Gerry Adams renews call for a united Ireland and urges Kenny to draft new constitution
Sinn Fein leader calls for unity at Dublin conference
Published Sunday, June 19, 2011, 8:00 AM
Updated Sunday, June 19, 2011, 8:01 AM
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Gerry Adams
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has urged the Irish government to draw up a plan for Irish unity as soon as possible.
The veteran Republican, recently elected to the Irish parliament in the Louth constituency, has called on Prime Minister Enda Kenny to give the All-Ireland plan his immediate attention.
Speaking to the first of two Sinn Fein conferences on bringing the island of Ireland together, Adams demanded that Kenny work on a new constitution and other measures.
Adams told the conference on Irish unity: “Real social, economic and political change is not easily achieved but all those who have a genuine commitment towards building an Irish republic worthy of the name must work together towards that end.”
The Sinn Fein leader addressed a meeting that was also attended by former Ulster Democratic Party member David Adams, the Rev Gary Mason from East Belfast and former Lebanon hostage Brian Keenan.
“I call on the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to commission a Green Paper on Irish unity which would address all aspects of this national and democratic project, including its political, social, economic, cultural, legal, administrative and international dimensions,” said Adams.
“It makes no sense for an island of six million people to have a two state structure with duplication of services.”
Adams called for an end to duplication of services north and south and said a federated Ireland could be part of the solution while stressing that the views of unionists needed to be taken into account.
He challenged Kenny to produce a new constitution which would be "discussed, debated and agreed by all on this island, which would enshrine citizens’ rights in law."
“Citizens north and south are looking for something new,” said the Sinn Fein president.
“They want a society which is equitable and just. The 1916 Proclamation is the template for this. It used language that was appropriate for that time.
“We need a new all-Ireland constitution that enshrines the principles and ideals of 1916 and gives expression to them for the 21st century.”
59 Comments
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FallsRNat | Jul 03, 2011, 04:43 PM EDT
sirpeter - i lived in the UK for 5 years, it's a great place, really cosmopolitan
There are 4 solutions to the Irish problem;
1) it becomes an enforced united ireland in the next 50 years & those of us who want no part of it, relocate to the mainland. The Northern/Southern Irish who support a UI on the mainland are in turn relocated back to the 32 counties.
2) The situation stays the same as now, however, too prove that the SI are capable of inclusiveness, they rejoin the commonwealth, July 12th is a NH etc
3) when Scotland goes independent, NI ballots to join them as a separate state outside both the UK & SI.
4) Ireland joins a federation of the British isles countries, each having independent govts, but shared services such as defences, shipping, fishing, currency etc.
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sirpeter | Jul 01, 2011, 11:12 PM EDT
(cont)It's the Irish way.I can guarantee one thing the people of the south will not be celebrating a UI,because most don't care and those who do will just be glad it's all over.Unity of ALL the people Protestant and Catholic on this small island is what I want.It's all just stupid posturing.We really need the DUP Prods.Somebody needs to put manners on the Irish government.Northern Ireland Sinn Fein and the DUP would do a great job in getting them in order.You said it yourself.Who would they be representing?The people who give them votes.The people of the North.Seamus your place is at home not in the UK.You would hate it anyway.Probably end up living next door to a Muslim mosque and a Jamaican Rasta ganga smoke house.Religion won't matter because>>>Because you won't matter.
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sirpeter | Jul 01, 2011, 09:51 PM EDT
FallsRNat.Seamus I think you are wrong in your assessment of the Irish people in the South.You made a very interesting point about retreating into our age old positions and then we both fall back on the use of violence as a way of letting off steam & if the perception of 1 side ruling over the other comes into play.That's the North in a nutshell.It's a constant power struggle.The question is a struggle for what? Take away the border and what changes in real terms?The rich Protestants & Catholics remain rich and the poor Protestants & Catholics remain poor.Nothing changes in real terms.The odd thing is and I can only speak for Cork but there is no poor prods in Cork.Not poor like in NI anyway.Most from what I can see in the Prod clubs have money anyway.You talk about the republican psyche and the SI govt.We are about to elect a Protestant faggot as president even if he likes man/boy relationships.Big Ian thinks this guy should be burning in the fires of hell.You honestly think religion counts in the South?If it does it missed everyone I know.Seamus the PIRA and the RIRA ect will quietly lay down their arms in the event of a UI.It's the I
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FallsRNat | Jul 01, 2011, 05:53 PM EDT
sirpeter - i think that you have raised some important points, however, you should really have a good understanding of the republican psyche, no UI based on the current political thinking in either of their's or the SI govt of whatever hue is workable.
out of the Nationalist community, it goes something like this;
20% for personal reasons would probably relocate to the UK.
15-20% who were, are active members of the security forces would relocate.
35% would be happy to go into a UI
25% floating voters who would way up on economic grounds where they would best like to be
Even in the event of a catholic majority of the pop in the north, it would have to outweigh the prods & those RCs not in favour of a UI by 80-20% & i'm afraid that this is never going to happen.
I personally don't care, I'll decline the invitation, the antics of the Provos has destroyed any hope i had for a united free state, i can't imagine standing on the steps of belfast town hall with them running rings around me celebrating their famous victory, if the price of a UI is that 70% of the people in the North have to leave & relocate to another country, then it will be a very pyrrhic victory indeed, i'll take my chances amongst the UK population where religion doesn't count.
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sirpeter | Jun 29, 2011, 10:09 PM EDT
FallsRNat. I agree that Catholics and Protestant's have more in common in NI then people in the South.Ye are neighbours and have both suffered at the hands of eachother.Ye live together.I don't hate you for saying that.Cork people are different to Dublin people.But Dublin is only where the center of government is.My day to day business is with Cork people.Dublin means nothing to me in real terms.The problem as I see it is with the Nationalist's if there was a vote on reunification.Far to many would vote yes.Alot of the border towns and large tracts of Catholic dominated land were cut off from the South against their will.Even If one Catholic town was cut off against it's will it is wrong.If lets say those border towns came in with the South.They would become viable economically in connection with the rest of the Ireland.One of the main problems with the North is that it is not economically viable on it's own.When you have over half the workforce in the civil service it means London has let the place go to sh*t.It means it's not really attracting industry so the government make jobs to keep people quiet.London is always going to be begrudging to NI.They don't want NI.They are going to invest in England first.Protestant and Catholic really work well in the south.For starters it's not about Protestant and Catholic.It's about making money.I know the South is in the sh*t at the moment,but that will pass too.Competitiveness is on the rise again and our exports are still booming because we have resources where it matters.Attracting foreign investment as a unit and promoting where we live has got to be better then receiving the begrudging handouts from a Country who has no economic interest in the top 6 counties of Ireland.Together we would both be better off.As for protestant culture.Name one thing they do different and I'll name five things we do the same.
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FallsRNat | Jun 29, 2011, 07:31 PM EDT
sirpeter - irespect yr point of view, but it wasn't all 1 way traffic, massacres were carried out by both sides & there is too much reliance on past deeds which we have seriously weakened our ability to think objectively, its all a case of he said, who said & as memories fade, folklore begins to kick in & we both retreat into our age old positions.
That's why i turned my back on the workers party, i wasn't into the blame game, for better or worse, we have to live for now, the real difference between u & me is that i lived through the troubles, i have seen the pain & misery of 30 years of hurt, you're hate me for saying it, but the NI catholics & prods share much more in common than their southern cousins who have led fairly comfortable lives, we both fall back on the use of violence as a way of letting off steam & if the perception of 1 side ruling over the other comes into play. You don't have that in the South, where you basically toe the line like the English.
When the July 2005 bombings occurred in London, the shock was palpable on both sides, when the Baron suggested that the Muslims who were attacked in East Belfast by loyalists were to be given shelter in the Falls, Market areas, he was given the 'bird', we may not like the prods, but we prefer them to another people's culture, that's not racism, that's cultural awareness.
What do we have truly in common peter aside from the fact that we are catholics, i suggest that our version of a UI is a lot different from yours, after all u don't think that we are going to surrender & be ruled from another distant city like Dublin, hell that's just like being ruled from London.
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sirpeter | Jun 28, 2011, 09:14 PM EDT
FallsRNat.Seamus you know the Orange Order has never been just about upholding the protestant faith.In July 1795 a Reverend Devine had held a sermon at Drumcree Church to commemorate the "Battle of the Boyne".In his History of Ireland Vol I (published in 1809), the historian Francis Plowden described the events that followed this sermon:[Reverend Devine] so worked up the minds of his audience, that upon retiring from service, on the different roads leading to their respective homes, they gave full scope to the anti-papistical zeal, with which he had inspired them... falling upon every Catholic they met, beating and bruising them without provocation or distinction, breaking the doors and windows of their houses, and actually murdering two unoffending Catholics in a bog. This unprovoked atrocity of the Protestants revived and redoubled religious rancour. The flame spread and threatened a contest of extermination...The Orange Order was founded after an incident known as the "Battle of the Diamond", which happened two months after the Drumcree sermon. It took place on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, a few miles from Drumcree. It was a clash between Defenders (Catholic) and Peep-o'-Day Boys (Protestant) in which four to thirty (mostly un-armed) Defenders were killed.Does this sound familiar Seamus?The thing here Seamus is I'm not defending the Catholic Church.As a matter of fact I'm disgusted with the Catholic Church and it's evil doings.You know full well the power of the Catholic Church is broken in the IR.So broken the clergy don't open their mouth hardly anymore.
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sirpeter | Jun 28, 2011, 09:14 PM EDT
Con’t)This is where you have to acknowledge that and come into the 21th century.The Irish people ARE not wedded to Rome.All you have to do is look up mass attendance.Are the Prods in the North so devoid of culture that all they have is the Orange Order and I'll repeat it's woeful violent history? Are you so brainwashed that you can't admit to the history of the Orange Order or so insecure you dare not say anything bad about it? If the young enlightened people of the South are anything to go by when it comes to the Catholic Church.I bet the Orange Order are having the same problem getting the young people to join.Cannibalism was a religious culture too.But it was a bad one because nature gave those who participated in it brain diseases.I find it impossible to show an appreciation for another person's culture or tradition when it's whole history and up to living memory was one that had so much violence attached to it.You can piss on the Catholic Church all you want.Chances are I'll agree with most if not all you say.The church needs to reform in a better way.Giving up marching at all through Nationalist areas would be a good reform too.It's about your neighbours and how they feel not the right to march the Queen's highway.You still would have your culture.By the way I'm not speaking to you as a shinner,but as a person looking at things from an outside perspective.I only supported Sinn Fein since the GFA.
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FallsRNat | Jun 28, 2011, 05:14 PM EDT
sirpeter - they aren't a sectarian organisation because catholics can't join, they are a religious order that upholds the right of the protestant faith, if we took your analogy than the biggest sectarian organisation on this island is the Catholic church, why, well, nobody, but catholics can take mass in it, if you are a mixed marriage catholic & non catholic, then you must bring up your children in the RC faith! Where's the choice in that.
The IR needs to bring itself 'kicking & screaming' into the 21st century alongside everybody else. You analyse/demonise the Orange order because u are a shinner, have you been in a lodge, I have as a guest, go & find out for yourself, I can think of at least 1 major hospital in the South that would have been closed by now except for the backing of the OO & they treat everybody, not just prods & catholics. If u are waiting for the peace walls to come down, then u will be waiting a long time, u can't belittle people & their culture & then expect them to be grateful for joining as they see it, a country wedded to Roman rule.
It's not a matter of supporting an organisation like the OO or the GO, it's showing an appreciation for another person's culture, I like to go into meetings with an open mind, anything less than that, then I'm doing a disservice to my fellow countryman.
What I won't do is start dictating to people why their culture will not be tolerated & yet why at the same I expect them to live in my society, that's not democracy, but it would lead back to a long & bloody conflict, that no part of this island wants.
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sirpeter | Jun 27, 2011, 06:37 PM EDT
FallsRNat.If the people in the strand considered it a minor disturbance then fair enough,maybe they are used to it.It looked pretty dangerous to me.Seamus the Orange Order is sectarian.Catholics,and those whose close relatives are Catholic,are banned from becoming members.Why in Gods name should it be a national holiday in the south or even for Catholics in the North?The Orange Order is fundamentally flawed and has a woeful violent history. Sectarian marches have no business in to-days society and that goes for everybody Catholic & Protestant.When I see all the peace walls down,the murals and flags off the streets,and a proper democratic political system in place that's not divided along traditional Catholic & Protestant lines THEN the border will be irrelevant.The people of NI can then vote on reunification or not.By the way Seamus I really find it difficult to understand how you can support an organization like the Orange Order.If I was a Catholic in NI and there was a Green Order I'd pull my curtains on them.I'd celebrate nothing that has that much blood on it's hands.Also Seamus we don't demonize any minority,except maybe the travelers which I don't agree with either.
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FallsRNat | Jun 27, 2011, 03:52 PM EDT
sirpeter, an orangemen born & bred in the south, shouldn't be invited to march, it is his constitutional right as a free 'irishman' & the 12th July should be a national holiday. Unfortunately SF made a big play of how the Orange Order marches shouldn't be allowed to take place that they are in some respects responsible as much as the politicians North & South for alienating the working class protestant vote. Perceptions speak louder than words & yes, last week's minor disturbances were a reminder that things can slip if we aren't viligant. NI will get better because people are learning to live together & for 99% of the pop, a UI is a distraction, that even the shinners shy away from in the hustings, I suppose for the Baron it looks good to talk 'big' on the issue, but for most people it is an irrelevance.
What we don't need, however, is the 'holier than our' attitude being spewed forth from our southern cousins who can't let go of the past & seek to demonise 1 part of the society up here & the minority down there.
When the SF left the whiterock area large week, the local nationalist pop allowed 50 orangemen to silently walk down the nationalist street, whilst they sat drinking tea/coffee, that's progress for ye.
You say that the dissidents will never go away, yes, they will because we have had enough, their time has passed, even in their diehard areas, people are watching & reporting to the police their pathetic attempts to restart the war.
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sirpeter | Jun 27, 2011, 08:31 AM EDT
FallsRNat.Look Seamus a partitioned Ireland is not working,it never worked.Inclusiveness is a word SOME prods don't understand and never will.In 2005 here in Cork we asked the Orange Order would they like to parade on St.Patrick's Day to celebrate cultural diversity.They excepted at first but then decided there might be trouble I guess.Oddly enough Church of Ireland clergyman, Rev. David Armstrong, spoke out against the invitation.I guess Sinn Fein don't want any trouble either.I believe if there was a vote on a UI it would be much closer then you think Seamus.If I was an ordinary Prod living in NI I would be disgusted with what my fellow prods did in East Belfast.This is the vote Sinn Fein is going after and I believe they will get it too. It must be an embarrassment to see hundreds upon hundreds of Prod "dissidents" in this day and age attack their neighbours.For what!!? The crown didn't do much for those prods in their sh*thole houses.We have a couple of hundred thousand new houses spread out around the south which they are thinking of bulldozing.It wouldn't be a bad idea to spread out that lunatic fringe through out the whole island.This wholesale rioting is just an embarrassment and this paranoia about the big bad South is just stupid.Catholics & Protestant's in the North making eachother crazy.
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FallsRNat | Jun 26, 2011, 04:51 PM EDT
sirpeter - if the UI solution is as clear as you say, why do u persist in calling the future green, surely it will green & orange, unless u are running out the tired UI mantra.
Also since a UI is voted for by the NI people why are SF holding the forums in the South?
Surely as SF claim that they get Shankill prod votes, then being a party of inclusiveness they should hold them there.
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sirpeter | Jun 25, 2011, 01:20 PM EDT
FallsRNat.Read the fact's.United Ireland popularity among 1205 people in the North very low.Ireland (26 counties) in economic meltdown.Ireland (6 counties) getting their London handout cut.68% of 6 county economy is public sector.NOT a vote, just an opinion poll, wording of the questions etc.People in 6 counties generally tend to hide their voting intention and orange/green background.Belfast Telegraph KNOWING all this jumps all over the poll with a "union is safe" message.Meanwhile Sinn Féin hold the first of 2 United Ireland conferences in Dublin, (second in Cork next week) including Brian Keenan, previous loyalist paramilitary speakers in the beginnings of their United Ireland reach out campaign.The future is bright,the future is green.You're right Seamus the times are changing.I get the feeling that alot is happening behind closed doors.Read my comment a few times Seamus until it sinks in.A united Ireland is closer now then it ever has been.
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