always enjoyed hearing his insights.
My thoughts are with all his clann now that Paddy has gone. He got a great send off. As he deserves. My solidarity to his sons and daughters. His grandchildren. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire air.
Seamus Redmond’s A Hurlers Prayer was written for hurling warriors like Paddy.
Grant me O' Lord a hurlers skill
With strength of arm and speed of limb,
Unerring eye for the flying ball
And courage to match whate'er befall,
May my stroke be speedy and my aim be true
My actions manly and my misses few,
No matter what way the game may go
May I rest in friendship with every foe,
And when the final whistle for me has blown
And I stand at last before Gods judgement throne,
May the great referee when he calls my name
Say, You hurled like a man, You played the game.
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