Kevin Rooney
On holiday last summer I got chatting to a couple of Irish women on the seafront in La Rochelle. It didn’t go well. One of them asked where I was from. “Ireland”, I replied. She interjected; “You mean Northern Ireland”? “No”, I said – “Ireland”. “But your accent is Northern Irish” she countered. With a quick riposte I returned the serve – “What part of the Free State are you from”? I could see immediately that my reference to ‘Free State’ annoyed her. I knew the framing of my question was cheeky but I couldn’t help myself as her refusal to accept I was from Ireland annoyed me. Hence, I had a wee dig at her partitionist mindset.
The exchange reminded me of a dispute with Ben Habib live on GB News when debating the Union and Irish Unity. I was making a point about the ‘North’ when Ben cut across me mid-sentence saying, “you mean Northern Ireland”. No, I said I mean “the North”. There is no such place as the North, he insisted. I asked if he would prefer I use the term “ six counties”? He wasn’t fond of that term either so we agreed to disagree. Our quarrel came in the middle of a unionist media campaign at the time demanding Michelle O’Neill recognise and use the term ‘Northern Ireland’ instead of terms like the North and six counties which some unionists now consider disrespectful and offensive. I promised myself that if I’m ever on GB News again my choice of phrase would be the occupied six counties.
Oh if only I could be less uptight when I hear words like Londonderry, mainland or “Our wee county”. The one that really does my head in is Norn Iron. Are you chilled out or finicky about names, etymology and the relationship between politics and vocabulary? For example, what name(s) would you use for the southern part of our partitioned county? The South, Éire, The Republic, The Republic of Ireland, 26 Counties, Ireland, Free State or something else? Do you use the terms interchangeably? Put another way, are there any of those terms you definitely wouldn’t use? And if so why not? How much (if at all) do you infer or deduce from the name or term a person uses? Is it Northern Ireland, Ulster, the North, Six Counties, The Province, Norn Iron or “Our Wee Country” to quote that Radio Ulster shock-jock? Is it a state or statelet?
Actually that one we can answer definitively – it is not a state. Many years back a friend sent me a postcard from Australia, addressed to – Kevin Rooney, 8 Benbradagh Gardens, Andersonstown, Belfast 11, Occupied Six Counties. To my pleasant surprise it arrived unhindered through my letter-box (and I still have it).
Is it Derry or Londonderry? City of Derry, Free Derry? Doire, The Maiden City or Stroke City? Not forgetting to distinguish between the City and the County. Is it County Londonderry or County Derry? Or, the Oak- Leaf county? Do you remember the BBC NI News story about the American woman treated badly for using the wrong name? She tried to book a seat on the Ulster-Bus from Belfast to Derry only for the person at the counter to tell her, “there are no buses to Derry from here”. Bemused and confused, she walked away disappointed, never making it to Derry that day. In her innocence she was unaware the bigoted attendant dealing with her request refused to recognise the word Derry and expected a London to be prefixed before Derry from people purchasing bus tickets. Fortunately the news coverage ensured the bigot and Ulster-Bus ended up with egg on their face.
Then there is the terminology of the Unity debate. Do we want a New Ireland, a Shared Ireland? United Ireland, Reunification or all of the above? Does it matter which term we use? Are you clear on the differences? What do we mean by New Ireland anyway? Is it a pluralist Ireland? secular Ireland or federal Ireland? A conjoined Ireland, a devolved Ireland or an integrated Ireland? Is a Shared Ireland a United Ireland? Are you simply happy to describe yourself as a supporter of Irish Unity at this point, not yet decided on the specifics of what a future Ireland should look like?
And what of those who desire Irish Unity? Are you a Nationalist? A Republican? A patriot, pragmatist or a combination of the above? Would the growing adoption of the term patriot by the Hard Right in the South deter you from self-describing as such now? What about that growing demographic who are United Ireland curious? Or, who lean towards Unity but consider themselves probably more cosmopolitan or internationalist than nationalist. Can you support a sovereign, independent United Ireland and not be a nationalist? If the nation-state is the embodiment of the nation by logical extension is everyone who wants a United Ireland not a nationalist? If not, why not? My friend Janet wants a United Ireland but doesn’t like nationalism and doesn’t consider herself a nationalist. Is that a contradiction or easy for you to understand? She likes the idea of the EU and sees Irish Unity as her ticket back into the EU.
I am struck by the increasing number of people like Janet who support Unity not for anything to do with sense of nation, patriotism or any fixed, explicit ideological reason but out of self interest and pragmatism. Which begs the question – when we go to the ballot box in a border poll will you be motivated by pragmatism or principle – head or heart? By the potential of future prosperity for yourself and your children? Or, are you motivated by a sense of nationhood and righting the historical wrong of partition? By the way, unlike me, my mate Janet couldn’t care less about names, etymology or the relationship between politics and vocabulary. I even heard her refer to Britain as the ‘mainland’ once. But our friendship has survived. Just.
Kevin Rooney
On holiday last summer I got chatting to a couple of Irish women on the seafront in La Rochelle. It didn’t go well. One of them asked where I was from. “Ireland”, I replied. She interjected; “You mean Northern Ireland”? “No”, I said – “Ireland”. “But your accent is Northern Irish” she countered. With a quick riposte I returned the serve – “What part of the Free State are you from”? I could see immediately that my reference to ‘Free State’ annoyed her. I knew the framing of my question was cheeky but I couldn’t help myself as her refusal to accept I was from Ireland annoyed me. Hence, I had a wee dig at her partitionist mindset.
The exchange reminded me of a dispute with Ben Habib live on GB News when debating the Union and Irish Unity. I was making a point about the ‘North’ when Ben cut across me mid-sentence saying, “you mean Northern Ireland”. No, I said I mean “the North”. There is no such place as the North, he insisted. I asked if he would prefer I use the term “ six counties”? He wasn’t fond of that term either so we agreed to disagree. Our quarrel came in the middle of a unionist media campaign at the time demanding Michelle O’Neill recognise and use the term ‘Northern Ireland’ instead of terms like the North and six counties which some unionists now consider disrespectful and offensive. I promised myself that if I’m ever on GB News again my choice of phrase would be the occupied six counties.
Oh if only I could be less uptight when I hear words like Londonderry, mainland or “Our wee county”. The one that really does my head in is Norn Iron. Are you chilled out or finicky about names, etymology and the relationship between politics and vocabulary? For example, what name(s) would you use for the southern part of our partitioned county? The South, Éire, The Republic, The Republic of Ireland, 26 Counties, Ireland, Free State or something else? Do you use the terms interchangeably? Put another way, are there any of those terms you definitely wouldn’t use? And if so why not? How much (if at all) do you infer or deduce from the name or term a person uses? Is it Northern Ireland, Ulster, the North, Six Counties, The Province, Norn Iron or “Our Wee Country” to quote that Radio Ulster shock-jock? Is it a state or statelet?
Actually that one we can answer definitively – it is not a state. Many years back a friend sent me a postcard from Australia, addressed to – Kevin Rooney, 8 Benbradagh Gardens, Andersonstown, Belfast 11, Occupied Six Counties. To my pleasant surprise it arrived unhindered through my letter-box (and I still have it).
Is it Derry or Londonderry? City of Derry, Free Derry? Doire, The Maiden City or Stroke City? Not forgetting to distinguish between the City and the County. Is it County Londonderry or County Derry? Or, the Oak- Leaf county? Do you remember the BBC NI News story about the American woman treated badly for using the wrong name? She tried to book a seat on the Ulster-Bus from Belfast to Derry only for the person at the counter to tell her, “there are no buses to Derry from here”. Bemused and confused, she walked away disappointed, never making it to Derry that day. In her innocence she was unaware the bigoted attendant dealing with her request refused to recognise the word Derry and expected a London to be prefixed before Derry from people purchasing bus tickets. Fortunately the news coverage ensured the bigot and Ulster-Bus ended up with egg on their face.
Then there is the terminology of the Unity debate. Do we want a New Ireland, a Shared Ireland? United Ireland, Reunification or all of the above? Does it matter which term we use? Are you clear on the differences? What do we mean by New Ireland anyway? Is it a pluralist Ireland? secular Ireland or federal Ireland? A conjoined Ireland, a devolved Ireland or an integrated Ireland? Is a Shared Ireland a United Ireland? Are you simply happy to describe yourself as a supporter of Irish Unity at this point, not yet decided on the specifics of what a future Ireland should look like?
And what of those who desire Irish Unity? Are you a Nationalist? A Republican? A patriot, pragmatist or a combination of the above? Would the growing adoption of the term patriot by the Hard Right in the South deter you from self-describing as such now? What about that growing demographic who are United Ireland curious? Or, who lean towards Unity but consider themselves probably more cosmopolitan or internationalist than nationalist. Can you support a sovereign, independent United Ireland and not be a nationalist? If the nation-state is the embodiment of the nation by logical extension is everyone who wants a United Ireland not a nationalist? If not, why not? My friend Janet wants a United Ireland but doesn’t like nationalism and doesn’t consider herself a nationalist. Is that a contradiction or easy for you to understand? She likes the idea of the EU and sees Irish Unity as her ticket back into the EU.
I am struck by the increasing number of people like Janet who support Unity not for anything to do with sense of nation, patriotism or any fixed, explicit ideological reason but out of self interest and pragmatism. Which begs the question – when we go to the ballot box in a border poll will you be motivated by pragmatism or principle – head or heart? By the potential of future prosperity for yourself and your children? Or, are you motivated by a sense of nationhood and righting the historical wrong of partition? By the way, unlike me, my mate Janet couldn’t care less about names, etymology or the relationship between politics and vocabulary. I even heard her refer to Britain as the ‘mainland’ once. But our friendship has survived. Just.