Trevor Ringland: We have a long way to go to recognise the failures of our past

Ten years ago, I submitted a contribution to the British Council for its “Britain and Ireland: Lives Entwined” series. I suggested that the approaching “decade of commemorations” was really one of failures, as no-one achieved their stated ambition.
The Carson statue in Stormont. In 1913, Sir Edward Carson said constitutional outcomes should never be promoted “by any means other than those… of persuasion”The Carson statue in Stormont. In 1913, Sir Edward Carson said constitutional outcomes should never be promoted “by any means other than those… of persuasion”
The Carson statue in Stormont. In 1913, Sir Edward Carson said constitutional outcomes should never be promoted “by any means other than those… of persuasion”

The ensuing commemorations have only convinced me that this interpretation was correct. The late Maurice Hayes said of our recent conflict, “nothing was achieved through violence that could not otherwise have been achieved through peaceful means”, but he could just as easily have been talking about the earlier period in our island’s history.

Four events were not commemorated over the last decade, but they deserved wider acknowledgement.

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1.Sir Edward Carson words to parliament on the 10th of June 1913. He emphasised that constitutional outcomes should never be promoted “by any means other than those… of persuasion. You must choose and explain to them (unionists). What is your case for turning them out of the United Kingdom and you must show them in addition what you never profess to show them. What is the advantage they’re going to gain when they’re turned out?” These words remain good advice now.

Trevor Ringland is a lawyer, former rugby player and cross community activist from a pro-Union background.Trevor Ringland is a lawyer, former rugby player and cross community activist from a pro-Union background.
Trevor Ringland is a lawyer, former rugby player and cross community activist from a pro-Union background.

2.On the 7th of June 1917, the brother of the leader of Irish nationalism, Major Willie Redmond, was mortally wounded and carried off the battlefield at Messines in Belgium by Private John Meeke of the Ulster Division. Tragically he later died of his wounds. If you wanted an image upon which to base relationships in Ireland after that war, then surely that was the one to grasp, combined with the shared and horrific experiences of men from all over Ireland on those battlefields.

3.A real all-out civil war was avoided in May 1922, when the IRA’s proposed invasion of Northern Ireland, combined with an uprising of members there, was called off. This folly would have caused massive fatalities and hardened the barriers between the two parts of Ireland.

4.While conflict and damaged relationships were scarring this island, the Irish rugby team came fourth in the Five Nations Championship. There was always an alternative to the violence that involved cooperation while respecting differences.

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As we look to the future, we should be worried that almost 40% of people in the Republic feel comfortable enough that the republican movement’s campaign of violence was right, justified and necessary that they express support for Sinn Fein in polls. We should be even more concerned that a recent poll indicated that around 70% of northern nationalists hold that view.

Those figures should be regarded as a low point in our peace process, and the narrative should be challenged robustly. The civil rights movement may have been justified in addressing genuine wrongs, but it overstated its case and republicans overreached by trying to harness it as part of their attempts to overthrow the state through violence.

The creation of Northern Ireland was a compromise that reflected the differing political allegiances and identities that exist here. All of the issues that made that compromise necessary are still in place. Northern Ireland will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, as a shared homeplace for those who live here.

In 1998, that compromise was effectively endorsed by the people of this island, and that fact should be appreciated more. Northern Ireland belongs to all of us who live here, and people are free to pursue different constitutional preferences, but only through striving to make this place work socially and economically as a shared home that has close relationships both east-west and north-south.

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The moral compromises involved in the Belfast Agreement make it difficult to celebrate. It did, however, provide an opportunity to ensure that the violence we experienced previously never happens again.

We deserve to have better government in the future. While Northern Ireland is already a good place to live and work, it could be even better if politics played a constructive role.

So, some hard conversations over the next 25 years are needed between those of us who do want a relationship in the future. 78% of people in Northern Ireland are happy enough with the status quo (NI Life & Times 2021) only 4% are not. Only 26% of people in NI (Ipsos poll 2022) want constitutional change.

Bearing in mind that reality, our focus and energies should be on making the ambition of the 1998 Agreement work for the benefit of all of us. In Northern Ireland we already have equality between those of us who live there, as well as the means of expressing both our Britishness and Irishness, and no other constitutional structure will offer that.

Trevor Ringland is a lawyer, former rugby player and cross community activist from a pro-Union background.