Preparing An Irish Democracy

By The 32 County Sovereignty Movement

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Introduction

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The launch of Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity in 2005 represented a dual strategic approach to the current political and constitutional status in Ireland. As a critique of that status its analysis identified clear contradictions between the public and private stances of the main political groupings concerning this status. It identified the political and constitutional consequences of those contradictions and offered political options to address them. The Submissions contained within that document outlining the proposals of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, and sent to the main parties and governments, were met with a unified and telling silence.

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There was nothing threatening in Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity. On the contrary it was a lucid analysis urging the parties to address the probability of constitutional change and, given the implications of such change, urged the parties to prudently adopt a political safety belt to accommodate that change in the event of its realisation. They have refused, to date, to act in this prudent fashion.

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The 32 County Sovereignty Movement’s objections to the political process which culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement lay in the fact that the cause of conflict between our two nations, the violation of Irish sovereignty, was not to be addressed by the process but was to be used as a precondition for entry into negotiations in that those wishing to take part had to concede that no such violation existed. This rendered the process totally deficient as a mechanism for conflict resolution and the political arrangements it fathered no less so. This observation can be witnessed by the interminable wrangling over the restoration and running of the political institutions. In effect what is happening are attempts by the political parties to retrospectively introduce the constitutional question into an arena which it was not designed to address. Those who argued that the institutions, either in their running or in their collapse, offered strategic avenues to advance republican ends are now facing the political reality that both governments see the GFA as a final constitutional settlement and that those who signed up to this arrangement must practice a politics which implicitly accepts this fact. This is the reality which faces us.

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Irish Democratic Framework

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The core thrust of the 32CSM’s approach to political engagement and policy building is to do so within the context of an Irish Democratic Framework. This framework is primarily concerned with the democratic integrity of Irish sovereignty both as an expression of our peoples will without external impediment and the pursuit of that sovereign expression as the surest means for conflict resolution and post conflict reconciliation. It is only within an Irish Democratic Framework that the will of the people of Ireland can be truly expressed and that decisions on governance are firmly grounded in, and reflective of, the principle of Irish consent.

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Irish Democracy, A Framework for Unity is more than a political critique. It is also a template for republican politics. A central tenet of the strategy is the recognition that the politics engendered by the conflict are incapable of resolving the conflict in that such politics were deliberately fostered to perpetuate it. British politics in Ireland, Colonial politics, Sectarian politics, Home Rule politics, Civil War politics and Partitionist politics have all resulted in constitutional accommodations which usurp our national sovereignty and frustrate our democratic expression. That the practice of such politics is in the ascendancy on the island does not infer that republicans must participate in such politics to alter the constitutional status quo. However what is clearly inferred by this ascendancy is that republicans must engage this politics with an alternative viewpoint which is ideologically sound, practically relevant and clearly mapped out to demonstrate both its accessibility and it’s potential to effect constitutional and social change. The 32CSM submit that separatist politics satisfies this criterion.

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Within Irish republicanism, and other ideological movements, there were those who departed from core principles by the lure of populism. There were equally those who interpreted principles in an overly restrictive way severely restricting our ability to propagate the practical benefits for people which these principles were meant to deliver. The net result of both these activities is schism and marginalisation. The separatist politics which the 32CSM pursues is built upon achieving a balance between clear ideological guidelines in tandem with a liberated remit to allow us to practically pursue the politics of that ideology. To this end we submit that:

1. All claims to the republican position must be gauged not by the claim alone but by the politics engaged in to pursue it. The claim and its pursuit must be synonymous.

2. Separatist politics is democratically based.

Within the 32CSM these two principles have been embraced and with our United Nations Submission, Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity and Preparing An Irish Democracy we have put these principles into practice. We now invite others to join us, as themselves, in developing this principled politics for our people.

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One of the great dynamics of the 32CSM position is its accessibility for others to adopt without recourse to precondition, loss of identity or independent contribution. The two principles listed above hold true for those of the socialist persuasion also. The position is the property of those who genuinely pursue it. It is a position which is cognisant of our history but is neither a prisoner of it nor a threat to it. It is a position which is open to development but reliant on its practical pursuit to ensure its success.

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Preparing An Irish Democracy is an invitation to all progressive political viewpoints to engage in constructing a constitutional and policy template to ensure that Irish sovereignty is synonymous with a maximum expression of our peoples democracy and also represents a template for social change and for other nations to evolve from their colonial and conflict ridden pasts.

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Incentives For Engagement

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There is a clear imperative to engage in a process to construct a constitutional and policy template for a sovereign democratic Ireland. Accountable democracy is the proven prescription for conflict resolution and post conflict reconciliation. Empowering people with the ability to shape and direct the democratic direction of their own national sovereignty is fundamental to ensuring a peaceful and equitable future for all our people. For this to happen practical planning to create the forums and social structures necessary to empower the people must commence now as opposed to waiting for constitutional change to occur.

Necessity For Constitutional Change

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Without question constitutional change is the necessary catalyst to create the political and ideological circumstances in which this empowerment can be facilitated. Not to plan for such an eventuality, let alone not avail of it, would represent a gross dereliction of anyone’s ideological outlook which is primarily concerned with freedom and social justice. Not to plan for our people’s future is to leave that future in the hands of a political and academic elite, the same elite which nurtured the conflict to sustain their own dominance. The political oligarchies on the island must end if democracy is to be restored to our people.

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In as much as the ideological arguments beg for inclusion in this process the practical arguments are no less compelling. All societies are built upon practical structures the success of which determines their ability to foster social equality and justice. And what must be borne in mind is that a sovereign Ireland, encompassing its entire people, represents a unique legal and constitutional entity not constrained or bound by previous treaties or governmental structures of former administrations. A sovereign Ireland represents an infancy of statehood with the opportunity for its people to parent its own development. The magnitude of this opportunity is the reason why 'Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity' urged all political bodies on the island to address it and why Preparing An Irish Democracy urges those same bodies to practically plan for it. This is a process which the people can truly take ownership of.

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Aspirational politics is a politics of secondary concern to most people. Practical politics is the medium by which peoples everyday lives are made relevant to the ideal aspired to. In confining our ideals to the realm of aspiration republicans are in effect divorcing themselves from the very people whose interests we claim to represent. Of equal importance is that republicans recognise that we cannot conduct our politics over the heads of the people nor indeed view the people as an entity merely to endorse what republicans place before them. If we agree, as we have to, that republicanism is about people then it is amongst the people that we must go to deliver our core message.

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Partitioned Ireland is fast becoming a multicultural society and that in itself brings new challenges for republicans. There are new differences to address which is why any constitutional and policy template must be encompassing of this reality. The mentality of partition does not foster reconciliation or integration which makes the inclusion of these people and their representative’s crucial if this process is to succeed.

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In addressing this idea to unionism the 32CSM strongly reiterates its position as outlined in Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity and once again urges unionism to approach the issue of Irish unity from a pragmatic perspective. The probability of unity and the resultant change which that entails demands a prudent response from the political, religious and economic leadership of unionism. Unionist consent, within an Irish democratic framework, is truly required to construct a just society for all our people.

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Constitutional And Policy Templates
National Constitution And Policy Forum

‘We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible’

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The 32 County Sovereignty Movement proposes to establish The National Constitution And Policy Forum as a platform to orientate the constitutional debate into an all Ireland context. We wish to propel the national debate on reunification beyond the realms of aspiration and into a framework which sees reunification as a practical reality necessitating critical planning to receive this eventuality. We propose that this forum be used as a vehicle to draft a blueprint of the sovereign Ireland we envisage so as to demonstrably educate all of our people to the benefits and opportunities that constitutional change will afford.

The basis upon which the 32CSM now establishes The National Constitution And Policy Forum is our inalienable right as a sovereign people to draft and adopt such a constitution and to formulate policy under its guidance. The responsible exercising of rights represents the most potent form of defense and promotion for such rights and creates an evolving charter by which the standard of our people’s freedom and their governance can develop. The forum will represent an expression of our sovereign nationhood as it seeks from all our people their contribution to this drafting.

Objectives

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The National Constitution And Policy Forum will have as its core objectives the following;

1. To coalesce progressive political viewpoints around the central issue of national sovereignty, unity and the necessity for constitutional change.

2. To construct a blueprint of the sovereign Ireland that as republicans we envisage for our people.

3. To promote this blueprint as the rightful alternative to partition.