The UK leaving the EU and Ireland leaving the UK were not the same thing

A letter from Mary Russell:
Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

Reply to Adrian Lonergan (Nationalism seems to take a hypocritical position on independence,’ January 26).

There is a world of difference between being a union with the EU, which is a union for trade and a political Union such as the UK.

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Union with the EU was voluntarily entered by both the UK and Ireland. Union with the UK was not a voluntary choice made by Ireland.

When exiting the EU, the UK could unilaterally decide to exit and exited on a vote of 52% for leaving and 48% against. A very tight margin, yet Brexit got done.

In 1918 Sinn Féin and the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) stood on a mandate of developing an independant Ireland, winning a landslide 70% for and 30% against, yet were denied their choice of an Independant Ireland.

’When you make political rebellion impossible you make violent rebellion inevitable,’ JFK.

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Ufortunately, loyalists imported arms from Germany, threatened the UK with violence in 1914, against home rule, it was seen as successful, thereby republicans in 1916, seeing the success that loyalist had, followed suit. 1916 had little support and would have considered a failure had Britain not executed the leaders and by doing so created martyrs and changed public opinion and the course if history.

Of course there was upheaval following the civil war and the war of independance, the difference was that nationallism did not attempt to deny their culpability in that, they accepted it and worked hard to make Ireland the success Ireland is today, unlike the DUP who are scattering the blame far and wide, everyone else is to blame except them.

It’s time they grew up and accepted responsibility for their own actions.

As part of the EU, Britain still had its own official language, could raise it’s own taxes, had its own government and could make its own political decisions.

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As part of the UK, Ireland was refused the right to use its own language officially, it could not raise its own taxes, it did not have its own government and it could not decide its own political direction.

Mary Russell, Dundalk, Co Louth

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