I was in Cork again last week and it had me thinking how Ireland remains as crucial as ever to the destination that is Brexit. On the one hand, the Good Friday agreement makes it very difficult for anyone to contemplate a border in Ireland, as this would be an anathema to Republicans. It is hard for anyone in England in particular to understand the fear of renewal of violence in the North. “The Troubles” were devastating and there are many hot heads itching to get back into action given half a chance. The backstop therefore rightly became a non-negotiable part of the Withdrawal Agreement, such a problem for hard Brexiteers.
On the other hand the continued integration between the Irish economy and that of the UK, make a hard Brexit almost impossible to contemplate for the Republic. As a continuing member of the European Union, Ireland had a crucial role in overcoming the attitude of, for example the French, who feel that the UK has caused the problem. Although Ireland in some ways would agree with the French analysis, they would suffer as much as we do if a No Deal ensued. So the 27 eventually reached an agreement to grant an extension to the 31st October, mostly for the sake of Ireland. It was no co-incidence that European top brass all turned up in Dublin last week before a decision was finally made.
It is ironic that the only historical parallel to the current impasse in our parliamentary History relates to Irish Home Rule. If that had been dealt with sensibly at the time, there may never have been a border in Ireland in the first place and our current problems would have been very differently framed. The first Irish Home Rule Bill was defeated in the Commons in 1886 by 30 votes despite being promoted by Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone. He tried again in 1893 and it passed through the Commons, only to be defeated in the House of Lords by 30 votes where the Tories had a majority. The Liberals then lost power and Home Rule was put on the back burner.
A third Irish Home Rule Bill passed through all its parliamentary procedures in 1914, but it was delayed several times by votes in the House of Lords. Eventually it only succeeded because of the use of the Parliament Act to overcome the opposition from the House of Lords. Before the Act could be implemented, the First World War intervened and the rest, as they say, is history. The uprising in 1916, and its brutal crushing, led to a fourth Irish Home Rule Act in 1920. By this time, moderate Irish politicians had been wiped out by Sein Fein and when Home Rule came, the protestant north were given an opt out. Opposition to this by more extreme factions led to the Irish Civil War which was another tragedy, putting back the development of the Irish State decades.
Parliament was divided by the Irish Question along similar ideological and attitudinal lines to the current debate over Brexit. What sort of state are we at heart? and how much should we kowtow to third party influences? It led to disunity and division of a type that has not been exposed in our nation until the divide about staying in the European Union came to a fore.
None of us know where this will end up; but our beliefs about what sort of nation we want to be are up for grabs. We know about our divisions but somehow we need to get back to an equilibrium which maintains our values. I hope we want to remain a diverse community where human rights and the rule of law are upheld and people are allowed to thrive. The Irish Republic embodies these values and I hope our nation continues to do the same.