Financial Times: The Queen in Ireland: A sovereign’s debt

May 20 2011 9:50 PM GMT
The Queen in Ireland
--
By David Gardner and John Murray Brown
--
In a trip laden with symbolism, Britain's monarch has sealed the transformation of a relationship long beset by violence and division

Read the full article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eafb3d4e-8319-11e0-85a4-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

Thought provoking article, written by a well informed Brit who has been reporting on Ireland for the FT for years, about the strange ambivalence in English Irish relationships.

Hatred blinds us, not only to realities, but also to a sense of 'the full picture'.

Ireland & England are two of the oldest nation states in the world - probably not a coincidence.  Ireland is perhaps the only country in the world sharing an intense history, ranging far beyond just pure conflict, with its two neighbours: the oldest nation state on the East, and the youngest  nation state on the Western coast.  We can vote in the former's parlimentary elections, while any would be President of the latter, is required to make a political hajii-like pilgrimage at least once in their life.

This uniqueness has been largley a strength for Ireland & the Irish, particularly in the last hundred years, and, i would argue, for a century or more before that.  nationalism , for the sake of nationalism, and republicanism have been monority interests of intellectuals and wannabe fascists.  I would argue further that nationalism & republicanism have done far more harm than good, to the Irish.  It held us back for half a century in the twenty century and hijacked real agrarian injustice.

Lets hope it is all behind us.