As I see it, the conflict in Northern Ireland is not about economics, religion or ethnicity. It is primarily about identity and a sense of belonging. Those of us who are of Scottish and Anglican extraction, and whose families have been a part of this islands history for more than three hundred years, regard ourselves as the real British presence in Ireland. For us, our sense of identity and belonging, while rooted geographically in the soil of Ireland, lies politically in our citizenship of the United Kingdom.
I� see no contradiction in being both Irish and British and can fully endorse the sentiments expressed by Ronald MacNeill MP, who, when addressing the House of Commons in 1913 said, � I am sincerely and passionately attached to Ireland as the honorary member of Galway or any of his friends. I share their love for Ireland�s soil, for her scenery, her people, her history, her poetry and her romance � but this is a matter of citizenship�.
Thus it is vitally important for Unionists that we maintain our close links with the rest of the United Kingdom while formatting and modernising new democratic structures within and across these islands. It is important too that the emblems which visibly express those links � such as the flying of the Union Flag on government buildings on designated days � is maintained and honoured.
My concept of unionism is a union of parts where the diverse peoples of these islands can come together in a common bond of human brotherhood and in a common purpose of social advancement to work for the common good of each other. Such a union should enrich and enhance rather than diminish or deny each group of people their sense of culture, identity and citizenship.
The United Kingdom is moving away from the idea of one solitary �nation� governed by a unitary Parliament. Areas such as the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are jurisdictions with their own degree of independence. Scotland has it own Parliament while Wales and Northern Ireland have their local Assemblies, and England is edging closer towards regionalisation. Meanwhile, Europe is becoming more involved in our daily lives than ever before. There are even those within the Republic of Ireland who have floated the idea of� seeking admission to the Commonwealth. The United Kingdom of the future will certainly look very different to the United Kingdom of the past. Responsible Unionists will acknowledge those differences and commit themselves to a Unionism that is progressive and evolutionary rather than to something that is locked in an era that no longer exists.
With these changes in mind it is important that all citizens of� Northern Ireland look to the future and give full backing to political structures that will embody all of these relationships and that will meet the political and social challenges that must be encountered as we move into the new millennium. As a loyalist I welcome the creation of modern, progressive and innovative structures that meet the demands of a changing Northern Ireland within a changing United Kingdom and within a changing Europe. Such structures will also take into account the changing nature of the Republic of Ireland and the development of more agreeable relationships between the governments and the people of both political jurisdictions.
It is clear, however, that good relationships across these islands will prove ineffective unless they are accompanied by good political relationships within Northern Ireland.
A very significant number of my fellow citizens in Northern Ireland aspire to a United Ireland and most, but not all, identify closely with the political and religious ethos that underpins the Republic of Ireland. A growing minority of republicans, while aspiring to a United Ireland, do not particularly want to identify with either the revisionist politics of post-1916 republicanism or the Catholic ethos that has underpinned that revisionism.
As an Irish Unionist I have no difficulty whatsoever in endorsing the right of either republican nationalists or republican socialists to seek the achievement of those aspirations through peaceful and democratic means. Thus, while rejecting the political objectives of both Sinn Fein and the SDLP, I welcome the moves by the Sinn Fein leadership to reject the concept of the armed struggle and embrace the democratic process. Nationalists and Republicans are our fellow citizens and, being a sizeable minority within Northern Ireland,� must be represented at Executive level in the governance of Northern Ireland. In short, there must be a 'sharing of responsibility' between Unionists and Nationalists.
As a trade unionist whose politics are Labour-oriented I am committed to the politics of commonality, equality, and plurality. The Party to which I belong attracts its support from the working-class, the workless class and the underclass. It is my hope that the implementation of the Belfast Agreement will facilitate a radical realignment of political groupings along the lines of issue based politics.
At that stage there will be, I hope, a radical political realignment where those of us who aspire to a genuine social democracy can engage in debate and action on how best we can ensure that the social and economic benefits derived from the new politics will actually reach the people who need them most.
(Submitted to the �Sunday Observer� for publication, June 2000)