Another summer of intense reflection on reunification. Every day more people are making their voices heard. Constitutional change travelling centre stage; ideas and plans explored. Distilling themes is not easy. After immersion in multiple conversations, one matter stands out: We are now entering the phase of a winnable border poll. A time when our distinctive constitutional compromise will be tested. Political unionism’s confidence about the outcome is faltering. The smug cry of ‘calling their bluff’ is gone. A frayed union stumbling into its final scenes. Lost in the toxic wastelands of poisonous and narrow English nationalism. Searching for convenient scapegoats among the marginalised and vulnerable. Despairing, destructive, desperate and dangerous.
Panel discussions and research reports break down walls of misinformation. There is a credible evidential basis for the argument that we will be better off in a new and united Ireland. It is affordable, manageable and achievable. The structural constraints of devolved power-sharing too obvious to require repetition. A border on our island that is raw and real. A corrosive dividing line of divergence that will not dissolve on its own. Sharing the status quo is precisely that.
Our national conversation about national reconciliation is in a better place. A seriousness and focus that was not always present before. Campaigning coalitions forming to forge necessary alliances. A choice that we possess as of legal right is on the horizon. Ireland’s Future, as ever, making the vital point: a timeline aligned with a Programme for a New Ireland. The two are interconnected, marching hand in hand. Preparation and planning must continue. But there should be negotiation on the timeframe for our decision. While both governments will eventually arrive fully, the groundwork can commence. Avoiding the reality of the required referendums is unhelpful. A disrespected right that you never get to exercise is of questionable practical use.
The proposals for change that are crafted will flow from values, principles and obligations. The appetite to drop inherited and institutionalised divisions is plainly there. Initial decisions made in the knowledge that a new Ireland will go on being constructed in a united Ireland. Wary too of temporary solutions that become frozen forever. Giving future generations a genuine chance to design their own script. Not permitting the aggressively belligerent to dictate the rules of the game or who is ‘on the pitch’.
Irish unity is the unavoidable journalistic question of the moment. Urgent and pressing. Some achievement in such a cold and unwelcoming climate: Maith sibh. Not enough though. There will not be a united Ireland without a border poll. And that means a negotiated timetable to unlock an informed collective choice. Ditching the notion that a British Secretary of State will awake one day and benevolently trigger a referendum after absorbing the latest polling evidence over breakfast. That is not how it will work.
Draft all the creative schemes you want. Advance imaginative proposals for transformation. Organise academic conferences, seminars, civic dialogues, podcasts and even do interviews. Marvellous, fantastic and essential. Fair play to you. But they will inhabit the realms of your preferred electronic device only without negotiating and securing a border poll. And that is where our attention must turn.
Colin Harvey is a Professor in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast
Another summer of intense reflection on reunification. Every day more people are making their voices heard. Constitutional change travelling centre stage; ideas and plans explored. Distilling themes is not easy. After immersion in multiple conversations, one matter stands out: We are now entering the phase of a winnable border poll. A time when our distinctive constitutional compromise will be tested. Political unionism’s confidence about the outcome is faltering. The smug cry of ‘calling their bluff’ is gone. A frayed union stumbling into its final scenes. Lost in the toxic wastelands of poisonous and narrow English nationalism. Searching for convenient scapegoats among the marginalised and vulnerable. Despairing, destructive, desperate and dangerous.
Panel discussions and research reports break down walls of misinformation. There is a credible evidential basis for the argument that we will be better off in a new and united Ireland. It is affordable, manageable and achievable. The structural constraints of devolved power-sharing too obvious to require repetition. A border on our island that is raw and real. A corrosive dividing line of divergence that will not dissolve on its own. Sharing the status quo is precisely that.
Our national conversation about national reconciliation is in a better place. A seriousness and focus that was not always present before. Campaigning coalitions forming to forge necessary alliances. A choice that we possess as of legal right is on the horizon. Ireland’s Future, as ever, making the vital point: a timeline aligned with a Programme for a New Ireland. The two are interconnected, marching hand in hand. Preparation and planning must continue. But there should be negotiation on the timeframe for our decision. While both governments will eventually arrive fully, the groundwork can commence. Avoiding the reality of the required referendums is unhelpful. A disrespected right that you never get to exercise is of questionable practical use.
The proposals for change that are crafted will flow from values, principles and obligations. The appetite to drop inherited and institutionalised divisions is plainly there. Initial decisions made in the knowledge that a new Ireland will go on being constructed in a united Ireland. Wary too of temporary solutions that become frozen forever. Giving future generations a genuine chance to design their own script. Not permitting the aggressively belligerent to dictate the rules of the game or who is ‘on the pitch’.
Irish unity is the unavoidable journalistic question of the moment. Urgent and pressing. Some achievement in such a cold and unwelcoming climate: Maith sibh. Not enough though. There will not be a united Ireland without a border poll. And that means a negotiated timetable to unlock an informed collective choice. Ditching the notion that a British Secretary of State will awake one day and benevolently trigger a referendum after absorbing the latest polling evidence over breakfast. That is not how it will work.
Draft all the creative schemes you want. Advance imaginative proposals for transformation. Organise academic conferences, seminars, civic dialogues, podcasts and even do interviews. Marvellous, fantastic and essential. Fair play to you. But they will inhabit the realms of your preferred electronic device only without negotiating and securing a border poll. And that is where our attention must turn.
Colin Harvey is a Professor in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast