It took years for our country to heal internally and also to reconcile our differences with an empire that ruled our small island nation by brutal force for hundreds of years.
It’s taken a long time to get here but Brexit has reminded us of how little our politics has matured. To suggest that Irish TD’s or MP’s should succumb to British rule in 2018 by supporting Theresa May’s Brexit deal is an insult to every Irish person who’s ever lived.
When the Irish Republic declared itself as a Sovereign Independent State it did so with the intent of abstaining from British politics, no longer would Ireland be a participant in its own enslavement.
For Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to ask Sinn Fein to take their seats in Westminster to support a deal that removes Northern Ireland from her rightful place amongst the nations of Europe is absolutely disgraceful. For Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to ask Sinn Fein to take their seats in Westminster to support a deal that the people of Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly against is simply undemocratic. For Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to ask Sinn Fein to take their seats in Westminster to get England out of this difficulty is an absolute farce.
What’s presented itself here is an opportunity for Irish people to decide whether they should vote for parties that support British rule over Ireland
Or perhaps Irish people should decide they instead support parties that believe the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies.
Who would have thought that we would be faced with this choice a little over a hundred years after the Proclamation of The Irish Republic.
The Queen’s agents need to be voted out of Irish politics. We will not go to England to vote ourselves backwards in time.
(Cartoon by @LatuffCartoons depicts Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness meeting the Queen in 2012)