Sir, - Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, September 16th) refers to his lack of empathy with the leaders of the 1916 rebellion, pointing to certain "facts" which he believes most people are unaware of. He states that in his opinion no justification existed for the taking of human life in 1916 or the shooting at Solahead Beg in 1919. I would like to avail of this opportunity to point to other facts that he has chosen to or forgot to mention.
Between 1885 and 1914 the Irish people had consistently voted for self-government. Throughout that same period the British parliament had rejected this demand, first in the Commons and later in the unelected House of Lords. Despite this, at no stage did Irish nationalists resort to or threaten to resort to armed rebellion. Instead they played by the rules of British democracy that said that the Lords, Commons and King made laws and change could only be brought about by a vote of these. In 1911, for their own domestic purposes they changed these rules and the veto of the Lords was reduced in two years. As a result Home Rule was passed and was to come into force in 1914, as defined by the rules of British democracy.
Nationalist Ireland was in for a rude awakening, however. Edward Carson and the Ulster unionists, supported by Bonar Law and the Conservatives, now announced that the rules had changed and that no matter what the British Parliament passed, Home Rule would not come to Ulster. Nor did they await or lobby for an amendment but instead set up an armed private army to defy the law if it were enforced. One can imagine what would have been the British government's reaction if at any time during the previous 30 years nationalists had attempted a similar action in the face of the denial of their democratically expressed aspirations! Coercion would have been the minimum and their actions taken as proof that the Irish were indeed unfit to govern themselves and unable to abide by democratic principles.
The lesson for the nationalists was clear. Might was right and a willingness to use force more important than any act of parliament. So it was the Ulster unionists and their Conservative allies who reintroduced the gun into Irish politics. The frustration of Irish nationalists, who after 30 years of playing by the rules of British democracy, only to see these rules change when the"right" side was not winning, was a major cause of the 1916 rising.
We build history on facts that the historian selects in order to provide an understanding of events. However what Kevin Myers appears to do is to select those facts that suit his own political agenda. That is not history but propaganda. History must strive to be objective, not selective, and we must strive to understand it rather than to use it for our own selective agendas. In Kevin Myers's case this agenda appears to be little better than national iconoclasm. - Yours, etc.,
Rory Masterson,
Ph.D.,
Screggan,
Tullamore,
Co Offaly.