Blarney Castle and Re-imagining Irishness

I had the great pleasure of visiting Blarney Castle yesterday. What a magnificent place, it's almost magical. However, after facing the terrific climb to the top of the castle, I did not bring myself to kiss the stone, for in the words of George Bernard Shaw,

"....it is not necessary for me to seek eloquence at Blarney....my natural gifts in that direction being sufficient, if not somewhat excessive."

Not really - in fact, my natural gifts in that direction are somewhat questionable - the actual reason for refraining from kissing the stone was due to the horrific rumours I'd heard about the treatment of the stone by devious miscreants. How true those rumours are, I'll never know, but I didn't want to find out, much less smear them all over my mouth.

The day before, Ireland became aware of its new President. Labour man-of-letters, Michael D. Higgins is now the 9th President of Ireland. Fair play to him, it was pretty much a certainty from the beginning. Well, that is until failed businessman Sean Gallagher inexplicably emerged as the front-runner for a while. Mr Gallagher could well have been crowned, I mean, inaugurated as our new President, if it were not for Martin McGuinness' revelation that Gallagher had been involved in some shifty financial dealings as part of Fianna Fáil, thus reminding the electorate of all that Gallagher stood for.

And so it was, Michael D. Higgins swept home to victory, leaving Gallagher in his wake, with your man from 'up-there' coming in third - can you imagine what might have happened had a northerner been elected again? Perish the thought. They're not allowed the vote, why should they be allowed to be Uachtarán?

Indeed.

So now we should see the development of the "New Ireland" that Michael D. Higgins of the Labour Party envisions. He wants to examine and re-examine Irishness, to redefine it. He will invest in our national character, our predilection for the arts. One wonders will he continue to trot out the line of Enda Kenny that "Ireland is open for business" (was it ever "closed"?) as though he were the pimp of the nation?

From my own point of view, I truly hope that Higgins does not forget the Irish people of the counties of Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh and I hope he finds room for them in his re-imagination of Irishness. Partitionists from both sides of the border may chime and chide that he's just for the 26 counties, (that's the Republic, ya hear!), but they are deluded. A state is nothing without its citizens.

On the Campaign Trail: Gay and Martin

Gay Mitchell, Irish Rover

In between my attempts to be taken seriously as an academic, I've been trying to stay tuned into the developments of the Presidential election and the thing that has recently come to the fore, is the self-proclaimed “Street-Fighter” attitude of Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell.

Mitchell, we are told, has now been let loose – like a rabid political dog – on Martin McGuinness. “I'm not afraid of you, Martin!”, he declared triumphantly on Eamon Dunphy's radio show on Newstalk. And many commentators suggest that Mitchell's zealous attacks on McGuinness will ultimately prove to be a fruitful endeavour, if only for the sake of “honour”. Eoghan Harris for example, in a piece for the Irish Independent, would have us believe that Mitchell was ready to step into a ring with McGuinness, that he was a man of robust character who has been preparing for and relishing this opportunity for years. Just postpone the thoughts of Mr Burns and the release of hounds for a second, for in the same article, Harris amazingly states that “IRA tribalism is to Ireland what anti-Semitism was to Germany”. His endorsement of Mitchell, therefore, appears to be one of desperation.

The fighting Irishman Gay has constantly reminded us of how, growing up in Dublin, he and his family endured a difficult time, riddled with sudden bereavement and financial hardship. Strangely, however, he attempts to frame this in the exact same context of Martin McGuinness growing up on the streets of Derry. Such a ludicrous comparison does not make Mitchell out to be heroic, but rather ignorant. I'll go out on a limb and guess that Mitchell didn't live in an institutionally gerrymandered city, where the state felt he was a second-class citizen, considered him a threat to the status quo and even shot at him, killing and injuring his fellow citizens. But no, he insists that “I've had a hard life Martin, yet I didn't resort to the gun.”, noble as he is. I think Father Sean McManus summed it up perfectly when he, quite reasonably, said:

"How have McGuinness’s critics resisted British injustice and anti-Catholic discrimination and inequality in Northern Ireland?"

Mitchell's other gripes concern the financial well-being of McGuinness and the fact that he is inextricably linked with Sinn Féin. That McGuinness is inextricably linked with Sinn Féin is no secret, so to continually raise it as an issue seems pointless and with regard to Mitchell's scepticism over salaries, McGuinness responded by releasing his financial details to the public, thus taking the wind out of Gay's sails. Mitchell is certainly not stupid, but one must wonder at the rationale behind his militant stance on McGuinness and whether it will serve to gain him votes.

It's all very interesting to observe as the events unfold, it is absolutely entertaining. McGuinness has his enemies; be they those angered by his involvement in the Troubles, dissident republicans who feel he has sold out “The Cause”, or southern politicians who simply loathe the rise of Sinn Féin. At the same time however, he most certainly has his sympathisers and Mitchell's frequent, somewhat obsessive tirades may just grant him a few more. Sinn Féin and McGuinness have a past that is rooted in violent conflict, but they also have a vision for the future of Ireland and as someone who hopes to see the reunification - the freedom - of Ireland, I can't see any other party working for it in the way that Sinn Féin is. Their approach is now one of pragmatism, although many will argue that it is completely hypocritical, and while the President's role is largely ceremonial, I want to see a President who takes the entire people of Ireland seriously – not one who thinks Ireland ends at Dundalk and Letterkenny.

Citizen, or not?

President McGuinness?

While the decision by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness to stand in the presidential election will dominate the headlines (just how much derision will he face about his past?), an important issue will hopefully come to the fore. That is, the position of Irish citizens in the north.

Through the years it feels like we've just about had lip-service paid to the Irish citizens in the north, but generally speaking, citizens in the north were and continue to be viewed as peripheral, sometimes completely irrelevant.

"This is a time of great challenge for all the people of Ireland. We need positive but authentic leadership. It will be a great honour for me to propose Martin McGuinness to contest this election on a broad, republican, citizen-centred platform," 

- Gerry Adams

The "republican, citizen-centred platform" Adams speaks of will almost certainly include the role of Irish citizens in the north along with the diaspora, as it has long been a crucial point raised by Sinn Féin. Conor Murphy recently called for a change in the constitution, claiming Irish citizens are being "disenfranchised" by being excluded from the decision.

Indeed. People in the north can say they're Irish, but they're often viewed as anything but.