Ireland and the EU

"Why did the eurozone governments pressure Ireland to ask for the bailout?"

Economic analysis from the Austrian School of Economics regarding the current economic climate in the EU and in particular the treatment of Ireland's economic problems.

http://mises.org/daily/4876

Depositions from 1641

Depositions taken from victims of the inter-communal massacres which took part in Ireland during the War of the Three Kingdoms.

http://1641.tcd.ie/

The Fall and Rise of Iceland

The reaction of Iceland to their economic crisis should be an example to the rest of Europe, especially smaller economies like Ireland.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0924/1224304661287.html

The Queen's Visit

Lessson from the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland

President McAleese greets the Queen

1. Whatever your views on the role of the monarchy, or your particular opinions on the House of Windsor, it must be said that the choreography of the visit, and indeed the choice of destinations, has been absolutely top notch. By visiting the Garden of Remembrance first she was acknowledging the primary reason for the abnormal relations between the two countries and she was humbling herself at the shrine of another countries fallen dead, a huge number of whom were killed at the hands of forces under the command of her family. The solemnity of the wreath laying ceremony and the poignancy of playing 'God Save the Queen' was a tour de force in ice-breaking and set the tone for the rest of the visit. The Islandbridge ceremony was just as important, and so vital in highlighting the sacrifice of the brave men who sacrificed both life and reputation by joining the crown forces. In this way she was repaying their loyalty by ensuring not only that they were recognised on this visit but that they were afforded equal status as those who died fighting for Irish freedom. The Croke Park trip was a homage not only to a green patch of Irish history but also to the largest and possibly most influential Gaelic, or Irish, organisation in the world. It was a recognition of the individuality and the vibrancy of Gaelic Ireland, a recognition of an Irish historical tradition that has nothing to do with her realm and is community based in structure.

2. The noisy minority were just that. Barely worth a mention and, although the police security cordons were protocol and precautionary, hardly worth a watchful eye. More a nuisance that any sort of a real representation they just served to put the city on lock down and ensure that the Queen wouldn't get to meet any regular Irish people.

3. Mary McAleese has proved to be a fine stateswoman and an excellent representative of the whole island. Hailing, as she does from Belfast, and always looking to include the Queens northern subjects in Dublin functions, she has been an excellent host and facilitator during this visit, and she will be a hard act to follow.

4. The tones of both the President's, and the Queen's, speeches was bang on the money; recognition, regret, reflection and a look towards the future co-operation between the two countries.

5. Sinn Fein missed out by absenting themselves. Politically I don't know how well it would have gone, within their own constituencies, for either Adams or McGuinness to be seen shaking hands with a Windsor, but in terms of a worldwide audience now it seems like they are the stubborn 'no' men, refusing to recognise the realities of modern politics.

The Queen and President McAleese at the Garden of Remembrance

6. Prince Phillip is a spring chicken at 90. I think history may remember him as a gaffe-prone husband of Elizabeth, always lagging a few paces behind, looking forlornly like he's just been scolded but lets not forget the work he does for young people in the UK and, as he proved adressing the recipients of the Presidents award, the interest he takes in the capacity of young people to achieve their potential. 

7. What was all the fuss about? She should come over more often, have everyone dress up and fell like there's no economic crisis and show the remaining physical force republicans up to be outdated.

The Bail-Out Debate rumbles On



Irelands bail-out is proving disasterous for economic development 

 Morgan Kelly's pessimistic/realistic view in the Irish Times on Saturday
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0507/1224296372123.html

reaction from John Bruton in disagreement with Kelly

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0510/1224296602550.html?via=mr

An Inauspicious Union

Kenny and Gilmore

Coalition agreed on by FG and Labour

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0306/breaking1.html

Small Changes for Small Change

Article 29.5.2 of The Irish Constitution:

“The State shall not be bound by any international agreement involving a charge upon public funds unless the terms of the agreement shall have been approved by Dáil Éireann”.

IMF changes slightly reduce Irish interest rates

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0304/breaking18.html

New EU Guidelines for Financial Assistance

New Eurozone deal laid out by the offices of the Presidents of both the Commision and the Council.

http://www.euronews.net/business-newswires/768759-eu-document-lays-out-options-for-march-euro-zone-deal/

As reported in the Irish Times and the Irish Independent

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0301/breaking34.html

http://eupolitics.einnews.com/news.php?nid=240530

Down the Black Hole of Debt

http://www.financialregulator.ie/press-area/Documents/Information%20Release%20Note%20and%20Table%20Senior%20and%20Sub%20Debt.doc.pdf

ICB reveals that Irish Banks owe 63.4billion euro. Information that would surely have been useful before the government guaranteed a blanket bail-out.

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/central-bank-reveals-full-extent-of-banks-bond-liabilities-2011-3/

The Incoming Governments Big Job

New York Times piece mentioning Enda Kenny's Friday meeting with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02wed2.html?ref=opinion

Kenny's pledge in victory:

British View on EU/IMF Bailout Deal

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/519231-europe-give-irish-break

Observer agues for the EU to support the new Irish Government, rather than punish it. 

As The Dust Settles

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0228/breaking2.html

It seems implausible with so few seats needed to from a majority that FG would look to a party who strongly oppose many of their main election promises to from a coalition. Equally it would be a mistake for the Labour party to give up on the chance to lead a strong socialist opposition and become a minority partner in a government that is destined for troubling times. Perhaps it's a case for Enda Kenny of having Labour in the tent pissing out rather than outside pissing in.

Election 2011: Dispelling the Myths



Martin: Still Fighting



      1. Fianna Fail are now destroyed as a party.

Rubbish. So they suffered the worst defeat in their history, so they were so utterly beaten out of Dublin, so their leadership reshuffle failed to have the presumed ‘bounce’ effect many thought it would, they are still the party to beat. Fine Gael have not been catapulted into power on the back of having a charismatic leader, they haven’t been ushered in with a popular mandate, or even a realistic manifesto. Their return to power is a negative vote for Fianna Fail; it is a concerted turn away from FF and a swing towards the ‘other’ big party, Fine Gael. FG will reap the benefits for the next few months, maybe even a year but when it turns out that their policies aren’t actually that popular, or perhaps, effective, there will be momentum towards finding a credible alternative. FF’s big loses have been to the Labour Party and to Sinn Fein, grassroots organisations that offer an ideology and candidates with a track record of results at a grassroots level, and this is where they may be permanently damaged. The votes which have swung to FG will trickle back and forth, but the votes lost to the socialist parties may stay lost, and this is the big result of this election.

2.       A Sinn Fein Victory is a Victory for Nationalism

The Sinn Fein Party in Northern Ireland and the Sinn Fein Party in the Republic are practically two different political organisations with two manifestos and two different candidate lists. The organisation in the Republic sticks mainly to socialist rhetoric and works a lot with community groups, football teams, schools, looking after people grievances on the ground, working on promoting the party as an organisation that still lives among the people and works for the people. In the north they have been able to get by on nationalistic policies but here they have to know a lot more about the basic economics of the country, as Gerry Adams learned, and have a clear vision for economic recovery. Sinn Fein’s main problem has been their ties to physical force republicanism, Gerry Adams leadership, which in the republic has angered many who view him as a murderer, and the fact that their manifesto is populist, not that well researched and ultimately, unrealistic. They are not a far right party, they are a community based party attached to some unsavoury characters but a vote for them is not the Irish alternative as a vote for the BNP or Front National.

3.        Enda Kenny will be an embarrassment as Taoiseach

This I can’t really call a myth yet but I’ll try dispelling it nonetheless. Granted Enda is not the most popular leader in the country, he is not the wittiest, nor the most handsome, nor even the smartest; however he has some redeeming features. He is currently the longest serving TD still in office having succeeded his father as TD for Mayo in 1975 and has a wealth of backbench experience working his way up the party ladder, serving as Chief Whip for a while and even serving as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994-1997, before his election as leader of Fine Gael in 2002. He is as articulate as Brian Cowan, and certainly more so that Bertie Ahern, and he is far more presentable and telegenic than Cowan. He will be surrounded by a good group of advisors, including former Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan, so his tendency to seek the ‘Hollywood’ speech should be dampened down and a concentration on the humdrum of governance should endear him to the population. Maybe.

The Election of 1918 and the First Dail

The TDs of the First Dail

As we await the final result of the elections to the 31^st Dail, it seems fitting to look back at the election, the make-up and workings of the first Dail, set up in defiance of the British Government, which claimed legitimate rule over the island of Ireland at the time. Following the much documented events of Easter 1916, the Irish Volunteers and sundry hangers-on, especially taken from among those interned for seditious activities at such prison camps as Frongoch in Wales, galvanised by both the realisation that Home Rule was now in the deep freeze and the rapidly growing fear that the British would introduce conscription among the crown subjects in Ireland, decided upon a course of action which would forever alter the course of British and Irish politics.

Pre-War Irish politics, and pre-1918 Irish politics, was dominated by the Irish Parliamentary Party, the Home Rule Party of Butt and Parnell, who, led by John Redmond, had enjoyed the support of most moderate Nationalists on the island and had, seemingly, brought the country to the brink of some degree of Home Rule before the onslaught of the great War. Faced with growing opposition to his nationalist agenda from the rising Unionist resistance, Redmond urged support for the British war effort in order to show the character of Irish citizens and gain favour from the British administration. As the war dragged on, this course of action proved to be Redmond’s undoing as the shelving of the Home Rule bill feed into the more extreme nationalist’s paranoia that once again they would be denied at the last and support began to grow for insurrection, which duly came and went in 1916. The story of the resistance to the Crown could have ended at this point had it not been for British heavy handedness in dealing with the rebel leaders and anyone with even vague nationalist tendencies (over 3,500 arrested, 90 sentenced to death and 15 finally executed), and the aforementioned Conscription Crisis. This crisis led to the formation of an Anti-Conscription Committee with members including Eamon de Valera and Arthur Griffith, among others, men who would rise to further prominence in the following year. Griffith had founded a party called nationalist republican party called Sinn Fein in 1905, which gained moderate electoral success before financial constraints curtailed its activities and, by 1915, almost caused the implosion of the party. That the 1916 Rising somehow came to be blamed on the Sinn Fein movement proved to be a blessing in disguise for Griffith for, with the Irish Parliamentary Party disgraced by its lack of action with regards to conscription, the only recognisable nationalist political movement firmly opposed to conscription was Sinn Fein. The party was thus used as a vehicle for nationalists of all stamps to unite during this period and devise a strategy for independence. It was decided that Sinn Fein would contest the 1918 elections but, rather than take their seats in Westminster, they would take their election as a popular mandate to form an independent parliament, in defiance of the British Government.

In an election uncontested by the Irish Labour Party, Sinn Fein won 73 of the 105 available seats, the Unionist Party won 29, and the IPP just 6. Due to the nature of the ‘first past the post’ system used in British elections, this victory was seen as a landslide and gave Sinn Fein the impetus to carry out their stated manifesto to establish an independent parliament. So it came to pass in the Mansion House in Dublin on the 21^st January 1919 that the representatives of the First Dail sat to conduct the mundane business of parliament, electing Cathal Brugha as Ceann Comhairle (Speaker), adopting a number of documents including a Declaration of Independence, a brief Constitution, a Democratic Programme and a message to the Free Nations of the World. Members of that first Dail included both Griffith and de Valera, along with the head of the IRB, Michael Collins, the future Taoiseach, W.T. Cosgrave and the first woman elected to Westminster, Constance Markiewicz.

Auspicious times they were and the legacy of the First Dail is found today in the workings of our modern Parliament and the principle of representative democracy we still hold as utterly essential, along with our understanding of our relationship between our Parliament and Westminster in the sense that we created the First Dail, it wasn’t given to us. The physical force republicanism that shadowed the Dail’s workings should not denigrate its memory, some of the most able politicians in the history of the state participated in this experiment and we should hope for their like again this time around.         

Shining a Light on History’s Forgotten People: 1. Thomas Clarke

Tom Clarke

Ask anyone who the only US citizen to sign the Irish of Proclamation of Independence was, ask anyone who the head of the IRB was at the time of the rising, ask anyone who was the man most responsible for bringing Padraig Pearse to the fore, for uniting the Irish Volunteers and James Connolly’s Citizens Army in the run up to that faithful week in Easter 1916 and most Irish people, indeed most ‘Republicans’ will simply shrug. The answer to all the above questions is of course Tom Clarke, the first signatory of the aforementioned Proclamation, the glue that held the Rising together and a man whose hand and influence are found in the actions of his successor as IRB head during the Irish War of Independence, Michael Collins. How then has history forgotten this man, especially when you consider how much we speak of the actions of Pearse, Connolly, and Collins, and the impact they had on their own era and ours? 

Born in 1857 on the Isle of Wight to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, the young Tom spent his formative years in South Africa where his father was stationed as a soldier in the British Army, and in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, an area rife with seditious activity and still stained by the memory of the famine well into Toms childhood. The area was also a centre of activity for the IRB, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an oath bound society of nationalists dedicated to the creation of an independent Irish Republic. The IRB’s counterpart in the USA was the Fenian Brotherhood and both organisations became known as the Fenians, especially after the failed rising of 1867.  Clarke became an IRB man after meeting the IRB’s national organiser, John Daly, whose niece he would later marry, and found himself involved in several skirmishes with the local constabulary, eventually fleeing for his life in 1880 to America. It was in the States, and under the tutelage of senior Fenians, that Tom reached the next stage of his commitment to Irish Independence as he was involved in the planning, and, eventually, attempted execution of a bombing campaign in mainland Britain. The operation was a sham from the start with informers privy to every step Clarke was took and he was arrested and, under the pseudonym Henry Wilson, sentenced to penal servitude for life in 1883.

It was from this experience of being caught on active service, betrayed if you will, and the following 15 and a half years of physical and mental torture that the new Tom Clarke arises, broken as a man perhaps but full of the vigour of revolution, aware of the terrible consequences of failure and still prepared to sacrifice his personal liberty for the better of the country. Released in 1898 as an amnesty to mark the centenary of the United Irish rebellion, he moved to America with his new bride Kathleen and set up home in Brooklyn, New York. The penal regime that Clarke survived is documented in his book “Glimpses of an Irish Felons Prison Life”, and some truly barbaric practices like complete silence for the duration of your sentence and an hourly wakeup call during the night must surely have damaged him psychologically. He claimed that “Had anyone told me before those prison doors closed upon me that it was possible for any human being to endure what the Irish prisoners have endured in Chatham Prison, and come out of it alive and sane, I would not have believed him” (Pg. 2).

In 1907 he returned to Dublin and set up a tobacconist shop on Amiens Street, under the close eye of the crown authorities. He had reached legendary status in Republican circles after his survival of the torments of prison, and he was quickly reintroduced to the activities of the IRB, in particular two of its up and coming stars, Bulmer Hobson and Sean MacDermott. Eager to keep a low profile, aware of the reach of the British into every aspect of Irish nationalism he moved behind the scenes to acquaint himself with everybody who could be useful to him, cultivating people and encouraging activism. When the Irish Volunteers came into being in 1913, Clarke was already seen as the leading ‘behind the scenes’ nationalist in the city, yet he stayed away from the Volunteers publically, seeking instead to influence their prominent members, with Pearse becoming an IRB man the same year. Hobson and MacDermott became members of the new organisation and no doubt kept Clarke informed of events and pushed the agenda of the IRB as frequently as possible. As the elder statesman in the organisation, and with his record of previous nationalist activities, Clarke was the last realistic link with the old Fenian movement for a lot of the younger men who had been fed stories of the bravery of ’67 and the need for a new generation of martyrs, and Clarke undoubtedly played on that, especially in his encouraging Pearse to give the graveside oration at the funeral of the Fenian O’Donovan Rossa, an event seen as the coming of age of the generation of ’16. Around this time Clarke was also in contact with James Connolly and his socialist Citizens Army, ensuring him that the Ireland his IRB wanted was both nationalist and socialist, for the people and by the people, encouraging him to support any action taken to rid the country of the landlord class, the British Government.

When it came to nuts and bolts organisation of 1916, most, if not all of the major planning must have been done by the IRB leadership, including Tom Clarke and McDermott, and Clarke was the first signatory of the Proclamation, a fact apparently insisted upon by the other signatories. It is in this action we have the link between The Fenians, the Volunteers, and with the involvement of the IRB, the IRA of the war of Independence. The IRB is the common theme through all of this and Clarke was at the heart of it, pulling strings, pushing agendas, organising behind the scenes, letting people like Pearse be the national face of the movement, letting Pearse declare himself President.

Let us not, however, forget that Clarke, and his ilk, were prepared to use terror tactics to make the British give in to their demands and all of their actions must be seen in the historical context in which they happened. These were no angels, merely men of action who are sometimes necessary for the liberation of a country. Clarke’s second in command in the IRB was Sean McDermott whose aide-de-camp in the GPO was Michael Collins who went on to become head of the organisation after the failure of the Rising, directly taking Clarkes agenda into the fight for independence. Clarke is forgotten because he made himself so invisible; his greatest trick was convincing the Volunteers that it was all their idea, convincing Pearse that he was indeed the President of the new Republic. Clarke insisted that the Volunteers fight until the last man in the GPO, in this he was finally ignored, weeping openly as Pearse surrendered. He was executed, at age 59, along with MacDermott, in Kilmainham Jail following the surrender, this time viewed as too big a fish to put in prison.

His legacy is one of a commitment to physical force Republicanism and if people like MacDermott and Pearse are well regarded as patriots from this period of Irish history then Clarke deserves further study.

22/2/11

Emigration: The Choice of A New Generation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/20/ireland-recession-students-emigrate

It seems that regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election, the tap has been opened once more, hundreds, if not thousands just sick of the cyclical disillusionment that is the Irish economy and the Irish Political system.