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In my view, as an Irish citizen, I think a united Ireland will only come about – but does not necessarily have to – when the south is governed well and not the way it is currently.
Our 26 counties are very badly governed and we have nothing to offer the people of Northern Ireland than they don’t already have.
Our border counties in the Republic are backwaters and yet they tell us that the border communities are the key to unity.
Donegal has got more to do with Northern Ireland and Scotland than the Republic. In fact, anything north of Dublin and the Irish government are not too pushed.
The armed struggle has not worked, despite some armed republican groups still being active, and I believe the only way is to make the Republic a very good country for all its citizens. Perhaps then unionists and loyalists might have a look at a different constitutional set-up if the conditions are right, as former DUP leader Peter Robinson said.
A united Ireland doesn’t necessarily have to happen either, but our Republic is not fit to govern much of the time. Hundreds of lawsuits are filed against the Irish state every year. Sinn Féin is also dropping the rhetoric of ‘Brits out’ and occupation and now sees a united Ireland as a solution to the Republic’s failures and inadequacies.
Let republicans who want a unified state not blame the British state, unionists, loyalists or Orangemen. Let’s blame ourselves for the poor government in the south. A south which has disappointed many generations who had and still have to leave to get the opportunities in life they wanted.
This is where the real problem is – the post-colonial failure of the Republic. And that is why a united Ireland is not, as arrogantly stated by some, inevitable.
Maurice Fitzgerald, Shanbally, Co Cork
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