Who fears to speak of a United Ireland?

This article was originally printed in an Phoblacht. This will be a regular series of articles to examine Irish Unity from various personalities.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
National Organiser
Ógra Shinn Féin

“This generation needs to be a generation of ‘impatient republicans’,” that’s the message Senator Pearse Doherty sent to Ógra Shinn Féín at its National Congress a number of weeks back in Belfast as we launched our new national campaign, ‘Who fears to speak of a united Ireland?’
He’s right, of course, and as impatient republicans the reunification of our country is an urgent priority and vital objective. That’s why we are launching this campaign to encourage our generation to get involved in the struggle to smash partition.
In the North, with all the benefits of peace, comes a semblance of normality. And while the majority of the nationalist community is behind our project, the danger of apathy setting in is difficult to avoid. Young people in particular, many of whom have little to no memory of conflict, are particularly susceptible.
The urgency of what we intend to achieve must be communicated in simple and clear terms, and indeed we have to listen to their perspective on what partition means to them. For a lot of young people, it’s things like two mobile phone networks, two sets of currency, language rights, the British Army presence, public services being duplicated and two mediocre soccer teams instead of one half-decent one.
It’s the small practical details as much as it is the bigger picture. That’s not to neglect the bigger picture, of course, and we will continue to promote national consciousness and develop a unitary Irish identity that we can all – nationalist, unionist and other – be proud of. We need to communicate that, to paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, ‘Ballymena is as Irish as Ballymun.’
Nor can the South be taken for granted.
A combination of a partitionist media, hostile to republicanism, an Establishment comfortable with the status quo, and an underlying mentality that the national question is settled means that support for reunification isn’t what it should or could be. It isn’t exactly on top of the agenda for most people.
Having said that, most people in the South, if pushed, will state their support for a united Ireland. But have they, or are they ever, likely to do anything to further the cause of unity? In most cases, no. And indeed many of these people may not vote for a united Ireland if push comes to shove. I’m sure you can imagine the media spin – it’ll destabilise the country, we can’t afford it, etc, etc. So it’s abundantly clear we need to get the national question back on the agenda and being debated.
That isn’t going to be done by lecturing and hectoring people for not being active, or by endlessly ruminating on the past. We need to make it relevant to people in the South: why it makes sense financially and socially, and to sell it as something current and attractive.
We need to make it clear that a united Ireland would not be a ‘26-County state deluxe’ but something new, a clean break. After all, this isn’t about lines on maps: it’s about making the quality of life better for all Irish people.
We intend to use this campaign to explore ways of developing support amongst the public in the South, and in particular young people, for a united Ireland.
But it’s not just the wider nationalist community who have to be engaged with. At that Belfast congress, Stephen Agnew of the Green Party said that if we really want a united Ireland it’s up to us to persuade the likes of him, open-minded people who have no ideological attachment to either unionism, or republicanism; to persuade people like him that we can afford a united ireland, and that the quality of public services wouldn’t deteriorate in a united Ireland. And more than that, to persuade them that a united Ireland is economically and democratically the most viable option open to the people of the Six Counties.
Agnew is entirely right. These are the issues that we must engage with and the arguments we must win. There are nominal unionists, sensible people who will vote for a united Ireland if we can assure them that their interests and identity will not be hindered and that stability will not disappear. We intend to engage with these people to find out exactly what concerns they have about a united Ireland and how best to overcome them.
So this campaign will be taking on our traditional objective, quite simply ‘The reconquest of Ireland by the people of Ireland’, in an innovative and imaginative way, widening the debate and mobilising Irish youth. There will be videos, talks, debates, publications, protests and murals, along with some more unconventional methods. How well will it work? As impatient republicans, our success will be measured simply by how long we have to wait.

Ógra Voices for unity

Úna Nic Guidhir
UCC Martin Hurson Cumann/Kerry Ógra

Creidim in Éire aontaithe toisc gur cuid dár ndúchas, dár gcúltúr agus dár spioraid náisiúnta iad na sé chontae a ghoideadh uainn agus, dár liomsa, bheadh sé ar mhaitheas mhuintir na hÉireann ina n-iomlán an tír a bheith aontaithe fé rialtas daonlathach sóisialach amháin.


Tá sé de cheart bunúsach againn an tír a bheith comhlán fé mar a bhí fadó. Ní chuid de Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire iad na sé chontae. Is cuid de Chúige Uladh, Poblacht na hÉireann iad agus ba chóir go n-aithnítear mar san iad.
Fad is atá rialtas na Breataine Móire ag cuir dlíthe agus polasaithe Sasanacha i bhfeidhm i gcuid dár dtír, tá orainn na prionsabail polaitíochta seo a chuir os comhair na ndaoine ionas nach ndéantar dearmad ar an streachailt polaitiúil, agus chun an chreidimh in Éire aontaithe a bhrú ar aghaidh.

Chris Conwell
Fermanagh Ógra
I WANT a united Ireland because partition is illegal and immoral. The British have no right in Ireland. People like me who live in border areas suffer because of the border due to very bad roads, poor public transport and also the great financial burden on young people. Two mobile phone tariffs operating on one small island – it just makes no sense.

Mairéad Farrell
Hurson/D'arcy Cumann
NUIG

A United Ireland is not solely a necessity for nationalistic reasons but it is also important for the running of this country.
We are in the middle of a recession, where Government policies and socialist alternatives are vital in order to create jobs. The fact that two parts of this country use two different currencies and have separate institutions controlling their finances can only hamper any real attempts to stop this recession.
The occupation of this country is as important today as it was 800 years ago.

Barry McColgan
Vol. Dermot Crowley Ógra Shinn Féin
West Tyrone

County Tyrone, 3 times All Ireland Champions, a burning passion for our native language and culture, a county enriched by local literary and musical genius, and of course an unflinching and noted track record of rebellion and resistance against British colonial rule, the O’Neill County has indeed played its part in Ireland’s freedom struggle.

These many factors have greatly attributed to the republican stronghold that it is today, a Sinn Féin MP covering every corner of Tyrone, the largest party representing Tyrone in the Assembly and holding the majority in all local councils, Strabane, Omagh, Dungannon and Cookstown.
The young people of Tyrone have a strong Irish identity and it manifests in the huge interest and active participation in the GAA, Irish dancing, Irish language, Traditional music and the continual growth of Sinn Féin throughout Tyrone.

Despite growing up in the north, under British occupation and living slap bang next to two huge British military barracks, Lisanelly and St Lucia in the County town ofOmagh, I have always had strong Irish Identity and many of the above factors have ensured it.

My childhood like thousands of other young people across the north was spent with a shadow of occupation over our estate and town, watchtowers, perimeter fence, barbwire, and cameras accompanied your walk to school, and you were greeted daily with the constant sight of Brit foot patrols, the constant drone of helicopters, and if you’re lucky a house raid, where the local friendly neighbourhood RUC assisted by their foreign friends would show you the benefits of occupation.

No matter how normal the Brits and their lackies tried to present the ‘normal’ situation in the north, it was very very clear to me, from my earliest memories that something was most certainly wrong, and as I got older I was determined to play my part in changing it.

While ultimately I wanted a United Ireland, as a 16 year old becoming active in Ógra Shinn Féin, it was local issues that concerned us, getting rid of the massive foreign occupation in Omagh and helping to empower our local community.

We helped establish the Omagh Demilitarisation Committee, and jointly lobbied and protested for the immediate closure of the British War Machine’s base in Omagh, we were successful and this came to pass in August 2007. Work is now continuing to ensure that the once occupied land is returned to local people and utilised by the entire community by turning it into an educational campus.

In my opinion that is what ending British rule in Ireland is about, it is ensuring that the illegal, foreign, oppressive and downright nuisance of an occupation is gone, and the stolen land, is handed back to local people, and utilised for the benefit of local communities, to educate and empower local people. It is about ensuring that Irish people determine their own future that we collectively, free from foreign intervention; make the decisions that will place us high on the world stage as a beacon to other oppressed peoples, fighting tyranny and inequality.

It makes sense, it is going to happen in the immediate future, but freedom in itself is only the beginning, it is then that our struggle begins anew, with economic sovereignty we have a duty to implement an agenda of change that stays true to the proclamation but more importantly the people of Ireland.