Nationhood Is Worth Protecting on the Emerald Isle

Sovereignty is self-rule, be that of a nation or of a person. Irish sovereignty is on the ropes, succumbing in plain sight to the European Union federation. Given the ease with which information spreads now, this trend has not gone unnoticed among the Irish diaspora, of which I am a member.

An Irish citizen of exclusively Anglo-Celtic heritage, I was born and raised in New Zealand and only came to know Ireland as an adult. However, I am one of the few descendants of Easter Rising leader Patrick Pearse, by way of his half-sister Emily Pearse

Pearse and his siblings—Willie, Margaret, and Mary Brigid—had no children. That means descendants from his father James’s first wife Susanna‘s children, of which two survived into adulthood, are the only ones that remain from the Pearse family. My great-grandfather Alfred McGloughlin, Emily’s child, also got to live with the Pearse family for a few years of his childhood. He was imprisoned in the early 1920s during the Civil War for his role with the Anti-Treaty side.

I recently received an invitation to attend a candidates forum with the Irish Freedom Party (IFP). My desire was primarily to listen and learn. However, my concerns regarding Ireland’s nationhood have not been a secret, so when called on I shared a few remarks with the attendees.

My chief observations were simple, but they are too infrequently spoken in the public square.

  1. Brussels has replaced London as the imperial city ruling over Ireland. The Irish revolutionaries gave their lives for independence from the British Empire. Incrementally, the fruits of their sacrifice have been largely undone by foreigners and self-hating Irish. Éamon De Valera foresaw this trend towards a European federation and in 1972 remarked: “I am the first and last president of an independent Irish Republic.” Trinity College Dublin Professor Emeritus Anthony Coughlan notes that the European Union is “a supranational antidemocratic system that deprives Europe’s diverse peoples of their democracy.” Even if the European Union were democratic, Ireland would barely register, constituting just 1 percent of the federation’s population.
  1. The redistributive welfare state has undermined Irish independence and self-esteem. Proud, self-sufficient, and free people neither need nor desire overlords, be they in Brussels, Dublin, or London. That is why personal and national sovereignty go hand-in-hand. The poster child for this is the statelet of Northern Ireland, which is now so dependent on transfers from the rest of the United Kingdom that the province is ill-equipped to decide its own fate. Where there is constituent demand for a limited safety net, it should be administered locally. It must also be tailored to help recipients out of strife—only as a last resort—and not to encourage dependency.
  2. Ireland’s situation is precarious, with changes happening swiftly and irreversibly. Relative to natives, immigrants tend to have less allegiance to their adoptive nation, as Northern Ireland has displayed. Even if we ignore the immense pressure on housing availability, the influx of migrants to Ireland in recent years, outstripping natural births, is threatening Ireland’s sense of nationhood. The rate of foreign languages being spoken, for example, is climbing. Helping native-born Irish to learn, maintain, and use their ancestral language can be difficult enough. Forget persuading non-Irish newcomers and purely economic migrants to embrace the language. It is akin to efforts to teach Maori to immigrants in New Zealand.
  3. The Irish way of life merits defence from international smothering. My grandmother, who left Ireland in the 1950s, reflects sadly that she missed out on less than her children and grandchildren. She grew up in an Ireland with a distinct way of life, and she had tangible relationships with her elders and their traditions. Those who have grown up in Ireland will tend to take for granted the way of life they have enjoyed. On the other hand, with each generation that passes, the diaspora loses a little of its Irish connection. However, we still want to be able to return to Ireland, and we are proud of our resilient ancestors. As Roger McGrath wrote in Chronicles magazine from the United States of the revolutionary spirit, “those troublesome Irish […] wanted their country back and had rebellion on their minds […] India, with a population of 220 million, had given England less grief than Ireland.”
  4. An Irexit will get more difficult with time. Particularly because it would facilitate national unification post-Brexit, Ireland would best get out of the European Union while she still can. Since the European Union does not yet have a unified military force—no doubt it will in short order—there is time to leave peacefully like the United Kingdom did. One need look no further than the United States to witness how once-sovereign states with home rule have been subsumed by a federal leviathan in Washington, DC. While there are secession movements in US states (as there are in Canada) the status quo bias is extremely difficult to overcome. EU tentacles are tightening around Ireland, which has become a fiscal loser within the federation. There were teaser subsidies that sweetened initial entry, but Ireland’s future stuck in the European Union is bleak.

Fergus Hodgson (@FergHodgson) is an economic consultant and geopolitical editor based in Fort Collins, Colorado. He holds an MBA in finance from Rice University and a BA in economics from Boston University.

Posted by Fergus Hodgson

5 Comments

  1. Richard N. Greene 21/05/2023 at 10:01 pm

    I wish all Irish men and women who still can think for themselves ,would read this important advice by a relative of Patrick Pearse and begin to vigorously campaign against our disastrous membership of the European Union,before we become a minority in our own country.

    Reply

  2. The shinners will take this country even closer to the EU, Mary Lou in her first and only job (as such) was working for the EU, a party that was once Eurosceptic is now totally pro EU. FFG are already in the pockets of the EU, the lure of high paid jobs that allows the sycophants within (all of the members) both parties to fulfill their wet dreams of selling out their country

    Reply

  3. Daniel BUCKLEY 22/05/2023 at 11:48 am

    The EU is the New Soviet Union.
    It has a toothless pretend Parliament ,that can neither initiate nor change legislation.
    Its equivalent of the Soviet Politburo is the EU Commision which is undemocratic, unelected and unaccountable.
    Its Central Bank (ECB) controls the issue of the Euro currency .
    The ECB thus regulates the Economies of those Nations that were monetarily ignorant or foolish enough to surrender the exorbitant privilege of being able to stimulate their Economies by investment of their own Industry with Independent Sovereign investment into indigenous skills,resources and Industry.
    Ireland fulfils all the criteria of a Colony;
    It has no Independent Currency or Central Bank.
    It has no control of its Borders
    Its Laws are overriddden by EU Laws and Diktats.
    The profits from Irish Labour by Foreign Direct Investment are invested in US Treasury Bonds, and not re-invested in Irelands economy, at present in the region of $300 Billion.
    The present collapse of the US Financial sector and the $ will have drastic effects on Ireland’s frothy Financial bubble economy.
    Ireland is misgoverned by inept fools ,charlatans , without vision or knowledge of the basics of Economics or good Governance.
    Clear them out before they clear us out by their wilful destruction of the Nation.

    Reply

  4. Ivaus@thetricolour 23/05/2023 at 8:43 am

    Ireland and it’s ethnic Irish Gael are being forced to watch this ludicrous train wreck at play,frozen by fear and intimidation, threat and violence, uttered lies and fabrication, denial.. Denial… DENIAL.
    DON’T, let anyone convince you otherwise.
    Decades of incompetent governing by all corrupted parties involved. There is no point in ignoring any longer what’s in front of your eyes,does it need to be spelt out in details? NO! spare the embarrassment.
    IRELAND IS FU.KED,and the only solution to fixing all its problems is to be Patriotic, stand beside,behind and BEFORE fellow Patriots. Be pro Irish and National in action not just vocal.And only those that have your and all Ireland’s interests at heart is considered leadership. TRAITORS OUT.
    And do me a favor Burkean,take the avid censor off me back,I’m sick of carrying, beyond a joke now,too many times now.
    save yourselves, Save Ourselves, SAVE EIRU…EIRE…ROI…ALL IRELAND’S IRISH

    Reply

  5. Kevin Christopher Glynn 26/05/2023 at 2:42 am

    I’m first generation Irish American as my parents emigrated from Mayo and Roscommon in 1929. We’ve maintained family ties for years as both my brother and I were partly educated in ireland (Blackrock College in Dublin) and held property in Mayo until recently. However, I’ve noticed that the Irish were happier when they were materially poorer but politically more independent. They’ve been seduced by EU subsidies and have surrendered much of their character and spirit if only to appease Brussels. In short, they fought for 800 years to regain their independence but it took only 20 or so year for their government to sell it away. Leo Varadkar, a homosexual Hindu, would like nothing more than to be some Grand Poobah within the EU ruling over a satrapy than to lead a free people. That is why he is drowning Ireland in a flood of brown people. How strange that the once British Isles are now presided over by Asiatics. Blood is thicker than water.

    Reply

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