Sinn Féin’s Brit-bashing is damaging to political discourse

Return to antique rhetoric suggests unionists have no right to live on this island

Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 05:00

Stephen Collins

Members of the Brehon Law Society marching in the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Members of the Brehon Law Society marching in the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

One of the most pernicious aspects of the Brexit shambles as far as this country is concerned is the way it has legitimised a virulent form of Brit-bashing which had almost disappeared from political discourse in the decades since the Belfast Agreement.

This could be as harmful for Ireland as in the long run as the economic consequences of Brexit.

Please subscribe or to continue reading.

Most Read

1 Journalist Lyra McKee (29) shot dead during Derry riots

2 Growing up gay in Belfast: ‘I used to bargain with God not to send me to hell’

3 Lyra McKee featured in Forbes’ 30 under 30

4 Easter eggs: Avoid the one with 73 teaspoons of sugar

5 Paddy Cosgrave: Why Ireland must end its reliance on low corporate tax

6 Four ATMs stolen in Co Meath and Co Antrim

7 Ireland’s 'compo' culture: Is change finally on the horizon?

8 Six of the best films to see in cinemas this weekend

9 I lay down on the rug and the next thing I’m on the phone to my dead mother

10 Sky News anchor’s rant shows how a lack of diversity is skewing the news

11 Best of Irish: 10 shooting stars of Irish writing

12 Gardaí are being forced to rent cars ‘like tourists’ due to ageing fleet

13 Property tax is key to establishing a more equal Ireland

14 Tech millionaire’s 358-acre Meath estate for €11m

15 ‘Guns thunder at midnight’: when the Republic left the Commonwealth

16 Easter weather: Temperatures to hit 23 degrees over weekend

17 'I’ve yet to see anyone coming to a party in Ireland at the time that was suggested'

18 Monty Python’s Life of Brian: ‘John Cleese refused to ad-lib. He’s a humour fundamentalist’

19 How widespread was sympathy for IRA in the South in the 1970s?

20 Glenveagh seeks to build 274 apartments in Cork

21 Mueller report: Special counsel fails to clear Trump of obstruction

22 Conor McGregor house hunt proves fruitless

23 Formidable Toulouse on the crest of a wave as Leinster await

24 Revealed: The most requested takeaway order at Leinster House

25 Do not blame courts for the high cost of insurance

26 ‘Almost every room was destroyed’: Landlord finds ‘two years of rubbish’ in Cork house

27 Good Friday: Cut your hair and nine other traditions you’ve never heard of

28 Derry car bomb: Who is the New IRA group suspected of attack?

29 Matt Williams: AIL clubs are in an unsustainable mess

30 Emma DeSouza and human rights body criticise DUP over citizenship stance

31 Reflections on the literary legacy of John McGahern

32 Miriam Lord: Nancy Pelosi and Bono induce fan mania in Dáil

33 Almost 2m hens living in cages with space ‘the size of A4 sheets’ in Ireland

34 Four candidates remain in race for role of Central Bank governor

35 Dublin Extinction Rebellion protest to disrupt ‘business as usual’

36 Face to face with murder

37 US Congress would oppose an EU trade deal that endangered NI peace, Neal says

38 Ulster Bank customers face higher charges from Friday

39 The Meath village where pubs will stay closed on Good Friday

40 ‘My daughter hated me when she was a teenager and she still does’

Real news has value

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out