SIMON Harris has said that Irish unity is not a priority for him. That is self-evident. But for him to say so is at odds with the stated position of most senior Irish politicians including An Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Their position is one of verbalised adherence to the constitutional objective of unity. In other words, they are verbalised republicans. Rhetorical United Irelanders. Mr Harris doesn't even pay lip service to this.
Some may think this clarity from him is good for the unity debate. And they have a point.
Simon Harris’s words reflect the reality of the position of successive governments. Thus far, no Irish government has a strategy or a plan for unity. So unity is not only not a priority for Simon Harris, it is clearly not a government priority either.
The truth is, he reflects a deep-rooted view within the southern establishment which sees partition as acceptable. For 100 years Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have run the southern state – in their own interests. One led the government. The other led the opposition. And every so often they would walk across the floor of Leinster House, play musical chairs and change places. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Now they are Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dum.
But their position on unity remained unchanged. They knew it was popular with the electorate. Consequently, sometimes it was important to play along with the public mood.
So yes to the rhetoric, no to doing anything about it. But as the debate about unity continues and unity becomes a doable project, these positions are coming into sharp relief.
To this end Harris and Martin will continue to distort the political reality as it suits their aims. On the same day that Harris dismissed unity – “That’s not where my priority is today” – he waffled on how about what he described as the core fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement.
For his information, the first part of the Agreement, after the Declaration of Support, is Constitutional Issues. It’s about constitutional change – and creating the means by which voters here, as equals, can determine the future of this island democratically and freely.
So constitutional arrangements are a core part of the Good Friday Agreement which Mr Harris praises and which the Irish Government is a co-guarantor of. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement acknowledges this in its recent report and calls on the Irish government to plan for Irish unity.
For Simon Harris and Micheál Martin to turn their backs on this and on the fundamental issue of constitutional change and of the need to plan for it is partitionist short-termism.
Harris and Martin should be leading on constitutional change. They are obliged to do so in accordance with their respective party policies and objectives, as well as the Irish Constitution. Do I expect they will? Only if public opinion North and South makes the political price too high for them to ignore.
So, United Irelanders, whoever you are, from whatever party or none, Mr Harris has pointed the way forward. Let’s make unity a priority. That means you need to plan and organise to get the Irish government to plan for unity. Only in that way can we consolidate the substantial momentum that has already developed in recent years and build the new, united Ireland that is so desperately needed for the future.
New alliance reflects global concern about Gaza genocide
AS the Israeli state’s brutal assault on the rights of the Palestinian people continues in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, nine countries came together last Friday at The Hague in the Netherlands to inaugurate a new international alliance in support of Palestinians.
‘The Hague Group’ supports South Africa’s genocide case against the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice and also seeks to maximise international diplomatic and legal action in support of Palestinian national and human rights.
The establishment of the Hague Group came one year to the day from when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional measures deeming a “plausible case of genocide” by Israel in Gaza, following South Africa’s legal action under the Genocide Convention.
Declan Kearney MLA, Sinn Féin’s National Party Chairperson, who is playing a leadership role in supporting the Palestinian cause, was invited to attend and address the event. The nine states making up this new international alliance comprise South Africa, Malaysia, Namibia, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Bolivia, Senegal and Belize.
Declan told me on Monday that Cuba has now joined the Group. Critically, he said: “I think one of the most important aspects of this initiative is that for the first time an international alliance of states from the global south is telling states in the global north that their position on Palestine is not good enough.”
Declan described the establishment of the Hague Group as “a pivotal moment for the Palestinian struggle for justice.” He’s especially grateful for the role played by the Republic of South Africa. The ending of apartheid in South Africa and the creation of a new democratic South Africa owed much to the solidarity of the international community.
So too with our own peace process. The international community, governments and individuals played an important part in achieving the Good Friday Agreement and sustaining the peace. International initiatives and solidarity with the people of Palestine are vital to their winning their freedom and independence.
SPREADING SUPPORT: Declan Kearney at a pro-ceasefire event in the Europa Hotel
A joint statement by the group declared that they were “Determined to uphold our obligations to end the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realisation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine.”
Yvonne Dausab, Namibia’s Minister of Justice, urged other governments to follow the lead of the Hague Group. She said: “When future generations inquire about our contribution to Palestine’s right to self-determination, our response must be that we took concrete measures, or we will be remembered as leaders who watched and did nothing.”
This is especially pertinent for the Irish government, which recently adopted the pro-Israeli definition of anti-semitism and whose negative approach to the Occupied Territories Bill is causing grave disquiet.
I ORDERED a pair of jeans online recently. Why, by the way, do we say a pair of jeans? It’s the same with trousers. A pair of trousers is what we say. That means literally two trousers. Or does it? Maybe it’s a generational thing. Do younger people just say jeans? Or trousers? And why is it plural? Maybe because most jeans and trousers have two legs? A pair of them. So maybe that’s the answer to my question.
Anyway, however you describe it, or them, I recently ordered jeans online. Waist 36 and leg 32. It all seemed very simple and straightforward. However, when the aforementioned jeans arrived one leg was 38 inches long, the other one was 34 inches. Maybe the vendor sent me someone else’s jeans. Maybe some person with a 38-inch leg and a 34-inch leg is waiting for their purchase. Incidentally, the 38-inch one is for the right leg. The other one is for the left leg.
Now I know I can just send them back, though that may be too complicated a process for me at this stage of my online apprenticeship. It certainly makes the process more convoluted and less simple or straightforward. Hence this mention in my column.
If you ordered jeans with a 38-inch right leg and a 34-inch left leg I have them. If you have the ones I ordered we could do a swap. Or for the right price you can have yours. Otherwise, next week sometime I’m getting out my needle and thread. That’s one of the benefits of being a former prisoner. I am very handy at sewing. Sewing is much easier than the machinations of online purchasing.
So there you have it. No more online jeans for me – and that’s the long and short of it.
