Here I attempt to say something briefly and to the point about the character of Northern Irish politics that I consider to be important.
In advance of the SDLP conference this weekend, party leader Claire Hanna has given an interview in which she says people in Northern Ireland are not born unionists or nationalists, that things are changing, that things are moving on.
The one thing not moving on, not changing, of course, is that Claire Hanna is an Irish nationalist, who wants to ‘unite’ ‘Ireland’. Having considered the merits of the issue, she has decided that her cradle Irish nationalism was right all along — Ireland should be a single political entity. But listen, this positive, reasonable, weighing of the evidence is appealing to the person who is also positive and reasonable. ‘People are not born unionists or Irish nationalists but look! In these changing times let’s unite Ireland.’
Perhaps this is politics, but it’s also delusional.
A good deal of progress could be made in Northern Ireland if people could admit that their opinions are made up and they are nevertheless rather attached to them. The variety of influences, experiences, cogitations that have made Hanna an Irish nationalist are ultimately impenetrable. There is no rational or positive case for Irish nationalism independent of the wishes and fantasies of those who entertain it. Everything else is campaigning.
When confronted by this reality, that your cherished ideal is really fantasy, you might then conclude that the status quo has the advantage because it is not made up. Not because it must exist but because it does exist. Not because it is a necessary good but because it is a contingent good. Not because it is an absolute good but because it is a relative good. Both unionists and Irish nationalists should wake up to this fact. But as M. Oakeshott put it ‘we shall not easily forget the sweet delight which lies in the empty kisses of abstraction.’