Irish soldiers of the King

A topic which was recently featured on BBC News 24 also surfaced in the Daily Telegraph last week. This is the way in which Irishmen, serving in the southern armed forces who enlisted under the Crown to fight in the Second World War were discriminated against after 1945 by the republican government, were liable to indictment for desertion, and were all denied employment or benefits.

Image: royalirishregiment.co.uk

The article, by Kevin Myers, can be read here, and shows how the attitude of the southern Irish government has been transformed in the wake of the Queen's visit to Dublin last May.

Not only does it draw attention to the impact of the visit, but it is a reminder of treatment that seems shoddy and shocking, given the dual nationality which has been maintained since 1921-2.

The Irish Presidency

The contest for the Presidency of the Irish Republic appears to be hotting up. The election itself is due on October 27th.

Now as an ardent Monarchist this might at first sight be of little concern to me, save for a sadness that such a post exists at all. I was, however, once assured by an Irish historian that a friend of his had conclusively demonstrated that the 1936 legislation to enact the abdication of King Edward VIII in Ireland had been incorrectly framed, so that he remained King of Ireland until his death in 1972, when the Crown of Ireland automatically descended to his neice, H. M. The Queen....

Meanwhile, and this is the point of this post, my friend Dr Ray Burke, an Orielensis whose doctorate was on Matthew Arnold and the Celt - and whose family from Mayo are from the republican tradition, wrote letter to the Irish Times in the wake of Her Majesty's visit to Dublin. The newspaper did not publish it, but in their default, and at his request, I will:


Queen Elizabeth for President of Ireland, anyone?
To: lettersed@irishtimes.com
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 1:11 PM

Dear Sir,

I've just had the most brilliamt idea. Why should n't the Oireachtas get together and nominate The Queen as President. I'm sure the other candidates would defer to this idea, which would (if she accepted) at a stroke achieve a United Ireland and the goal of the original Sinn Fein, a Dual monarchy.

We wouldnt have to give up our sovereignty and she would n't have to come over to us that often. We could even have a Viceroy in ARAS an Unachtarain, there are enough sub Queens and drama Queens of all genders running around who would accept that office. She also speaks Irish with a better blas than most of our native politicians,.

I'm serious. It would be a symbolic gesture which would be appreciated by all Unionists , southern and Northern. It would n't undermine our Republic since she would be an elective Head of State. We would n't even have to rejoin the Commonwealth, which would be tedious and messy.It would allow us to move a step towards Unionism in achieving a United Ireland, instead of trying to bomb and ethnically cleanse our way, or simply allowing demographics to do our work for us. We talk about Unionism in the North recognising the symbols of Irish nationalism, but what about the reverse?

God Save the Queen, a hUachrtarain na hEireann.


Yours sincerely,

Raymond Burke

All interested email raymondburke@yahoo.com

The arms of the Kingdom of Ireland
as used from the early seventeenth century

Image: Wikipedia

The Queen's speech in Dublin Castle

Here is the text of The Queen's speech at the state dinner in Dublin Castle last night.

The Queen speaks during the state dinner,
watched by Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny, at Dublin Castle
Photo: REUTERS

''A hUachtarain agus a chairde (President and friends).

Madam President, Prince Philip and I are delighted to be here, and to experience at first hand Ireland’s world-famous hospitality.

Together we have much to celebrate: the ties between our people, the shared values, and the economic, business and cultural links that make us so much more than just neighbours, that make us firm friends and equal partners.

Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.

Indeed, so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and conciliation. Of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.

Of course, the relationship has not always been straightforward; nor has the record over the centuries been entirely benign. It is a sad and regrettable reality that through history our islands have experienced more than their fair share of heartache, turbulence and loss.

These events have touched us all, many of us personally, and are a painful legacy. We can never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families. To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.

But it is also true that no-one who looked to the future over the past centuries could have imagined the strength of the bonds that are now in place between the governments and the people of our two nations, the spirit of partnership that we now enjoy, and the lasting rapport between us. No-one here this evening could doubt that heartfelt desire of our two nations.

Madam President, you have done a great deal to promote this understanding and reconciliation. You set out to build bridges. And I have seen at first hand your success in bringing together different communities and traditions on this island.

You have also shed new light on the sacrifice of those who served in the First World War. Even as we jointly opened the Messines Peace Park in 1998, it was difficult to look ahead to the time when you and I would be standing together at Islandbridge as we were today.

That transformation is also evident in the establishment of a successful power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland. A knot of history that was painstakingly loosened by the British and Irish Governments together with the strength, vision and determination of the political parties in Northern Ireland.

What were once only hopes for the future have now come to pass; it is almost exactly 13 years since the overwhelming majority of people in Ireland and Northern Ireland voted in favour of the agreement signed on Good Friday 1998, paving the way for Northern Ireland to become the exciting and inspirational place that it is today.

I applaud the work of all those involved in the peace process, and of all those who support and nurture peace, including members of the police, the gardai, and the other emergency services, and those who work in the communities, the churches and charitable bodies like Co-operation Ireland.

Taken together, their work not only serves as a basis for reconciliation between our people and communities, but it gives hope to other peacemakers across the world that through sustained effort, peace can and will prevail.

For the world moves on quickly. The challenges of the past have been replaced by new economic challenges which will demand the same imagination and courage.

The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.

There are other stories written daily across these islands which do not find their voice in solemn pages of history books, or newspaper headlines, but which are at the heart of our shared narrative. Many British families have members who live in this country, as many Irish families have close relatives in the United Kingdom.

These families share the two islands; they have visited each other and have come home to each other over the years. They are the ordinary people who yearned for the peace and understanding we now have between our two nations and between the communities within those two nations; a living testament to how much in common we have.

These ties of family, friendship and affection are our most precious resource. They are the lifeblood of the partnership across these islands, a golden thread that runs through all our joint successes so far, and all we will go on to achieve.

They are a reminder that we have much to do together to build a future for all our grandchildren: the kind of future our grandparents could only dream of.

So we celebrate together the widespread spirit of goodwill and deep mutual understanding that has served to make the relationship more harmonious, close as good neighbours should always be."

The response appears to have been overwhelmingly favourable far beyond the walls of the castle from the reports I read. It is a gracious and balanced address, with a strong sense of historical reality underlying it - something which is not always the case in Irish matters.

Two points strike me about the reporting and comment on the speech. Firstly some want to make it an "apology" or tantamount to that. It has in fact a far richer tone than a politically inspired "apology" for something in the past over which one has no control today, and it avoids that trap. The modern enthusiasm for an "apology"is glib - such words, ultimately, come cheap. This was a speech carefully prepared to address the fact of past centuries and their failings, but not destined to deny historical fact or what was, or is, legitimate.

What Her Majesty said is that which is obvious to anyone of human sympathies - that people have suffered on all sides, and that is to be regretted. The fact that it is striking is that political leaders on all sides of the conflicts in Ireland for so long have failed to articulate that point, even if they were aware of it. As with King George V's Belfast speech in 1921 it takes the Monarch to reach out - and the times for that are rarely possible once violent events get in the way.

The other point I noted may seem trivial, but it is not, I think, unimportant. A report I saw referred to Dublin castle as once the seat of "British colonial power" in Ireland. Ireland was never a"British colony." There was once a 'colony' in the more loose sense of a settlement of non-indigenous people from England in the late twelfth century, but the use of "colonial" to decribe the institutions of medieval, post- Reformation, or of pre- or post-Union Ireland before 1922 is to fall into using loaded language. Ireland was not a colony, save perhaps being analagous at the time to the pre 1776 self-governing colonies in North America. It was an extension of the Crown's domains. Dublin Castle was the seat of government of a Kingdom of Ireland with its own parliament until 1801, and after that of an Ireland with representation in the parliament of the new United Kingdom.

If, as this very important visit is intended to enable people to do, people are to move forward then being honest about the past, and our use of language in describing it, is part of the process. That is what The Queen was saying in part last night.

The Queen in Ireland

Today The Queen is beginning her state visit to Ireland. By common consent this is one of the most important visits she has paid during her reign. Indeed it may be the most important, and will probably rank alongside that of King Edward VII to France in 1903, of King George VI to the US in 1939 and of the Queen herself to West Germany in 1965 in terms of national rapprochment. The presence of the Prime Minister as minister in attendance emphasies its importance to relations at the highest levels of constitutional and political relations.

When the possibility of such a visit as this was raised in the past I was always sceptical as to it happening - there are so many ambiguities in relations between the two countries, which have not gone away, and indeed recent accords between them have, arguably, compounded them. However it is now taking place, and it must be hoped that it can help in the process of genuine peacemaking and reconciliation between different traditions. The concerns for the safety of the royal visitors and the public opposition of some elements in Irish life show how sensitive a task The Queen is addressing.

As with the Royal wedding I will post further reflections over the next few days about the Crown and Ireland.