The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966–1995 and the Search for Peace

by Tim Pat Coogan

The Democratic Unionist Party position was spelled out by Ian Paisley, who attacked Dublin because it: poses the problem in terms of the very existence of Northern Ireland and not as a problem of governing Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.44 On Articles 2 and 3 Paisley said: There can be no peace between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic until this illegal, criminal and immoral claim is given up. Unilaterally made, it must be unilaterally withdrawn. Dublin must recognise Ulster’s right to self-determination. It must be prepared to spell out Northern Ireland’s status as an integral part of the UK both de facto and de jure… Let me make it perfectly clear that these talks are not and cannot be about any re-negotiation of the union. While Nationalist assent to these propositions would understandably not be forthcoming, they do not nevertheless add up to an unreasonable political position. The ‘Canute factor’ emerges subsequently in the DUP submission: Continuous bleating that communities cannot express their identities and aspirations and that institutions must be created to allow ‘accommodation’ has led to such folly as the Anglo-Irish Agreement… The truth is that as political philosophies, Ulster Unionism and Irish nationalism are irreconcilable. Unionists cannot have their cake and let the Irish Republic eat it. The Irish Republic received its share of the cake in 1921–22 and confirmed its acceptance, legally, formally and internationally, in 1925. Thus Pais...