The Republic of Ireland is a State of Ambiguity with an equally strange and ambiguous history starting with its questionable birth and its growth to the present day says Tom Ryan as he traces its history and its mystery.
In 1916, a Republic was declared and ratified by Dáil Éireann with the peoples mandate in1919. This Republic was only recognised by Russia (Just after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution) because we were still clearly occupied by British Forces.
In all Official documents Britain referred to itself as “Great Britain & Ireland” If we look at the cover of the so called Anglo Irish Treaty we see that there is only one party involved, Great Britain and Ireland are one entity all on one line. There is no other party and furthermore it was not a treaty as treaties can only be entered into by sovereign states negotiating on equal terms on neutral ground and Ireland was not treated or recognised as such.
Free State British Dominion
So what exactly were the terms of the ‘treaty’ that wasn’t a treaty and what was traded? The notion of Irish independence was the only Irish bargaining chip and that’s what was traded. The Irish negotiators were led a merry dance by seasoned deceivers. A Free State British Dominion a form of home rule was what they finally signed up to.
The newly created Parliament (Oireachtas or kings counsel) was then sworn in. While nothing changed an illusion of freedom was promoted. Post boxes were painted green and things legal were headed with a harp instead of a crown and given new Irish names. The Viceroy became “The Governor General” and later “the President” (Governor General).
In 1937 a new constitution was introduced following a plebiscite (Opinion Poll) the greatest deception of all. A referendum could not have been legally held as the 1919 Constitution was never rescinded and was legally still intact as it is today. The 1937 constitution stole from us all our rights to the resources of Ireland which even the British imposed Free State Constitution didn’t do.
Edward the Eighth’s Abdication Crisis
To clarify the background, we need to go back to 1936, and King Edward the Eighth’s Abdication Crisis. As a British Dominion, The Irish Free States approval was needed to appoint King George as Edward’s successor. de Valera then applied some constitutional creativity by introducing legislation removing all mention of the King from the Irish Free State constitution thus paving the way for his own 1937 Constitution which gave the 26 Counties ‘the appearance of a Republic’ and stole everything else from them. He also introduced the External Relations Act, stating that Ireland could nominate the King to carry out certain diplomatic functions like formally ratifying treaties.
Ireland could now pretend to be independent while Britain could pretend that Ireland was still part of the Commonwealth. Both sides were happy with the pretence. Britain still called the shots anyway. John A. Costello Leader of the opposition spoke of “the indecency which is being perpetrated on this country by this Bill”. Costello made it clear that he despised Dev’s deceptive ambiguity.
WW 2 neutral Ireland
The External Relations Act soon became a problem. During WW 2 neutral Ireland couldn’t replace its representative in Berlin as the letter of credentials required the Kings signature – which under the circumstances was most unlikely. Before losing the 1948 election, de Valera had decided to get rid of the External Relations Act. Attorney General, Cearbhall O’Dalaigh prepared legislation to do so.
A Republic?
The Government changed. Foreign diplomats in Dublin – British, Canadian, American, – all reported home that the Act would be repealed. Costello believed Ireland had already left the Commonwealth following years of non attendance at Commonwealth Conferences; MacBride thought the 1937 Constitution made Ireland effectively a Republic.
Roaring Meg
Costello went to Canada in September 1948 as the guest of the Canadian Bar Association. Then along came Roaring Meg. The Governor General of Canada was Lord Harold Alexander a close ally of Ulster Unionism and a Freeman of the city of Derry/Londonderry. He was presented with a silver replica of Roaring Meg, a canon used to defend Derry against the Jacobite’s in 1689. At a State dinner for Costello, Roaring Meg was the table centre piece. Costello was furious. He was further infuriated by the failure to toast the President of Ireland. The Relations Act
Following the Roaring Meg incident a Sunday Independent story claimed that the External Relations Act would be repealed. Costello concluded that MacBride had probably leaked the story. Due to face a press conference Costello decided that “there was nothing in honesty and decency open to me but to admit the truth”. Costello confirmed the repeal of the Act and when asked did that mean Ireland was leaving the Commonwealth he said – unequivocally – yes!
Attlee Furious
Clement Attlee’s London government threatened retaliation – threatening to treat Irish people in the UK as aliens, denying access to Irish goods, and much more. Other Commonwealth governments, Canada, Australia and New Zealand insisted nothing should change. Under such pressure London accepted Ireland’s departure from the Commonwealth, passing legislation ensuring that the change would make no difference to how Irish people and exports were treated. The Ireland Act also stated that the status of Northern Ireland would not change without the agreement of its parliament. London saw this is a statement of the obvious. Dublin saw it as copper fastening partition, and protested long and loud about it.
Repressive Republic
The state was now free to be “described” as a Republic without actually being one. NO politician or official has ever DECLARED Ireland a Republic, strange when you consider politicians lust for making declarations. What was the first major act of this new ‘republic’? It introduced the 1939 Offences against the state act, created a “special” criminal court and declared a state of emergency. It then proceeded to round up and intern republicans overseen by de Valera previously the leader of the republic who was so repulsed by the treaty that he split the island in bloody civil war. While Republicans were interned RAF pilots were allowed to “escape”.
A Permanent Emergency
Despite the war ending the state of emergency remained in place until 1976 and the special criminal court still remains in place. The Irish tax payer continues to pay fines for this breach of the European convention on human rights. Those who sit on the front bench of the Leinster House Corporate Parliament, senior civil servants & the compliant judiciary know and enforce this and other outrages.
Perpetrators of Outrage
It’s time to remove the perpetrators of this outrage on the Irish people and replace them with an honourable people’s parliament. Their irrational and repressive manner of dealing with the Covid crisis or pandemic that was as deadly as the seasonal flu. But then the flu is so outdated. The entire Leinster House junta and its equally ridiculous Stormont excuse of a government must be replaced.
Two Failed States
Replacing the edifices of two failed states starts with decent people of every persuasion coming together to create the conditions to make this possible. The document “A New Ireland Blueprint” currently being circulated by the IRB provides a model for better and more accountable institutions. It is certainly worthy of examination and consideration. It is currently being serialised in a number of articles on this new online newspaper irishpeople.ie
