A chara, – The 97th anniversary of the Easter Rising will be commemorated this Easter with a ceremony attended by the President and representatives of the Government. While all main political parties can, with James Connolly, Éamon de Valera, Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, claim that their founding fathers were part of the Easter Rising, most of them haven’t referred in recent years to the ambitions of their founding fathers for Irish freedom.
This gives Sinn Féin the opportunity to dominate the discussion which links it to the Troubles and makes it hard to discuss the benefits of unity. The SDLP claims on its website that as it “always stood for peace, it can persuade the majority in the North for unity”. As Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party can also claim that they stand for peace, a strong commitment of these parties for a united Ireland would make it easier to highlight its benefits and to increase support for unity among the people living in the North.
The dispute over the Union Jack on Belfast City Hall shows that the current political system in the North can lead to very unsatisfying results. Unionists could benefit substantially from Irish unity, as they would form a significant part of the population and solutions to issues around parades and flags could be found in a much more amicable way. Unionists could protect their interests and celebrate their culture even more than at the moment.
The anniversary of the Easter Rising gives the opportunity to show thankfulness for its achievements, but also to work towards a situation where the goals set out in the Proclamation of Independence, such as civil and equal rights, sovereignty and ownership by the people of Ireland to Ireland, will apply to everyone living on this island. – Is mise,
PATRICK BAMMING,
Portland Street,
Dublin 1.