Why Some Republicans Need to Grow Up

One of the intriguing aspects of the GAA that startles first-time visitors to Croke Park is a notable extra piece of information given beside each player’s listing in the match program; their occupation. The GAA unites people from all walks of life on the playing field; doctors, bartenders, bankers, laborers, engineers and policemen. In the case of policemen, it was not so long ago that this was an exclusively southern affair where the only police officers in Ireland eligible to play Gaelic games were those of the Garda Síochána. Nowadays, officers from the PSNI, the reformed police force in the north, can also play since a controversial rule banning members of the British security forces was overwhelmingly voted out of existence by the GAA's membership in response to long-awaited reforms to policing in the north that took place following recommendations by the Patten Commission.

The Patten Report was one of many concessions that were delivered as part of the give-and-take that characterized the peace process and the winding down of destructive violence. So the symbolism of the grisly murder of Constable Ronan Kerr by Republican fundamentalists on April 2 could not have been clearer.

Mr Kerr was a catholic and a GAA man. In the eyes of most northern nationalists, he was "one of ours". But for some, his occupation as PSNI officer was unacceptable. The message was that anyone who cooperates with the institutions of the northern state, even those which have been heavily reformed by the peace process, will be considered a "legitimate target" no matter how sound their credentials as a member of the nationalist community are.

This half-baked ideology is so stupid that it almost defies description. A clear pathway to Irish unity has been spelled out in the Good Friday Agreement which the people of Ireland overwhelmingly exercised their right to self determination to vote for. As soon as a majority in the north vote for a united Ireland, and long as the majority in the south agree to it, then a united Ireland it will be. Thus the job of Irish nationalism has become one of persuasion. The task is to convince a critical mass of northern Protestants that they will be safe in a united Ireland and that such a constitutional arrangement will be in their own interests.

And yet the half-educated fundamentalists still think that the pathway to unity lies in not only killing British soldiers, but also killing catholics who dare to contribute to any sense of normality in the north. These barbarians seriously believe that their misguided sense of ideological purity makes them superior to those who want to do things the hard way and pursue peaceful reunification, when in fact their actions only serve to strengthen opposition to Irish unity.

Such half baked attitudes can manifest themselves in many forms. From bashing the parties that try to work to reform the system from within, to threatening to attack or disrupt the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the republic this month, these are all symptoms of the same corrosive flaw within Irish republicanism. It is the belief that anyone who does not subscribe to the simplistic “Brits out” doctrine is to be considered the enemy.

So who are these knuckle-dragging neanderthals? There seems to be four distinct groups. The Continuity IRA has support in Lurgan, the Real IRA has most of its support in Derry, and Oglaigh na hÉireann has support in North Belfast and Tyrone. The geographical spread of attacks reflects this pattern. The killers of Ronan Kerr, however, seem to be part of a more sinister and better organized grouping which lays claim to the title of “IRA”. No doubt they consider themselves to be the legitimate government of Ireland irrespective of any recent election results. It would seem that they have captured the imagination of a generation of bored urban street teenagers too young to have any memory of the horrifying reality of sectarian violence.

Since their support in the community is so negligible, the fundamentalists have no credible equivalent of Sinn Fein to voice their views in the media. But among those fundamentalist supporters who have been contacted it is common to hear them criticizing Sinn Fein for administering British rule at Stormont, or even for moderate republicans to criticize the SDLP for trying to represent the nationalist voice in the British House of Commons.

It is also becoming disturbingly common to hear talk of disruption to Queen Elizabeth’s upcoming visit to the republic. This is an event which some people think should not take place without an apology for various past grievances. This is an immature approach. Queen Elizabeth is the head of state of a friendly neighbouring country. It may still occupy part of Ireland, but does so with the permission of the Irish people who have recognized the temporary need for such an arrangement and expressed this permission in their overwhelming support for the Good Friday Agreement. In any case the British government has issued numerous apologies for past events over the years for events from the great famine to Bloody Sunday. The people opposing the Queen’s visit need to get over themselves.

Irish Republicanism can be its own worst enemy. In the drive for ideological purity, and unlike their targets, the fundamentalists have properly earned the title of traitors to the cause of Irish unity.