ADAMS PUTS PERSUASION BEFORE POPULATION
Date: 15th Feb '02
Name: article from RM Irish News Round-Up
ADAMS PUTS PERSUASION BEFORE POPULATION
A controversy over demographic trends in the north of Ireland has
fuelled a debate over the shape of a future united Ireland.
Statisticians and demographers have suggested that the Catholic
population is approaching the Protestant poulation at a dramatic
rate. There appears to be a growing conviction that the Six
Counties will have a Catholic majority between ten and thirty
years from now, if present trends continue.
Census statistics, expected in December, may show the Catholic
population of the North reaching 45 per cent. The data collected
in 2001 is still being processed, but it seems likely that a
combination of higher birth rates, a younger population and a
reversal of emigration trends will lead to a significant jump in
the Catholic population.
Dr Paul Compton, a demographer at University College London, has
said that differentials in birth and death rates between the two
communities could result in a Catholic majority within 30 years.
However, the figures remains the subject of debate, and there are
some predictions that Catholic population growth will level off
in line with trends elsewhere in Europe.
Nevertheless, the Six County state was created by the 1921 Act of
Partition to have a unionist majority, and the uncertain future
of that majority is increasingly exercising political minds in
Belfast.
In light of the changing political landscape, members of both
communities have accepted that a united Ireland is inevitable.
Nationalists have recently begun urging unionists to debate their
view of what an agreed all-Ireland state might look like.
SEEKING CONSENT
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams last week said unionists must be
encouraged to give their consent to a united Ireland, a theme he
returned to on the campaign trail in the 26 Counties this week.
Speaking in County Wexford, he said Republicans "have got to get
our heads around the need to persuade a section of unionism that
its interests will be better served in a united Ireland - a new
agreed Ireland."
"How do we do that? By making sure that we don't do onto others
what was done onto us. That involves ensuring that the national
unity fractured by British policy in Ireland is repaired. In part
this means actively seeking unionist consent and assent.
"That means beginning the process of persuasion now - and not
when the Brits are leaving."
He rejected suggestions that by seeking unionist consent,
unionism was being handed a veto over Irish reunification.
"It does not," he declared. "The unionists no longer have a veto
over Irish unity."
But he said that after "centuries of hostility" between the two
communities, "powerful emotions" had led to distrust, suspicion,
and "deep hurt and pain on all sides".
"The process of change that we are involved in is about creating
the conditions for a new, democratic, pluralist dispensation on
the island of Ireland and a new relationship between Ireland and
Britain. It is about fundamental constitutional and institutional
change and a range of political cultural, social and economic
safeguards for all citizens.
"For many unionists this is a terrifying prospect. Change can be
frightening. Change can be seen as a threat. Change is always
difficult, even in our personal lives - even when it is for the
better. When taken in the context of a conflict, change can be
traumatic."
He said this was being made even more difficult when by sections
of unionism and the British political and military establishment
"which still want to hold on to the old ways". It was his view
that was where the serious threat to the peace process comes from
at this time.
REACHING OUT
He said that there was therefore an imperative for republicans to
reach out to unionists and "spell out to unionists what sort of
united Ireland we seek - one that is inclusive, built on equality
and justice and human rights. We need to look at ways in which
the unionist people can find their place in a new Ireland. We
need to look at decentralisation. We need to look at what they
mean by their sense of 'Britishness'."
He said republicans had to be willing to explore and to be open
to new concepts.
"We are Irish republicans. We want a new national republic on
this island. The most important part of the word republic is
'public', meaning the people. So we need to make the republic a
people-centred democracy. That includes the unionist section of
our people.
"The challenge to unionists should not be underestimated by
republicans. But neither should unionists ignore the fact that
they represent 20% of the population of this island. Their
potential is greater in an Irish state which wants their vital
and essential contribution than it is as 2% of a British state
which has consistently demonstrated no real interest in them
except when it serves British establishment interests."
He pointed out that, under the Good Friday Agreement, the
Government of Ireland Act by which Britain claimed the Six
Counties has been repealed, and a simple majority in the North
would bring an end to British rule.
"Our goal as Irish republicans is an Irish unity that is
inclusive, that unionists will feel welcome in, that they are
part of. So we have to quietly, persuasively, and as friends and
neighbours persuade unionists that they should not be afraid of
taking a leap of imagination.
"Unionists should be prepared to put forward their vision for the
future and to consider, discuss and engage with nationalists and
republicans about the nature and form a new united Ireland will
take.
"A United Ireland cannot by definition be a cold house for
unionists. It must guarantee their rights and entitlements so
that they have their own place, their own stake in and a sense of
security and ownership."
c. RM Distribution and others. Articles may be reprinted with credit.
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