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A Reunited Ireland re-imagined for a New Era
Introduction
A century after the colonial partition
of Ireland, it's time for the Irish people to seize the
initiative and openly
campaign for a reunited Ireland free of the remnants of colonialism and religious dogmatism.
The
Eire Athaonthaithe (Reunited Ireland) proposal described on this
website is inclusive , visionary and designed to achieve
that objective. It is a formula
for a peaceful end to the division of Ireland and the
dawning of a new era for the Irish people.
Background.
 Since 1969, six agreements have been
entered into by the British and Irish governments,
the European Union, political parties and
paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland to end a
sectarian war instigated by anti-democratic unionists rule.
The first
of these
was the Sunningdale
Agreement
in
1973,
followed by
the Hillsborough
Agreement
in
1985,
the Good Friday Agreement
in
1998, the St. Andrews Agreement
in
2006, the
New Decade New Approach Agreement
in 2020
and, finally the Windsor Framework Agreement in 2023.
The Windsor Framework
Agreement
came about as a result
of the latest crisis caused by
Brexit, the
United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union and the consequential impact it has had on the
Northern
Ireland Protocol. The protocol is an attachment to
the United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement to deal with
issues posed by the partition of
Ireland.
If the past is any indication, the Brexit fix will
amount to
no more than applying more band-aids to the same festering problem,
the partition of Ireland. What's needed is for the British
government and their Irish cohorts to put away
the band-aids and work on the only solution that matters,
the reunification of Ireland.
However, the likelihood
of that happening is remote, as the British government do not want a
breakup of the United Kingdom and the Irish government
generally defer all matters related to the partition of
Ireland and Northern Ireland to
the British government for resolution.
The eventual Brexit fix, the Windsor Framework was
an agreement entered into by
Northern Ireland unionists and the British Government to
mollify unionist's fears of being sidelined after the
United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union
and the subsequent implementation of the Northern
Ireland Protocol.
Original
Peace
Proposal.
For the past 50 years, the
Eire Nua
(New Ireland) proposal
was the only one ever put forward for a reunited Ireland. It
included as a core requirement, the devolution of government
powers to sub-national authorities i.e., provincial
governments. In order to implement the proposed system, it
would have been necessary to classify the four historic
provinces of Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster as
sub-national authorities. In formulating the proposal, the
authors envisioned a reunited Ireland where specified
government powers would be vested in provincial governments.
They believed that devolved government would be more
attuned to the needs of the people as their representatives
and by definition the laws they passed would be homegrown,
so to speak.
As the plan progressed, the partition of Ireland weighed
heavily on how best to bring decentralized government to
fruition. For instance, how would Donegal, a county located
in the remote north-west corner of Ireland be represented in
a 32-county Republic of Ireland decentralized government
system? It was obvious from the get-go that Donegal’s
geographical and cultural affinity was with Ulster. Therefore, a reunited Ulster would have to be an essential
component of a reunited Ireland if the decentralized
government concept envisioned was to work effectively.
That posed a problem as six of Ulster nine counties are
under British control. The only way to resolve that issue
would be for Britain to relinquish control of the six
counties to their rightful owners, the Irish people. That
is an essential requirement for a reunited Ulster and by
extension a reunited Ireland.
Changes over time to the Political and Economic Landscape
Although economic issues factored into the overall planning,
political considerations dominated the process, particularly
in regard to Northern Ireland’s Unionists who, amongst other
concerns, feared becoming subjects of a southern theocracy.
Since partition, successive inward-looking and protectionist
southern governments have been aloof to any move towards
Irish reunification, as such a prospect would upset their
carefully stacked applecart.
The anathema of Irish
reunification is by no means unique to Northern Ireland's
political elites, for elites in the south also subscribe to
the entrenched legacy of status quo.
It's important to realize that any proposal in existence for
fifty years is unworkable if not updated to keep abreast of
economic, political, social and demographic changes that
have altered the dynamics and complexion of Irish
reunification. In like manner, any new proposal put forward
must be reality based if it hopes to bridge a century of
mistrust and recrimination. In order to do so, a proposal
must include as a basic requirement a new geopolitical map
for an all-Ireland Federal Republic, new government
structures, and a constitutionally protected social
contract. Anything less would be doomed to failure from the
start. If left up to the powers that be in the UK and in
the Republic of Ireland, what would emerge would be a rehash
of the existing convoluted system, primarily designed to
protect the status quo i.e., vested interests.
The
Eire Athaonthaithe (Reunited Ireland) proposal
The transfer of devolved powers to
sub-national
authorities as envisioned in the Erie Nua proposal is
no longer a viable option in light of the many political and
economic changes that have taken place during the past half
century.
The
major drawback with devolution
is how it is instituted. The normal process is for
designated government powers to be transferred
to
sub-national authorities by national legislation. The extent
of the transfer would depend on the mind-set and largesse of
national parliamentarians. In such a system, the national
government controls the transfer of power, which powers are
transferred, and how these powers would be exercised.
There are no
guarantees that powers granted by national-level legislation
could not, in a similar manner, be withdrawn by
national-level legislation.
To avoid such problems in a reunited Ireland, the
Eire Athaonthaithe proposal envisions an all-Ireland
Federal Parliamentary Republic comprised of three distinct
regions namely, 1) the
Ulster Region
encompassing the nine counties of Ulster, 2) the Munster/Connacht
Region encompassing the eleven counties of Munster and Connacht, and
3) the Leinster Region encompassing the twelve counties of
Leinster.
The
union of Connacht and Munster into a single region would
lend economic equity and political balance to what would be
lacking in a standalone Connacht and to a lesser extent, in
a standalone Munster.
The proposed federation would be underpinned by a new
constitution
that
would provide for the allotment of
governmental powers between a national and regional governments.
The new constitution would be the nation’s supreme authority that all
government entities and the people at large would bear allegiance to.
Conclusion
The stakeholders in a reunited Ireland scenario are the
people of Ireland. If the framers of a reunited Ireland act
in good faith as the people’s representatives, the political
entities that emerges will be nonsectarian, egalitarian,
democratic and for the people.
Contributed by TMMTP
Posted 8/6/2022
Last updated 07/25/2024
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