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the required oath of allegiance to the
Royal Crown remained a grevious sore–
spot to many Irish Republicans. Final–
ly, in 1949, the Irish government
made the iinal break, reforming itself
as the Republic of Ireland.
Successive leaders in the South have
steadfastly refused to accept the parti–
tion of Ireland.
Article 2 of the Constitution of the
Republic of Ireland states: "The
national territory consists of the whole
territory of Ireland, its islands and the
territorial seas."
The Republic of Ireland's Externa!
Affairs Minister, Dr. Patrick Hillery,
speaking of the six counties of Ulster,
declared in 1969: "We regard it as
our territory. We regard them as our
people. Our constitution recognizes a
32-county Ireland, and until reunifica–
tion we only have a state of 26
counties."
A Protestant Government
The government
in
the North,
granted its own parliament at Stor–
mont Castle, was determined, by every
manipulation possible, to keep ruler–
ship firmly in the hands of the two–
thirds Protestant majority.
King George V opened the first
Northem Irish Parliament on June 22,
1920, with an appeal for moderation
and fairness:
"I appeal, to all Irishmen to pause,
to stretch out the hand of forbearance
and conciliation, to forgi-ve and
forget. ..."
But reality was quite different. The
province's first Prime Minister, Lord
Craigavon, spoke of the Stormont
regime as "a Protestant government"
and called it "a Protestant Parliament
for a Protestant people." Catholics
inside the new "Protestant state" fore–
saw a rather bleak future. They were
expected to comply with the new gov–
ernment laws, but their loyal support
was neither sought nor obtained.
Catholics were excluded by gerry–
mandering tactics from letting their
voice be heard in the Stormont gov–
ernment in proportion to their num–
bers. Shut off also from equal job
8
opportunit.ies and newer housing facil–
ities as they carne along, the Catholic
minority settled back, sullen, into their
crowded urban ghettos. Thus the seeds
of Ulster's present plight were sown.
The reaping began in 1968 with the
initiation of a civil rights movement
spearheaded by the Northern Ireland
Civil Rights Association.
Initial Catholic attempts to win
equal rights through peaceful demon–
strations rapidly degenerated into bru–
tal riots when Protestants tried to
break up the marches and rallies. In
August 1969, ten months of tension
erupted into a weekend of horror in
whích eight people were killed and
more than 200 wounded in Belfast
and Londonderry. Within hours, the
first combat contingent of British
troops was rushed to Ulster to restore
order and keep the two communities
apart. Initially, the troops were greeted
as saviors by the Catholics and scorned
as ínvaders by the Protestants.
But the protector image didn't Iast
long. The Britisb Tommies came to
be regarded by Catholics as preservers
of the despised Stormont regime.
Much of the credit for the image
switch must go to the provocations of
the Irish Republican Army which had
not been heard from much since the
collapse of its futi le 1952-56 cam–
paign of terror. Though split into 2
rival camps - the Marxist-oriented
"officials" and the terrorist "Provision–
als" - the
I.
R. A. bounded back with
renewed vigor. The rest of the tragical
tale - the bombing, the sniping, the
indiscriminate maiming of both the
Protestant and Catholic population,
the threat of a massive Protestant
backlash against the
I.
R. A. which
would mean open civil war - all this
is current history.
The question now is : Can civil war
be prevented? Is there a solution to
the crisis in Ireland?
Endless Proposals -
No Solutions
Endless proposals have been ad–
vanced for solving the 800-year-old
"lrish problem." But each "solution"
only presents new problems. Here
briefly are sorne of the proposed
"solutions."
( 1)
A United Ireland. This is
always the first "solution" aflvanced.
But it is also the most u.nlikely, given
the uncompromising nature of many
of Northern Ireland's Protestants, who
are quick
to
point out that they wou.ld
be in a three-to-one minority in a uni–
lied Irish state. Their treatment of
Catholics in the North, they secretly
fear, might come back to haunt them
in a u.nited state.
So far, the southern Irish govern–
ment has shown little willingness to
alter those parts of its constitution
considered to be most offensive to the
Protestants - proscriptions against
contraception and divorce and the
privileged position enjoyed by the
Catholic Church. It is painfully ob–
vious the Unionists in the North
would fight to the bitter end to pre–
vent annexation by the South.
(2) The creation of a new, more
proportional and representative gov–
ernment in Northern Ireland. Prot–
estants, especially hard-core Unionist
Party members, would likely be reluc–
tant to "share" such a government with
a Catholic minority pushing hard for
social reforms. lt is now doubtfu.l
whether the Catholic popu.lation could
place its confidence in another govern–
ment in which they would play a
minority role.
( 3) Cede the largely Catholic areas
in North Ireland to the Republic.
If
Londonderry, Strabane and the Newry
district were ceded to the Republic,
the worst security problems would be
over. Protestants, however, would
generally view such a move as the first
step in the dismantling of their state.
On the other hand, staunch Republi–
cans, especially the
l.
R. A. would
never be satisfied. Their pressure for
a totally unified Irish nation would
not cease.
( 4) An enlarged Ulster. A rather
strange proposal at first glance, this
plan would provide for a better
balance between Catholics and Prot–
estants, with nearly half of Northern
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1972