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Republicanism, the Essence of
a Reunited
Ireland
The
Eire Athaontaithe (Reunited Ireland) proposal for a reunited Ireland
is based on the premise that
Republicanism
is the preferred matrix on which to
build a just and enduring society. Rooted in natural law,
Republicanism is the guarantor of political liberty when sustained
by the rule of law in the absence of domination.
Other
solutions being discussed for reuniting Ireland allude to the need
for guarantors to protect the rights of religious minorities. In
this day and age, such manifestations are a throwback to the rule of
despots and monarchs, no longer fit for purpose in the era of
constitutional democracy.
Republicanism is not a new concept for it has its roots in the
Classical Age as described in the following excerpt from the,
'International
Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition),
2015' authored by Mortimer NS Sellers
Republicanism is the doctrine that public power should always serve
the common good of all those subject to its rule. The republican
philosophical tradition began with Plato and Aristotle,
flowered in the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero, and reappeared
with the revival of learning in such authors as Niccolò Machiavelli,
James Harrington, John Adams, and Immanuel Kant. Since then, others
have returned to the republican conception of liberty as
nondomination, and how to secure this through the rule of law,
popular sovereignty, and the checks and balances of well-designed
deliberative politics. Republicanism seeks freedom and justice
through law and government in pursuit of the common good.
The first manifestation of Irish Republicanism to appear was penned
by Wolfe Tone in
October
of 1791 after the founding of the
Society of United Irishmen.
In outlining the Society’s Statement of Intent, Tone coined
the following succinct justification for breaking the connection
with England.
"To
subvert the tyranny of our execrable Government,
break
the connection with England, the never-failing source of our
political evils,
and to assert the independence of my country—these were my objects.
To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all
past dissensions and to substitute the common name of Irishmen in
place of the denomination of Protestant, Catholic and
Dissenter—these were my means"
Those
words of Tone,
rooted in the doctrine of Republicanism, became the mantra of
successive generations of Irish Republican leaders from Robert Emmet
to Padraic Pearse.
Implicit in Tone’s words was the assertion that Ireland, as a matter
of natural law, had a right to
liberty and political independence.
The means stated therein to achieve political liberty was a
fundamental tenet of Republicanism --- "uniting the people of Ireland
irrespective of beliefs, status or class".
Before
Tone, the men of the American Revolution took great care to justify
their revolution as chronicled in the American Declaration of
Independence. They also made sure that their fellow colonists
understood that their intent was not to replace one tyrannical form
of government with another.
Nonetheless, what they failed to address in their carefully crafted
declaration was the institution of slavery that lingered and tainted
their great American experiment for another 87 years.
In like
manner, Tone in fewer words, promised liberty, equality and a
participatory democracy to the liberated people of Ireland.
Although, the Society’s 1798 attempted overthrow of the
English-controlled execrable government failed, it nonetheless set
in motion incessant waves of rebellion and rebuke that will
eventually “break
the connection with England,
the never-failing source of our political evils". That
will be when Ireland is reunited.
One hundred and twenty-five years after Tone’s pronouncement setting
forth the Society of United Irishmen intent, in like manner, the
planners of the Easter Rising of 1916 set forth their rationale for
doing battle for Ireland’s right to
nationhood on behalf of the Irish people. Their
justification document the ‘Proclamation of the Irish Republic’
invoked the ideology of classical Republicanism by embracing the
theory of natural law to justify the inherent rights of the Irish
people to the ownership of Ireland absent of the terror of
despotism, or the unrestricted power of absolutism.
At the eclipse of Ireland’s revolutionary period in 1923, the
leaders of the nascent Free State government set aside the doctrine
of Republicanism in favor of a pseudo theocracy in partnership with
the Catholic hierarchy. The government viewed that arrangement as an
effective tool to keep the people in
check after a bitter civil war and to mollify them during periods of
economic hardships. The role of women as equal partners in
the affairs of state was also a victim of the misogynistic bent of
the new leaders.
The role of the Catholic Church in Irish life has been sustained by
the fear of salvation denied, or for disobedience or straying from
the absolutism of Catholic doctrine.
Shortly after the Free State government changed hands in 1932, the
role of the Catholic Church in Irish secular life was codified when
granted special status in the 1937 constitution. The 1937
constitution further restricted the role of women to the kitchen and
bedroom.
The absence of constitutional liberty and the arbitrary application
of the rule of law in the Northern Ireland state since its creation
in 1920, has resulted in the loss of life, economic damage, mistrust
and recrimination across the ideological spectrum. The Unionist-led
governments that have ruled unchallenged or unchecked by their
overseers in London since 1920 still believe that the state is
theirs to rule and manipulate as they see fit.
At present, the situation in Ireland is at an impasse because of the
uncertainty surrounding the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK.)
from the European Union (EU), particularly in regard to Northern
Ireland. The Northern Ireland protocol, an arrangement agreed to by
the UK and EU to avoid reintroducing the hard border between both
parts of Ireland, is challenged by the Northern Ireland Unionists as
unconstitutional. Their objections, primarily based on their
perceived Britishness, is anachronistic and lacks merit under any
circumstance.
There
are a number of options being proposed to end the impasse. The best
option is the one outlined in the Eire Athaontaithe proposal i.e.,
all-Ireland Federal Parliamentary Republic underpinned by a written constitution
and the rule of law absent domination by outsiders. The proposal
offers a clear-cut solution that not only obviates the need for the
protocol, but also ends the state of insanity caused by the
partition of Ireland. No artificial border would be necessary as the
Irish sea, the natural border between Ireland and England, would
suffice to separate the UK from the EU and at the same time allow
the Irish landscape to heal and the Irish people to reconcile.
TMMTP
Date posted 8/6/2022
Updated
10/22/2023
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