Having
given Mr Gillespie’s
ideas due consideration, I am far from being
seduced by the Government of Ireland Act Mk II.
2006 is hardly an ideal time for suggesting that
any mature nation, let alone Ireland, should seriously
consider a return to the Britannic fold through
a revival of institutional links with the British
monarchy.
Turning
back the political clock back a generation or two
ago, when George VI was both Irish Head of State
and British Head of State, this idea may well have
been relevant. Indeed, some of our political representatives,
ranging from southern loyalists such as Henry Morgan
Dockrell and Home Rulers such as Hugh Law to Nationalists
such as Kevin O’Higgins, believed in the merits
of a foreign monarch as Irish Head of State. But
that was back then and today, the British monarchy
is no longer held in high esteem by any section
of the Irish population. Indeed, with the exception
of the miniscule Reform Movement, the British monarchy
is regarded as an anachronism. Resurrection of the
dual monarchy idea by Irish politicians within the
Dáil chamber is therefore a non-starter.
Considering
that in independent Ireland the imperial concept
of monarch/subject relationship became redundant
in favour of Irish citizenship in which authority
derived from Irish citizens rather than emanating
theoretically from a distant monarch, any practical
project for a United Ireland must be centred round
republicanism. I therefore advocate a republican
version of dual monarchy, which would enable Britain
and Ireland to act as equal albeit separate partners
under a single Presidency. At certain intervals,
all-islands Presidential elections would need to
be legislated for and on the occasions that a British
person does secure the highest office in Ireland,
the onus would be placed upon the Irish government
to confer honorary citizenship upon that person,
so that he/she could become a fully-fledged First
Citizen of the Irish nation.
Of
course, at present such a dispensation is premature
at present with the enduring popularity of the monarchy
in Britain under the direction of Queen Elizabeth
II remaining intact. However, with the assistance
of chattering class British republicans such as
Tony Benn, Jon Snow and Claire Rayner, the death
of the Queen may well trigger British support for
a republic.
In
the meantime, given the warm relations between the
two countries there is nothing preventing Irish
politicians formulating advocating a dual Presidency
framework for some point in the future. Of course,
such a dispensation would have to be both voluntary
and based upon the consent principle.
Unionists
would have to recognise the Irish dimension i.e.
formal and institutional integration of the 32 counties
under the legislative authority of both Houses of
the Oireachtas.
The
reverse is also true. Republicans would have to
recognise the wider all-islands dimension i.e. the
ceremonial and institutional link that would exist
between two separate nations under a dual presidency.
In
conclusion, the concept of a no-stings-attached
Irish nation is as equally and increasingly anachronistic
today as a fully integrated ‘British Isles’
was back in the early 20th century. If we really
want to narrow the astronomical distance from a
sovereign 32 counties, more efforts need to be made
to respect the best of unionism from the outset.
This can only achieved through initiatives which
meet the needs rather than the wants of the Irish
and British peoples of Ireland. The dual presidency
idea is one such idea, as it will guarantee the
slaughter of a few ethnic nationalist sacred cows
and will provide the means of attracting the widest
possible support for a United Ireland across the
island as a whole. Moreover, when compared with
madness of the dual monarchy alternative, pragmatists
within the Provisional Sinn Fein camp are more likely
to warm to its twin sister, the dual presidency
idea.
Thus,
both the unionist desire for a democratic British
connection and the nationalist and republican desire
for full 32-county legislative autonomy can realistically,
only ever be satisfied under a Dual Presidency,
whereby a single directly elected President would
be the constitutional and ceremonial head of two
separate nations, namely Britain and Ireland.
