The Blanket

The Blanket - A Journal of Protest & Dissent

As They Were Made They Were Matched

 

Liam O Comain • 10 August 2006

While reading some reviews in The Blanket relating to Ed Moloney's 'A Secret History Of The IRA', it came to my notice that Gerry Adams had met British representatives for the first time in 1986. I contest the truth of this for John Hume informed me in my own home that Gerry Adams via a Fr. Reid first made contact with (Hume) seeking discussion about an end to the war in 1982. Thus acknowledgeing that a series of meetings had been set in motion by John Hume's response to a request for dialogue from Adams, I cannot believe that the first contact with the British representatives took 4 years to materalise. Obviously the treachery of Adams must be condemned i. e. an approach based without consulting the Provisional membership as a whole until much later. Of course Adams would have found no better collaborator for the implementation of his ideas than Hume. Now John Hume is a likeable person and a man who has done much good but his ideas are a danger to the republican objective. They are a danger because he is not a nationalist — he is a European Regionalist — and he looks forward to the day that Europe becomes one based upon a regional carve-up.

A close scrutiny of the Belfast Agreement, and Hume's contribution to the latter is revealing. Although Hume's ideas may have been filtered through other agencies such as the Dublin and British Governments, they still provide an insight into the structural developments which he has in mind for Europe. In fact, the Belfast Agreement is a possible prototype for what Hume envisages for the government of the continent.

Of course John Hume should not be seen as the sole originator of the implied ideas, for their source is the Social Democrats of the European Parliament of which the British Labour Party and the SDLP are affiliated. It is indeed interesting that a European Union (EU) document pertaining to regional structure in Europe envisages that the island of Ireland will be divided into two regions: the 6 counties will be known as Ulster and the 26 counties will be known as Ireland. This does not bode well for our future and implies that the EU bureaucrats recognise Britain's illegal claim to part of our national territory.

It would be naïve to believe that the powers that be in Brussels paid scant attention to the struggle that was taking place in Ireland. In fact, they would have insisted to the British and the Dublin Governments that as they were trying to build 'a united Europe', the former had better get their houses in order and bring an end to the conflict. The type of unity envisaged by Brussels however is not one to which an Irish republican could subscribe, for its eventual reality is anti-nationalist. Whereas what constitutes authentic continental unity is a Europe of Free Nations, a Europe with a Republican heart — 'government of the people, by the people, for the people' — not a bureaucratic sweat shop for international capitalism.

John Hume shares the vision of those bureaucrats which is: the unity of people, not land, in the interests of capitalism. Whereas the concern should be for the unity of people on the land, that is, Ireland — a basic definition of our nationality, which, like Pearse, I believe is a spirituality. Both governments support the vision of the Social Democrats via Hume, and I'm afraid in its realisation there is no place for Tone's imperative of breaking the connection with England and self-determining our future as a nation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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The Blanket - A Journal of Protest & Dissent

 

 

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Index: Current Articles



13 August 2006

Other Articles From This Issue:

Hunger Strike Anniversary
Martin Galvin

"Let the Fight Go On"
Willie Gallagher

Apology Owed
The Family of Volunteer Patsy O'Hara, INLA

Right the Wrong
Harry Boland

It's Who You Talk To
Dr John Coulter

As They Were Made They Were Matched
Liam O Comain

Poacher Turned Gamekeeper
John Kennedy

Criminality Figures Do Not Add Up
David Adams

The Siege of Derry
Anthony McIntyre

Repeat After Me: No Gods, No Masters
Mick Hall

Dual Presidency More Realistic
Nathan Dowds

Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein: Article 2
Michael Gillespie

Santa Coming Early
Dr John Coulter

Media Matters
Anthony McIntyre

Light, Freedom & Song: A Cultural History of Modern Irish Writing
Seaghán Ó Murchú

Pass the Gravy
John Kennedy

ILIR is Blowing the Green Card Game for the Irish
Patrick Hurley

From Belfast to the Middle East
Davy Carlin

Manifesto of the Third Camp
Anthony McIntyre


3 August 2006

A United Ireland or Nothing
Liam O Comain

Federal Unionism—Early Sinn Fein: Article 1
Michael Gillespie

High Noon
John Kennedy

Fest or Flop
Dr John Coulter

Irish and Republican Music
Ray McAreavey

Qana Massacre again: Foreign and Domestic Enemies of our Constitution
Mazin Qumsiyeh

Israel Murders UN Observers
Anthony McIntyre

Managing Debate
Mick Hall

4 Horsemen
John Kennedy

The Evil That Men Do
Anthony McIntyre

Chris Petit's Secret History: The Psalm Killer
Seaghán Ó Murchú

Soldier of the Legion of the Rearguard
Liam O Ruairc

Football and the Fifth Commandment
Eamon Sweeney

Don't Let Us Down
Dr John Coulter

Human Rights Forum
Meeting Announcement

Billy Mitchell
Anthony McIntyre

 

 

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