The following article by W. Owl was first published in Unity, the weekly paper of the Irish Communist Party.
A LETTER in the Irish Times was from someone who complained about the amount of space given over to the recent elections in Britain. As far as he was concerned there were far more important issues in Ireland to worry about. It goes without saying though that what happens politically across the water has an effect in Ireland especially in the north, the electoral performance of Reform UK in particular and the prospect of a government led by Farage will have an impact on northern politics.
What did create a deal of interest was the elections of Plaid Cymru in Wales and the SNP in Scotland. In their euphoria Sinn Féin especially along with their mouthpieces in the media such as Brian Feeney predicted the end of the United Kingdom as an entity due to the election results of two parties who believe in independence.
It has been pointed out by Patrick Murphy and Tom Kelly both writing in the Irish News that in actual fact neither party campaigned on the issue of independence. As Kelly added the Sinn Féin president and other commentators have run ahead of themselves in trying to make the UK election results suit their unity narrative. For the last decade politicians and commentators throughout Ireland have been obsessed with Brexit to such a degree the issue has clouded any judgment as to the real class nature of the European Union not that the issue of class has been of any interest to them in the first place. It really kicked off with Fintan O’Tool’s article in the Guardian two days after the 2016 referendum declaring that “The English have put a time bomb under the Good Friday Agreement.” You would have to go a long way for a piece of nonsensical journalism as that. Sinn Féin and the DUP are quite capable and have been in putting a time bomb under the GFA.
Of course we had Sinn Féin whose criticism of the EU was such that any left-wing opponent of the EU would have been jealous but now sees it as part and parcel of a united Ireland. Incidentally we may point out that Wales voted leave something that is totally ignored by the pro-EU-crowd.
Tom Kelly writing in the Irish News 11th May-asked, “is England’s difficulty always Irelands opportunity?” He states that this has been a well-worn phrase within Irish Nationalism since the days of Daniel O’Connell but then asks the question, is that always true? Not necessarily is his answer. He then writes of the interconnectedness of the two nations which is multilayered and that is was and why the UK remains an all-too-real threat to Ireland’s economic wellbeing.
In militant republicanism, the saying has been re-hashed on many occasions-most of which were fruitless. “particularly amongst those nationalist fanatics who even sought a dalliance with Hitler and Nazism during the 2nd World War.” However, in truth, he adds, a political and constitutional crisis in Britain may lead to a calamity in the north, especially in terms of stability. He quotes Mathew O’Toole of the SDLP who said that the prospect of Reform UK in government may assist in having a mature debate with sensible voices in unionism who want no truck with the societal upheaval that Farage and his cronies are bringing.
However, as Kelly writes initial signals from political unionism with the exception of Mike Nesbit-is that they would throw their lot in with Reform. In fact, some seem overly eager, like joyous lemmings heading for the cliff. He writes that mainly what drives this nonsensical “and doomed false hope by unionists is the annoyance (and horror) Reform obviously cause within Sinn Féin, the SDLP and other nationalists.
No-one can predict the outcome should Reform get into government and Farage is mischievous enough to call a border referendum to defeat it as the first one will almost certainly be lost. Or he could continue to stone–wall into the next decade at the behest of his unionist friends.
If the union breaks up it will not be quick if at all, he adds, and is much more likely to be an internal combustion of trust in public authorities. “We are about to enter the political equivalent of a twilight zone.” In answer to the letter writer. Whatever happens across the water the ripples are bound to hit the Irish shores sometime.