Ireland in the commonwealth

From IOL.

The Irish Government today faced further calls to rejoin the Commonwealth.Following appeals in the North’s Assembly yesterday for Ireland to rejoin the international organisation headed by the Queen after 58 years, the secretary general of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Dr William Shija, said the time had come for Ireland to embrace the diversity offered by the group of 53 nations from across the world.

Interestingly enough Eamon O’Cuiv is interested in us joining as a reaching out thingy for the unionists. All I can say is not a good idea.

Got this link from Freestater. The reform movement is an organisation whos aim is to bring Ireland back into the Commonwealth. One of there aims are a council of the isles. This would allow a common forum for us to discuss issues of mutual interest fisheries, the North, bird flu etc . Considering we are in the EU this means that such an organization already exists just on a grander scale. The interaction between the states already exists without the need to create an additional excuse for Political junkets. Also they say

The altering of the present Constitution to reflect a new Ireland as a member of a multi-cultural E.U.

Now how doesn’t the constitution reflect a multi-cultural E.U. We all have equal right freedom of religion freedom of thought etc. I’m not sure what they mean by that one. Another of there aims is the Separation of Church and State. Correct me if I am wrong but that has already happened in Ireland in the 70s. There is no state church. Unlike the U.K. They also want more representation in the Senate for minority sections of the population. The Taoiseach should nominate five such representatives from his senate seats. This I have to agree with but not just from the British tradition as they claim to be but African, Eastern European etc.

They want the National Anthem to be rewritten to reflect the heterogeneous nature of the Irish of today, rather than the narrow, violent nationalism of another time. The french national anthem says Oh, do you hear there in our fields The roar of those fierce fighting men ? Who came right here into our midst To slaughter sons, wives and kin. Should it be changed because it reflects violence against wives. No it is their anthem. People who sing it don’t want to slaughter wives. Neither do Irish people want to go fight the English. I do know some unionist that do actually feel intimidated by the song. But it is only a song. Don’t read into the lyrics. Most Irish people don’t even know them. The Reform Movement believes that English and Irish should be made equal official languages to reflect the reality of the Irish situation. The Constitution article 8 says.

1. The Irish language as the national language is the first official language. 2. The English language is recognized as a second official language.

It doesn’t mean anything both are official both are equal. English is used more. What possible thing would happen if this was changed. The only manifestation of the 1 2 situation is that sign posts have Irish on top and English below. On duel signage something has to go first. Don’t forget English tends to be in larger letters. They also talk about the compulsory role that Irish has been made to play in our schools which has resulted in the shameful lack of other language instruction, especially in the primary school curriculum. Which I have talked about before. They also want it to be recognized that people in Ireland should have the right to hold a British passport. This should only be on the same terms as people in England. I.E the granny rule. If you qualify that way i.e. can show that you are indeed of British stock then you are entitled to one. But we can’t have people taking random Irish passport for many reasons. Neither can the British have this.

This passport thing is an issue for the British government not the Irish government it would be their decision. Their big policy seems to be Ireland rejoining the Commenwealth. Which was also favored by none other then Dev, Lemass and Eamon O’Cuiv. They mention that the commonwealth accounts for Twenty-three per cent of world trade. Yet the Commonwealth has no economic policies . It is not like the EU. It accounts for 23 per cent of trade as it has 30% of the world’s population. No other reason it is merely a distortion of figures point. There is no real trade benefits to joining. There is also no loss of sovernity involved in joining it. Also the Commonwealth is in decline.

Countries are looking away from one another and looking to regional partners instead eg the EU. Also it has been shown by Zimbabwe who have left the organization that it has no power to influence member states to adhere to Human rights and democratic principles. The only benefit to Ireland would be that our athletes would get to run in the commonwealth games and is that really worth a referendum. And to pay for our ministers to swan off around the world for a few more weeks a year

But most of all what I find wrong with all this is the people who argue that it would be a means to reach out to the unionist to further the aim of a united Ireland. The reason they want to be in the U.K is because they see themselves as British first. It has zero to do with any affinity to the Queen, hell I am sure some of them are probably republicans. Trying to make out to them that the queen is the only barrier to unity is dumb. They want to be British not Irish and until we realize this and that we can’t molly codle them into a united Ireland the soon we learn to live together. Try saying to someone from Newcastle “would you join Ireland if we joined the Commonwealth” because to a Unionist person from Ballymena it is the exact same feeling.