NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish in US Politics Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > Blogs > Roots blogs > Across The Pond > Has the time come for Celtic Independence? - Scottish win could spell seismic shift

Across The Pond by Paddy Duffy

Has the time come for Celtic Independence? - Scottish win could spell seismic shift

Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 05:33 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

22 Comments

RSS

Archives

+ 2013 archives
- January 2013 (2 entries)
+ 2012 archives
+ 2011 archives
+ 2010 archives

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is currently embroiled in a power struggle with British PM over a referendum for Scottish independence, but if he wins the dominoes won’t just stop at Hadrian’s Wall.

If the Scottish win independence, then it spells a seismic shift in not just how the British Union works, but the European one. Salmond’s Scotland has much more in common with the Nordic countries in terms of social provision and much more Europhile than Cameron’s England, and independence would not only copperfasten these differences but create a new diplomatic entity on the EU stage. Especially so, if Scotland win the custody battle for the oil off their coast.
____________

READ MORE:

Chicago cardinal said to snub Irish Prime Minister’s visit over Vatican Embassy closure

Obama campaign upsets Irish with incorrect four-leafed clover t-shirt campaign

Sarah Palin’s aides lash out at Julianne Moore’s portrayal of presidential candidate in 'Game Change' - VIDEO
_____________

If Scotland and England do take divergent paths, that leaves Wales and Northern Ireland essentially in a “back me or sack me” situation, stuck between siding with their Celtic brethren (and to a lesser degree Europe) and the Westminster government who supply the block grant for their respective assemblies. And if they do, then it may be the best chance proponents of a United Ireland will have in decades.

If the UK becomes more of a loose confederation as would be likely the case under Scottish independence, then Northern Ireland’s closeness to the Republic of Ireland will come under closer scrutiny, in terms of trade, services, culture and a host of other things that will suddenly become relevant if such a debate ever arises. Of course, that means it will energise both sides of the argument.

Already you can see the Unionist side in particular sharpening their swords. This Tuesday on Spotlight, a Northern Ireland current affairs discussion programme, DUP Health Minister Edwin Poots claimed First Minister Salmond was like a dog agitating to get off the leash and went on to essentially claim that the fundamentals of the Union were strong. But United Ireland advocates are getting more nuanced in their approach, with younger members of Sinn Féin like Pearse Doherty providing a counter-balance to old irredentism by considering a range of ideas about how the arrangement could work, even how to accommodate hardline Unionists in an Irish parliamentary setting. More interesting still, they’re focusing on a referendum of their own for around the 2016 mark.

As I’ve said before, the case of a United Ireland is something I’m intensely ambivalent about and would be of the opinion that an independent Scotland would more likely precipitate a kind of Celtic alliance, each country becoming more independent of London but still under the kind of loose confederation I mentioned earlier. But, the political sands are changing and changing quickly, and for those who dream of a United Ireland they should make their case extremely well for the debate ahead. Their day may finally be coming if they do.

E-mail

22 comments

Next Page 1 of 2 pages

TayandCake | Apr 22, 2012, 04:19 PM EDT

esatdigiwank Ireland secular? its a slow process but its happening, you must have hope

Report abuse

esatdigiwank | Apr 22, 2012, 02:21 PM EDT

Scots independence will count for nothing once they're under the foot of the EU Monolith State! IMHO, Ireland would have to be secular first before it could contemplate being united. Who thinks similar here?

Report abuse

DanOLoingsigh | Mar 01, 2012, 02:34 PM EST

You don't go into bars??? Thank G for that...have a great holiday, anyway, we all deserve it........

Report abuse

seanomelb | Feb 29, 2012, 05:15 PM EST

You will not find me in a bar Dano, stick to your 1/2 glasses of milk and genuflect to your English overlords.

Report abuse

DanOLoingsigh | Feb 29, 2012, 02:13 PM EST

You certainly won't find me...but if I hear someone propping up certain bars in certain Mayo hostelries, speaking with a strangled Dublin/Oz accent, whining on about how wonderful the IRA campaign was, or how he spent a couple of years twiddling his thumbs at Finner Camp, I'll have you spotted!!!

Report abuse

seanomelb | Feb 28, 2012, 05:05 PM EST

come to think of it Dano I'm due a holiday,but theres one thing for sure I will not find you in Ireland.

Report abuse

DanOLoingsigh | Feb 28, 2012, 02:07 PM EST

Seano - so when are you booking a ticket back to 'your' country? Do let us know?

Report abuse

AlunPalmer | Feb 28, 2012, 12:32 AM EST

And as someone said Churchill pointed out, the English are celts (Britons) under the surface, at least by blood, except that celtic culture was pretty much wiped out in England. Of course in the South they are also to some extent Saxons, and in the North, Angles and Danes, the North of England having once been part of Denmark under King Knut/Canute. So England has a huge North/South cultural divide, but perhaps better known than that is the class divide, caused by the Norman French intermarrying with and/or replacing mostly only the upper classes. And you think Ireland is screwed up?

Report abuse

AlunPalmer | Feb 28, 2012, 12:23 AM EST

A lot of issues here. Only the highlanders were descended from Irish Gaelic celts, but also from Vikings and Picts. And the Picts may have been Brythonic celts (Britons) or a separate race, depending on who you believe and how much that really means anyway. The borderers are not Gaels, except to the extent that some of them are of highland descent, but that doesn't mean they aren't of celtic descent, although they are also descended from Angles and Danes, so in fact pretty much the same ethnic mix as the North of England. It's a wonder that the Scots consider themselves one nation, but the same could be said for the North and South of England. Political boundaries anywhere in the world have more to do with conquest than ethnicity, and that causes half the world's problems.

Report abuse

Briandee | Feb 28, 2012, 12:18 AM EST

Scotland, Eire, The North, and other lesser kingdoms united. Pull out of german AngleLand and leave them to the Jamaicans. When the war is over repopulate the Islands with a new breed of natives. NO IMMIGRANTS AT ALL!!!!!

Report abuse

seanomelb | Feb 27, 2012, 06:17 PM EST

Ireland for the Irish,Scotland for the scots,Dan for defeatism and grovelling to his Brit masters.

Report abuse

patriot | Feb 27, 2012, 02:00 PM EST

Scotland will be independent or devolved. One of the two. Ireland will be united by the referendum in 2016, or there will be war. One of the two.

Report abuse

DanOLoingsigh | Feb 26, 2012, 07:16 PM EST

Anyone who thinks that Scotland, with a population less than Finland, will carry much clout in either the EU or the world, is delusional...they need to sort their sectarian differences before they enter the world stage...oh, and there's the millstone of their banking debacle to address...

Report abuse

AMWilson | Feb 25, 2012, 10:47 PM EST

Seamus, great post. Paddy, thanks for the Pearse Doherty shout-out. IMO, the new-generation SF has shown itself to have less historical baggage, and more to offer than bullets and bombs.

Report abuse

seanomelb | Feb 25, 2012, 04:48 PM EST

A Scottish mation would no doubt be capable of great things.Megrahi/Dev or the DNA makeup of the Scots are irrelevant.If the majority vote in favour of freedom from the british apron strings so be it. An independent Scotland would not be insignificant.In fact it would be a player on the world stage having its own vote in Brussels and at the UN.

Report abuse

Next Page 1 of 2 pages