The View
We enter the first month of the year with a number of uncertainties settled, at least for now.
Brexit is happening at the end of the month, with doubt now centred on the short deadline of less than a year for negotiating a trade deal. The arrangements for maintaining the status quo on the border have to be seen to work, and the EU will have as strong an interest in that as Ireland and Britain.
If Britain proceeds with its intention to diverge from EU regulations and standards, presumably in the hope of gaining a competitive advantage, it will also entail opening up a bigger gap between Britain and Northern Ireland with political and economic effects that may or may not be benign. It will also complicate the Republic’s trade across the Irish Sea.
Secondly, the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement have been restored. The escape from them turned out to be a mirage, both the DUP hold on the Conservative Party in government, and the prospect for Republicans that a catastrophic Brexit crash-out could precipitate a border poll. It would be politically wise not to let the Executive fall again. Governing means having to make hard and often unpopular choices, and not just the opportunity to advance cherished priorities. With power inescapably comes responsibilities.
Election
Thirdly, an election has been called in the Republic. While one after Easter would have been in longer daylight and more pleasant weather, there is something to be said for holding one before the next phase of Brexit negotiations gets properly underway. The timing, however, was dictated by the current arrangement sustaining the current government running out of road, due to insufficient numbers.
Nonetheless, a four-year run in the circumstances was quite an achievement for all concerned.
There is some complaint, including in this newspaper, that there is too much consensus, and that the voter does not have enough choice. This country, conscious that it is small and vulnerable, has faced two existential crises, the first arising from the crash, and the second arising from Brexit. Bigger countries may afford themselves the luxury of extreme partisan confrontation, but a unity on strategic approach may have been the best way for us to get through and limit the damage.
Try as one might, it is not easy to disentangle the RIC from the Black and Tans…”
There has been a political conformity on socio-moral issues, today liberal, but for a long time conservative. However, it is the people who decide, not the political parties. It is true that their position does not reflect the proportion of voters who were against the changes proposed. Large parties do not like to find themselves on the wrong side of majority public opinion. It is true that many people do not feel properly represented in terms of their deeply held convictions and values at the present time.
It remains to be seen whether they will form a critical mass in terms of electoral representation and influence.
The position on these matters in Northern Ireland is peculiar. Perhaps as a result of frustration with the DUP’s pivotal position of influence at Westminster, including the repeated blocking of a Brexit deal negotiated with Brussels, the override button was pressed.
Same-sex marriage, about which on the whole most people opposed to it are less exercised, and the liberal abortion law in Britain were extended to Northern Ireland even though these were devolved matters and in the second case went further than any of the main parties were advocating and further than the recent legislation in the Republic. Presumably, the Assembly has the power to substitute legislation of its own, but there has not been a peep about it, nor is it mentioned in the agreement between the parties.
At the beginning of the year, prior to the General Election being called in the Republic, a storm blew up over the Minister for Justice’s plan to hold a State commemoration in honour of the RIC and the DMP, with specific reference to those killed during the war of independence.
Without doubt, the proposal was made with the best of intentions, designed to be inclusive and generous. However, it put independent Ireland in a position where it would be honouring those that had tried to block it becoming independent, notwithstanding the overwhelming vote of the people in the December 1918 General Election.
Try as one might, it is not easy to disentangle the RIC from the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries sent in 1920 to reinforce them, and who adopted systematically extra-legal methods in a campaign of counter-terrorism that had political support from the top of the British Government.
It is regrettable that any event in the decade of centenaries should have become embroiled in political controversy. It underlines the need for sensitivity, thorough preparation, and also careful choice of language.
Bigger countries may afford themselves the luxury of extreme partisan confrontation”
It is a mistake to go out too far ahead of public opinion. Individual policemen played diverse roles, and some are commemorated in certain contexts.
While the RIC was disbanded, in Northern Ireland it was transformed into the RUC. The Dublin Metropolitan Police was merged into An Garda Síochána in 1924. In the Garden of Remembrance in the grounds of Dublin Castle, dedicated to the memory of over 80 members of An Garda Síochána, who died violently in the course of duty, opened in 2010, there is a low-key feature that is dedicated to the memory of all deceased members of An Garda Síochána, the Dublin Metropolitan Police and the Royal Irish Constabulary, but implicitly over the entire period of their existence.
It is intended that at a conference to mark the centenary of An Garda Síochána in 2022 that some space will be given to the study of their predecessors.
One of the biggest differences was that in principle the gardái were to be an unarmed police force, even if it has proved necessary to have some armed units.
In Northern Ireland, after bitter conflict, the creation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland was so designed as to achieve acceptance across the entire community.