British and Irish baloney

One of the least well-known facts about the the Belfast Agreement is that it created not only cross-border bodies but also so-called ‘East-West’ bodies, (1) institutions intended to add a co-operative British-Irish element to dialogue not only about the North, but in the internal policies of Britain and Ireland.

The British-Irish Council (BIC), which had its thirteenth summit this month, is the principal East-West institution. Composed of representatives from the governments of Ireland and Britain as well as the local legislative assemblies of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the governments of Crown dependencies Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey, the BIC summit saw Taoiseach Brian Cowen lead the Irish delegation for discussions on the economic situation, renewable energy and language issues. So, a typically pointless but buzzword-compliant talking shop, then.

How sad the members must feel: thirteen summits and nobody knows who you are or what you do. In fact, this could be said of any institution that arose from the peace process other than the Northern Assembly itself. The creation of Mickey Mouse outfits like the North–South Ministerial Council was the price of getting the SDLP and Sinn Féin to accept the Belfast Agreement but why bother with their British equivalent?

Republicans had to be convinced that there was something in the peace process for them. After all, they weren’t getting Irish unity. Unionists, however, were getting the maintenance of the union with Britain, so why should they care about these curious talking shops?

British and Irish and devoid of meaning
Traditional Unionist Voice, the party founded by former DUP Euro MP Jim Allister, is the hardest of the hardline unionists and, as such, it can be safely assumed that the party’s opinions on political matters represent continuity with pre-Agreement unionism.

A TUV spokesperson told forth that the party sees the North–South links as a threat to unionism: “Under the Belfast Agreement the union has been diluted, not just in relation to the un-British form of devolution but because of the links it forces us to have with a foreign country, the Irish Republic.

“Not only do you have six cross-border bodies – most of which deal with economic matters because it is a very short step from economic integration to total political union – but as soon as a power becomes devolved it automatically comes under the ambit of the North-Southery established by the Belfast Agreement. This is one of the key reasons why we oppose the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont.”

forth is not a unionist publication – far from it – but unlike so much of the political discussion in the North, TUV’s objections are perfectly straightforward. TUV’s fears that the North–South will bring about Irish unity by stealth are overstated but they do represent clear – and clearly unionist – thinking. (2)

However, TUV has also expressed scepticism on the question of the East-West bodies: “The Union with the rest of the UK is about more than a line on a map. We want to be part of the great family of nations which make up the UK. We feel we share a common history, language and literature and want to strengthen those ties. It is because the Belfast Agreement erodes them that we so vigorously oppose it.”

TUV is not against the bodies per se, rather it has raised concerns about their function – or lack thereof.