Independence?

By David Kerr

Last Autumn, on ‘Ulster Day’ - September 28th 2002 - saw the ninetieth anniversary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant. At the time the Liberal government in Westminster was proposing to hand Ulster over to the rule of a parliament in Dublin. Most Ulsterfolk were quite happy to live under the rule of the imperial parliament and wanted nothing to do with the so-called ‘Home Rule’ proposals. Faced with this threat, Ulster organised to resist it by all means necessary. Ulstermen enrolled en-masse in an Ulster Volunteer Force.

The UVF gave its allegiance to the Provisional Government of Ulster, which was led by Sir Edward Carson and members of the Ulster Unionist Council. In Carson’s words, “We must be prepared… The morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become responsible for the government of the Protestant province of Ulster.” In effect, Carson and his followers were ‘loyal rebels’ who were prepared to take on the elected government and the state forces to preserve the cherished rights and liberties that they believed were under threat.

Most unionists, despite all the Union Flags and the other superficial appearances, are, as Billy Mitchell argued in the last issue of The Other View, not British nationalists. They hold to the covenantal view that you do something for the Sovereign because you expect him to do something for you. If he lets you down you are freed from your obligations of loyalty. So, for example, if the State does not defend its subjects from evildoers the subjects can withdraw their allegiance and take steps for their own defence. This is grand as far as it goes, but it is a far cry from any form of nationalism.

In the event, however the wider war that broke out in Europe gave Ulster the respite it needed. The Ulster Provisional Government never had to assume its full powers and the UVF went off to fight for the Empire in France and Flanders. Ulster’s sacrifice on the Somme won the exclusion of the six counties of Northern Ireland from Dublin’s jurisdiction in the 1920 Government of Ireland Act. Northern Ireland gained its own parliament, which remained subordinate to Westminster. With the Anglo-Irish Treaty, ‘Southern Ireland’ became the Irish Free State and eventually cut all its political and constitutional ties with Britain and the Commonwealth to become the Republic of Ireland.
The problem with the Government of Ireland Act was that it was not a settlement of the Ulster question at all. Its intention was eventually to bring together the two Irish states under an all-island government, although the parts of the Act relating to Southern Ireland lapsed when the Irish Free State came into existence. The self-deceiving unionist Establishment regarded the Act as ‘Ulster’s sheet anchor’, as if it guaranteed their rights and liberties as British citizens for all time. It did nothing of the kind.

One prominent critic was the MP for South Tyrone, William Frederick McCoy. His view was that an anchor was of little use if it is not under the control of the ship’s captain. In Ulster’s case, the Act gave the Stormont parliament no control over her own constitutional position. Ulster could have been expelled from the Union by an Act of the Westminster parliament without even consulting Stormont.
In 1947, McCoy sought to overcome this problem by seeking Dominion Status for Northern Ireland. McCoy demanded the abolition of Westminster’s right to initiate legislation to incorporate Northern Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. He was the subject of a massive smear campaign from the unionist establishment and its kept press. His case for Dominion Status was regarded as an unnecessary extreme measure. He was vilified as an ‘Ulster Nationalist’ and a traitor – ‘no better than a Sinn Féiner’.

Within twenty years, the ‘inconceivable’ happened! In 1972, Edward Heath’s Tory government abolished Stormont with stroke of a pen and began a process designed to merge Ulster with the Irish Republic. Since then, Ulster has been more or less under direct colonial rule until the end of 1999 when the devolved ‘Good Friday Agreement’ institutions replaced it. These interim institutions are only designed to last until a referendum on Irish unity gives the ‘right’ result.

It is for this reason that some Ulsterfolk contemplate Ulster independence. Their reasoning is akin to that of Carson, Craig and McCoy – “We can’t trust the British politicians but we can trust ourselves.” There’s no point in seeking to maintain a marriage with a partner that utterly despises you, belittles you and seeks to give you as a plaything to the folks next door. After 201 years the Union is a virtual dead letter. Few Ulsterfolk trust the British State. It has become intertwined with an irredeemably corrupt political and economic class who care nothing for the sacrifices and the sufferings of the people of Northern Ireland.

However, the pro-independence option must not be a last ditch effort to preserve a ‘pure Protestant’ homeland. It can only work if it is developed from a fallback position for unionists into a positive desire to establish a nation-state that can move beyond the religious divide, transcend sectarian and historical antagonisms, and bring real peace and social justice for all Ulsterfolk.

Concepts such as Ulster-nationalism are taking root and beginning to grow again. This does not have to be divisive. Ulster-nationalists recognise the need for co-operation between both parts of this island and the inter-related family of nations who live in these islands. That is Ulster’s best hope in an uncertain future.

The views expressed by our contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect that of the editorial committee.

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