Brandon Scott
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s call for political parties in the south to make Irish reunification “an objective” and not “an aspiration”, has been met with a call for sensitivity and an understanding that Northern Ireland is still “not a united place”.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Baroness Nuala O’Loan, said that Mr Varadkar’s
comments have “moved the debate on Irish unity forward” but that the prospect of a united Ireland has many variables which need to be factored in during any debates about the future reunification of the island.
“In his recent comments Leo Varadkar moved the debate on Irish unity forward. Free of the responsibilities of government, he is now encouraging all Irish political parties to move from aspiration for a united Ireland, to a stated objective,” she said.
“I can see the damage that was done by partition and the logic of a reunited Ireland. However, Northern Ireland is not a united place. It is still massively affected by the problems which resulted in the Troubles and by the distrust and sectarianism which has blighted us for so long.
“Paramilitaries on both sides still hold sway in some areas, many involved in major crime. This situation has to be factored into any debate. Moving on from this situation will require massive sensitivity. It will take time. Reality and progress must lie in the accommodation of perspectives in so far as that is possible,” according to Baroness O’Loan.
Clergy in the North were mixed in their response.
Fr Joe McVeigh, a priest in Fermanagh and longstanding advocate for a united Ireland, said that he “welcomed” Mr Varadkar’s comments and believes the Church should play a central role in encouraging politicians to include the subject of a united Ireland on their agendas and in facilitating all in dialogue.
“The Church should encourage politicians to continue along the lines that Leo Varadkar has expressed in terms of making the aim of a united Ireland an objective of all political parties and to facilitate, if they can, parties to engage in dialogue and conversations about what kind of Ireland we’re going to have and what role the churches will have in a new Ireland,” he said. Every party and every politician needs to be included.
“I’m very pleased with Leo Varadkar’s position, particularly when it hasn’t been the way of Fine Gael to outright promote Irish reunification. I think it will have an impact down south where there’s a fair bit of apathy and some opposition to the idea. It will get people thinking and talking about the future of the island down south.”
Fr Paddy McCafferty, a priest ministering in Belfast said that he once desired a united Ireland but now no longer feels that it’s anything he wants to be a part of due to the social and political norms now that now dominate the south.
“I don’t care anymore about a united Ireland given what the 26 counties have degenerated into with their pro-abortion support and Varadkar presided over all of that,” he said. “It’s not a priority anymore I think for many faithful Catholics in the North. My concern as a priest is faith and the evangelising and the catechising of people into the Faith and what it means.”
“I grew up very much wanting a united Ireland but now I don’t want to be part of an Ireland that is pro-abortion and promotes the other nonsense they espouse. Our citizenship is not of this world, we belong to the Kingdom of God.”