'Ian Adamson Inaugural Lecture'

I was delighted and honoured to be asked to participate in the Ian Adamson Inaugural Lecture and the discussion that followed. I would like to thank Robert (Rab) Williamson for inviting me.

The purpose of this event was to stimulate a mature and meaningful discussion on the way forward for Northern Ireland post BREXIT and on the lead up to the centenary of Northern Irelands foundation. Here under please find my contribution.

As a Senator in the Irish Parliament and a member of the European Affairs, Brexit and Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Committees, I have been immersed in the big issues of peace, prosperity, and political dialogue since taking my seat in 2014.

In that short time the seismic political events have undoubtedly been the Brexit Referendum result, the triggering of Article 50 and the ensuing withdrawal negotiations between the UK and the EU. To say that it has sent shock waves around these Islands is an understatement especially given the unprecedented level of economic and political uncertainty that it has created.

In the Republic of Ireland it has been the most discussed issue ever and not just in political circles. In this ever changing landscape there are few certainties but preparations are being made for every possible scenario.

While trade and economic issues are of huge concern to Irish citizens, the predominant concern remains the Belfast Agreement and its enduring message to build bridges, soften borders, and promote inclusion.

I regularly remind people in the Republic and in the UK, that the Good Friday Agreement is built upon constitutional referenda passed by 71% in Northern Ireland and 94% in the Republic of Ireland, enshrining an overarching commitment to peace and ongoing dialogue not just in our hearts and minds but in our respective Constitutions.

Everyone here tonight knows that this peace has been achieved by the daily actions of individual citizens, by sincere acts of tolerance, reconciliation and mutual trust. The GFA set in stone people’s right to their identity as British or Irish and is aptly named the “peace process” and we must do everything we can to protect it. Events of this last week and the prospect of a no deal Brexit bring all this into even sharper focus.

In the current state of flux, uncertainty, and even chaos, new and creative narratives are emerging. We are being forced to look for new solutions or to look at old solutions with new eyes, to seek out different ways of aligning ourselves with our closest neighbours, building on what we have in common and mitigating against any issues that may divide us.

Last weekend, the issue of a border poll on a united Ireland raised its head as politicians from all sides try to exercise their political muscles in increasingly creative and imaginative ways. If a United Ireland was to be a product of changing political circumstances, we would all have to remind ourselves that it would be a brand-new State, not one part taking over from or conceding to the other. 

But now more than ever, citizens and politicians are open to at least discussing new configurations to protect the peace process and provide a bulwark against economic disaster.

It is in this context that I am happy to propose the idea that the Republic of Ireland would consider re-joining the Commonwealth. I do so because of my sincere interest in promoting genuine dialogue between the Republic and Northern Ireland and in the firm belief that allegiance to the Queen of England as the head of the Commonwealth of Nations is not incompatible with being a citizen of the Republic of Ireland nor are  national sovereignty and membership of international organisations such as the EU or the Commonwealth mutually exclusive concepts.

For example I joined the British Army at 16 years of age as a boy soldier and proudly served as a member of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rangers. When I returned to live in Ireland I was equally proud to serve my country as a member of An Chead Cath, in its home barracks of Dun Ui Mhaoiliosa, in Renmore.

 This year I was honoured to be appointed President of the Royal British Legion in Dublin while having been nominated to the Seanad by amongst others, the representative associations of the Irish Defence Forces. I am in many ways living proof that loyalty and allegiances are about upholding the shared values of honour, integrity, selfless service and loyalty to the State or Monarch to whom one is charged with serving at that time.

Even in the short period since 2014 political commentators and journalists are beginning to see my chequered military service less as an questionable anomaly and more as a response to the circumstances in which many Irish women and men found themselves. The common travel area which predates our membership of the EU allowed a seamless flow of people, businesses, ideas and viewpoints between Ireland and the UK in way that we do not share with any of our other European neighbours.

Our current Parliamentary, legal and Public Administrations institutions and procedures not to mention our common language have evolved seamlessly from a period of British rule before the Republic of Ireland became a nation state. In short, we have a lot more in common than we have in difference.  

 Like many British dominions, Ireland was a member of the Commonwealth up to the 7th September 1948 when the Taoiseach John A Costello announced that Ireland was to leave the Commonwealth. Like everything else in Ireland there is the actual version and the popular myth, one a lot more interesting than the other Myth has it that while dining at the Governor General’s residence in Canada Taoiseach Costello  drank too much and announced that Ireland was leaving the Commonwealth much to the shock of the assembled guests not to mention  his cabinet colleagues back home and the British Government with whom Ireland had very cordial and warm relations!

That he had hinted at the infirmities of Ireland’s link with the Commonwealth in an earlier speech to the Canadian Bar Association is probably closer to the truth but in any case he held a press conference the following day in the Railway Committee Room of the of Ottawa parliament where he announced to the assembled world press that it was the intention of his Government to repeal the External Relations act which had been passed in 1936 and that Ireland would leave the Commonwealth.  Needless to say the British Government did everything to persuade him otherwise even considering appealing over the heads of the Government to the people of Eire about losing the material benefits of Commonwealth membership. I firmly believe that had this happened Ireland would have retained its membership especially as the following year the Commonwealth of Nations replaced the British Empire and the British Commonwealth.

Also that year an inventive formula was worked out between India and Britain whereby India could remain a member of the commonwealth of nations without requiring the allegiance of its citizens to the British Crown. The subsequent and now current arrangement of a Commonwealth based on “free association” with the British Monarch as the symbolic head would I believe be acceptable to citizens of the Irish Republic if it was part of an overall move to a new state of a 32 county Ireland.

Looking back on the historical records in preparation for this debate,  I was surprised to find  that as recently as 1958 de Valera in his last term as Taoiseach brought the matter of Ireland’s membership of the Commonwealth to Prime Minister Aiken. He proposed the rather bold notion that “Northern Ireland should surrender it’s direct allegiance to the Queen in return for a United Ireland within the Commonwealth” This idea did not fly but even when Sean Lemass took over as Taoiseach he asked that the “ question of a relationship between a re-united Ireland and the Commonwealth might be placed on the agenda”

However there was no real appetite for it and the subject went underground before becoming completely submerged by the outbreak of violence here in Northern Ireland at the end of the 1960s and the rest is part of our living history.

In 1999, a mere 20 years ago, the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern favoured a discussion on the matter of Ireland re-joining the Commonwealth even if it was perceived at the time a bridge too far for popular sentiment. I believe that if people knew more about the make up of the Commonwealth and if they knew that  many of the Commonwealth’s members also went through their own Nationalist struggles there would have been less to fear from starting a debate on it then.

But everything has it’s time and I think that the time to reopen that discussion is now. Many would question why the Republic of Ireland would want to be part of an organisation that “has no teeth”or is at the point of outliving it’s own usefulness or has members with questionable human rights records. I believe that the benefits of membership will far outweigh any drawbacks.

Tonight’s gathering is an excellent example of the way in which new configurations for discussion and dialogue can foster understanding and mutual respect. Being part of an organisation of 53 States of all sizes and degrees of power which meet in a spirit of harmony and friendship to share viewpoints and experiences can only be a positive experience for all involved.

 It also affords more progressive members the opportunity to bring those member states that lag in human rights areas to the fore  by means of dialogue and example rather than coercion or sanction. The Commonwealth more than anything any other organisation preserves a very useful long established and in my mind logical connection between many states.

While previous discussions on Ireland’s possible membership of the Commonwealth  were set against the backdrop of a monocultural State, the present debate is situated in a multicultural and thankfully increasingly inter-cultural Irish society which is not only multilingual but multi ethnic and multi denomination. Every six months thousands of new applicants are granted Irish citizenship many of whom are from countries which are already Commonwealth members.

You might be surprised to learn that in the last Irish census there were 182 languages spoken in Ireland and this year alone thousands and thousands of British residents have applied for Irish Passports and Irish Citizenship.

When Ireland joined the EU in 1973, it was a union of 9 countries. The substantially enlarged EU of today could not have even been envisaged by any of us who were around in 1973. But we put our complete trust in the enlargement process for good or for bad depending on your viewpoint but membership has had many advantages.

I hold the view that the time has come to put our faith in the Commonwealth family and the bonds that may grow from being part of it. Not only have we nothing to lose, I firmly believe that the membership will be what we make of it and that while being a destination in itself it will also be a very useful and powerful means to political ends or the negotiation there of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.