One Era Ends As Another Begins – Where To For Irish Republicanism?
Developing his theme on new opportunities towards the realising of a United Ireland, Sean Bresnahan, reflecting on the announcement that Gerry Adams is to stand down as Sinn Féin leader, argues that Republicans must countenance emerging realities.
After his announcement last weekend that he is to step down as Sinn Féin leader, love him or loathe him, Gerry Adams will be a huge loss for the party without question. His pending departure will also have a bearing on the wider Republican struggle. For notwithstanding the timeless adage, ‘follow the cause and not the man’, what the Adams leadership helped disguise was that Sinn Féin the party – with its role in the peace process – rather than a mere ‘one man show’ was in reality an Army project.
How far this remains the case today is difficult to quantify. No matter, last Saturday’s announcement portends not just the end of the Adams era but with it any remaining vestige of the Army within the Movement. There could be consequences in a broader sense as, absent this vanguard and in the context of its displacement, a further drift from core objectives might soon be on the cards. Given Sinn Féin’s role in the public mind as the primary Republican vehicle, this is of concern to us all — whether supporters of the party or not.
What this demands of those of us outside Sinn Féin, in terms of the role we must set toward and assume, is that we become ourselves a vanguard of Republicanism, seeking to influence the constitutional environment and the political actors therein. Our role in this regard is to advocate the inalienable rights of the Irish Nation — rights which exist in their own space and time, beyond and impervious to current or future constitutional realities.
What Sinn Féin must address, and it is our role to try and have them do so, is the vagueness of their so-called Agreed Ireland. The key point where clarity is required is on the constitutional lineage of this same supposed arrangement. Should a border poll be held and passed will it speed the reconstitution of the Irish Republic or will it instead give form to a revised continuum of the Good Friday Agreement? This is now at the core of the matter in terms of where our struggle is headed.
Just in terms of Adams himself, while there is a tendency to do so, we cannot just blame him for the past 30 years. The reality is that the Republican Movement chose the course that it did. Many of us played our part in this and have our own responsibilities accruing — which most prefer to forget. Yes he was a pivotal figure but the rank and file were hardly mere dupes. It was widely understood that a political vehicle to ‘broaden the front’ could ease the pressure ‘in the field’.
To put this down to one man’s scheming is a mistake, even if he carried an inordinate influence on and over the process. Ultimately things are now where they are for a reason — a war weary nationalist community, who seen the possibility of developing new forms of struggle, being central. What is incumbent on ourselves is that we work out together how best to develop these same ‘new forms’ — seeking out the best way forward in regard to the Ireland of today.
On the bigger picture is where our focus must be. If there is a pathway to the Republic once thought ‘strategically redundant’ but since impacted by changing circumstances then we must be big enough to adapt. This will bring difficulties for many. It may even seem an admission that ‘Adams was right’. But Adams or Sinn Féin don’t own demographic change. Nor do they own the rising sentiment found in the youth of the nation. These are forces which we too should seek to harness.
While the political process is British designed and is clearly an internal arrangement, it is this, perversely, that can prove its undoing. With Britain having set her conditions for withdrawal and with those same conditions now something that can be realised, a United Ireland is closer to hand than before. Acknowledging this does not require that we internalise British constitutional constraints. Britain’s ‘democratic stick’, no matter, can ironically seal her demise. This reflects shifting demographics and is unrelated to any particular Republican strategy. It should not, then, be mistaken for a legacy of Adams and need not present issue for ourselves.
While it is not automatic that unity will follow should a nationalist majority emerge in the North, a critical consideration will still have been birthed. Currently, nationalism requires that a section of unionism find merit in a United Ireland if one is to come into being — this of course in accord with Britain’s conditions and not our own. When nationalism arrives at a majority, however, the opposite will be true. Unionists will require that a section of nationalism find merit in the Union in order that it be maintained. This is of huge significance.
The efforts to conceal demographic reality can hold out no longer. Those who have tried cannot disguise the inevitable — that the days of the Union are numbered. With change comes new opportunities and with them responsibilities on our part. While Adams steps down with a United Ireland still to be achieved, the failure belongs to us all. Regardless, with a new era before us, the time to push on is now. The dead generations demand it; their sacrifice – for the Republic – must not be in vain.
That Republic is still the objective and it is our role, at this critical time, to ensure this remains the case.
Sean Bresnahan is a member of the 1916 Societies and TPQ columnist writing in a personal capacity.
Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79
After his announcement last weekend that he is to step down as Sinn Féin leader, love him or loathe him, Gerry Adams will be a huge loss for the party without question. His pending departure will also have a bearing on the wider Republican struggle. For notwithstanding the timeless adage, ‘follow the cause and not the man’, what the Adams leadership helped disguise was that Sinn Féin the party – with its role in the peace process – rather than a mere ‘one man show’ was in reality an Army project.
How far this remains the case today is difficult to quantify. No matter, last Saturday’s announcement portends not just the end of the Adams era but with it any remaining vestige of the Army within the Movement. There could be consequences in a broader sense as, absent this vanguard and in the context of its displacement, a further drift from core objectives might soon be on the cards. Given Sinn Féin’s role in the public mind as the primary Republican vehicle, this is of concern to us all — whether supporters of the party or not.
What this demands of those of us outside Sinn Féin, in terms of the role we must set toward and assume, is that we become ourselves a vanguard of Republicanism, seeking to influence the constitutional environment and the political actors therein. Our role in this regard is to advocate the inalienable rights of the Irish Nation — rights which exist in their own space and time, beyond and impervious to current or future constitutional realities.
What Sinn Féin must address, and it is our role to try and have them do so, is the vagueness of their so-called Agreed Ireland. The key point where clarity is required is on the constitutional lineage of this same supposed arrangement. Should a border poll be held and passed will it speed the reconstitution of the Irish Republic or will it instead give form to a revised continuum of the Good Friday Agreement? This is now at the core of the matter in terms of where our struggle is headed.
Just in terms of Adams himself, while there is a tendency to do so, we cannot just blame him for the past 30 years. The reality is that the Republican Movement chose the course that it did. Many of us played our part in this and have our own responsibilities accruing — which most prefer to forget. Yes he was a pivotal figure but the rank and file were hardly mere dupes. It was widely understood that a political vehicle to ‘broaden the front’ could ease the pressure ‘in the field’.
To put this down to one man’s scheming is a mistake, even if he carried an inordinate influence on and over the process. Ultimately things are now where they are for a reason — a war weary nationalist community, who seen the possibility of developing new forms of struggle, being central. What is incumbent on ourselves is that we work out together how best to develop these same ‘new forms’ — seeking out the best way forward in regard to the Ireland of today.
On the bigger picture is where our focus must be. If there is a pathway to the Republic once thought ‘strategically redundant’ but since impacted by changing circumstances then we must be big enough to adapt. This will bring difficulties for many. It may even seem an admission that ‘Adams was right’. But Adams or Sinn Féin don’t own demographic change. Nor do they own the rising sentiment found in the youth of the nation. These are forces which we too should seek to harness.
While the political process is British designed and is clearly an internal arrangement, it is this, perversely, that can prove its undoing. With Britain having set her conditions for withdrawal and with those same conditions now something that can be realised, a United Ireland is closer to hand than before. Acknowledging this does not require that we internalise British constitutional constraints. Britain’s ‘democratic stick’, no matter, can ironically seal her demise. This reflects shifting demographics and is unrelated to any particular Republican strategy. It should not, then, be mistaken for a legacy of Adams and need not present issue for ourselves.
While it is not automatic that unity will follow should a nationalist majority emerge in the North, a critical consideration will still have been birthed. Currently, nationalism requires that a section of unionism find merit in a United Ireland if one is to come into being — this of course in accord with Britain’s conditions and not our own. When nationalism arrives at a majority, however, the opposite will be true. Unionists will require that a section of nationalism find merit in the Union in order that it be maintained. This is of huge significance.
The efforts to conceal demographic reality can hold out no longer. Those who have tried cannot disguise the inevitable — that the days of the Union are numbered. With change comes new opportunities and with them responsibilities on our part. While Adams steps down with a United Ireland still to be achieved, the failure belongs to us all. Regardless, with a new era before us, the time to push on is now. The dead generations demand it; their sacrifice – for the Republic – must not be in vain.
That Republic is still the objective and it is our role, at this critical time, to ensure this remains the case.
Sean Bresnahan is a member of the 1916 Societies and TPQ columnist writing in a personal capacity.
Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79
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