Partition – A reality check…

Partition. The word itself is enough to create an argument in Ireland, both North and South. In Northern Ireland (or the North, or the 6-counties, depending on your acceptance of partition), recently celebrating 100 years of existence, the division is still at the root of all Troubles. In Ireland, the Civil War that resulted from the Treaty that divided the island, still resonates, most recently in debate provoked by the anniversary of the death of Michael Collins.

But as with all history, sides are taken from birth. The human need for identity kicks in as parents educate their children in the ways of their tribes, from Protestant and Catholic in Northern Ireland, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the Republic, with SF a constant on the side lines but now moving mainstream.

Identity is an interesting topic in itself. People identify with a football team, or a sports hero for life. They hold particular places in their hearts. But perhaps the strongest is nationality. To be Irish, Scottish, British or French is a huge deal. In America heritage leads to dual nationality, being Irish American, or German, Asian, or African.

But those identities can also smokescreen reality. History is read with filters that lead you to ignore one set of facts and amplify another. Reality is driven underground as stories are woven to fit the narratives of nationality. And nowhere more than in Ireland. So we never find out about each other, not because the information is not there, but because we are not interested in challenging our own beliefs.

Partition happened, but the reasons are now obscured by the subsequent politics of the two countries that came about. Catholic Ireland and Protestant Northern Ireland.

The Nationalist view of Northern Ireland is totally dominated by one statement, by the first Prime Minister of the Unionist Stormont government, Craig, that Northern Ireland was a Protestant state for Protestant people!” But the actual quote, from a debate in the Parliament was:

“The hon. Member must remember that in the South they boasted of a Catholic State. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic State. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State. It would be rather interesting for historians of the future to compare a Catholic State launched in the South with a Protestant State launched in the North and to see which gets on the better and prospers the more. It is most interesting for me at the moment to watch how they are progressing. “

That Partition came about was not as simple as Northern Ireland being created, it was the result of Ireland removing itself from the United Kingdom and the population in the North wanting to remain. Two sets of people wanting different things, both facilitated, and the island divided into two religious sections.

But was it that Northern Ireland was created to be “Protestant” or was it that it wanted to remain in the United Kingdom. 1922 was only four years on from the end of WWI, when many had fought and died from both parts of the island. Those in the North who had been opposing Home Rule prior to the outbreak of war were of no doubt that they had won the right to remain in the UK. Those in the South felt they had earned Home Rule. Who was to be ignored?

Were they being Protestant or British? Were they setting up a new Protestant state, or were they staying in a more pluralist UK? By wanting to remain in the UK, were they trying to retain their identity or to create a new one?

Meanwhile, in the South there was clarity. There was very little support for the idea of remaining British. The identity was clear, Irish. With clarity supported by the church of the vast majority, which created clear lines between being Irish and British, the state was established and was soon proven to be, a Catholic country. This ambition was revealed very soon after the end of the Civil War, as the Catholic Church assumed a position of power that would last until the late 20th Century, impacting deeply on everyday life, attitudes, and laws.

How much different would it have been without partition? Would the 75% Catholic population be inclined to a pluralist society? Would the power of the Church be restricted? With a large majority of Protestants living in the North, the number of seats in the Dail would have been limited. Without a Civil War, there would have been no division of the population of the 26 counties, and so the power of the majority would have held. One large monolithic group. Soon after the establishment of the Free State, we saw that freedom being handed to the Catholic Church, with the most powerful man in Ireland being Archbishop McQuaid. He was consulted on almost all major decisions affecting the country.

In 1914 Belfast was an industrial powerhouse, but as with all industry, it needs to trade, and that would be very resonant with the modern-day Brexit, but ironically reversed. Rather than cut themselves off from trade, the business owners in Belfast were determined to maintain their access to the British Empire. The economics of Partition were of much more importance to the ruling classes than religion. But the Orange Card was a good weapon against the encroachment of socialism in the Loyalist working class.

Partition also created two capital cities and two economies on the island of Ireland. Had there not been partition there was no doubt that Dublin would have been the political and administrative capital. That would have resulted in Belfast having a limited level of business activity.

My history is in advertising. I grew up with a father that worked in advertising, first as a freelance copywriter, and then as the Managing Director of a UK-based agency group. As the capital city of Northern Ireland, a place with its own economy, Belfast had a thriving media. UTV, the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter, over fifty local newspapers, local radio and poster companies, all developed because of the status of the city as a capital. Those businesses drove the need for advertising agencies, creative people, media sales, reporters, television production companies, film and sound freelancers and more. None of whom would have had the opportunities to work in and create these businesses. They are capital city or large region industries. No other city in Ireland competed with Dublin in these sectors.

We also saw the development of retail and brands that were specific to each part of the country. In the North, Stewarts, Crazy Prices, Wellworths and Dunnes (across the 32 counties) competed, but literally created space for brands. Tayto, Punjana, Cookstown, CandC, and many more were locally produced and locally marketed on the local media channels to be sold in Northern Ireland. In Ireland Dunnes, Quinnsworth and Superquinn were head to head, selling Irish Tayto, Barry’s, and Kerrygold.

So what would a non-partitioned Ireland have looked like? If we take the history of the 26 counties we can get a glimpse. Political Ireland was dominated by the ruling party. Public funds went to the businesses that were aligned to either Fianna Fail or Fianna Gael, through Dublin. Would Belfast companies have been able to tender successfully? Or would they have withered on the vine as Ireland became more Dublin-centric, which is what happened.

The furthest city from Dublin would have been Derry. How much investment would there have been in a city nearly one hundred and fifty miles away with a non-existent infrastructure that would mean it was a journey of eight hours?

The six counties would have merged into the twenty-six, with three predominantly protestant. How would their culture have been enabled? Would the minority have been treated as equals, or the subject of religious discrimination in a country with over eighty per cent Catholic, happy to put the rules of the church into law?

But Partition did happen, and ultimately the failure that led to the Troubles has to be laid on those that were in power for the first fifty years. By not implementing proportional representation as agreed, and by putting religion at the forefront of electoral politics, the Unionists missed a huge opportunity to create a modern pluralist place for all. Holding a majority at every election should have empowered them to reject sectarianism, as with over sixty per cent of the voters, they were not threatened.

By ignoring the concept of equality, they kept the pot boiling of the demands for a United Ireland, seen as the only way for Nationalists to live in a country where they would be full citizens.

And that continues to this day. From the rejection in 1968 of Terrence O’Neill’s vague attempts to create a modern society, to the bringing down of Sunningdale, through to the current rejection of an Irish Language Act, the Unionists can still not see the wood for the trees, that the union they claim to revere has always been in their grasp, but they are the ones most responsible for potential demise. With power comes responsibility, for all the citizens, but Unionists have never been able to take responsibility for a real society, open to all.

Partition was not the total disaster that many claim. An island of this size needs economic activity spread beyond one huge city. But the actuality of partition is one of missed opportunities, failed politics and the overblown importance of identity