Symbols of Colonialism and the Reconquest of Ireland

Symbols of colonialism have made for much talk in recent weeks. Statues are the main target. However, when we have these physical shrines to Britain’s colonial past taken down, we should have a look at other, more deep-rooted ‘symbols’ of British colonialism in Ireland, symbols I intend to explore in this piece through the idea of the ‘reconquest’. The core aim of Irish Republicanism can be summed up in this one word, the reconquest, or in Irish, athghabháil. For over eight centuries, England has tried to conquer Ireland, be that the land, minds or people of this country. In many areas they have failed, and this is evident in the unquenchable spirit of resistance that can still be found in our collective psyche – Bobby Sands wrote that “they have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn’t want to be broken”. But there is no doubt that England’s imperialism has met success in Ireland – we speak their language, we have fallen many times for their tactic of sectarianism, we revere their system of class. And of course, the most blatant aspect of the success of their conquest can be seen in a continuing British jurisdiction in part of Ireland. So our function is the reconquest – to take back what is ours, to tear down the symbols of conquest. This can be broken down into different areas, namely: the reconquest of the national territory; the reconquest of our economic system; unity between our people; and the reconquest of our language; 

The National Territory

Britain’s first, and Britain’s last colony is Ireland. Her unwanted presence for almost a millennium has been resisted ceaselessly: “In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty”. In 1921, following the most successful éirí amach against British rule, a counter revolution took place, in which Ireland was divided into two states: one to remain under British rule, the other to be a puppet for British interests in Ireland. In the decades that followed, Irish men and women resisted the two-state solution, a continuation of the failed colonial experiment. 1998 brought about, for the first time in Anglo-Irish relations, an acknowledgement on the part of the British government that “it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone … to exercise their right of self-determination”, thus for the first time, offering a peaceful way forward for Ireland. So today, it is our responsibility to actualise the dream of our sinsear romhainn, the generations who have passed before it, and bring about that Irish self-determination. This is not only a mere aspect of the reconquest, but its most fundamental part, the part without which no other facet of the athghabháil can be achieved. How can Ireland even contemplate a move towards economic equality, or a just foreign policy embedded in a spirit of solidarity, or break from our sectarian divides, or a second Gaelic revival, if we do not have jurisdiction over our own country? Just like the statues to colonialists that are being taken down, it is our responsibility to work towards the day when we can take down the symbol of British jurisdiction in Ireland, the union jack. These points are unquestioned by you, a republican readership. What we have to understand however, is this central term, the ‘athghabháil’, and how national liberation is the first, key and most central step in this reconquest. Nothing can take priority. This does not mean of course that in the meantime we should not be engaging in social/economic issues, such as housing – that would be absurd. What it means though is that unity, independence is the bunchloch, the foundation stone, of the Republic to which we are headed. 

The Economic System

Ireland’s two economic systems are based on the same principle: private interests take priority over public interests. Those who are successful in society have power and control, while those who society deems unsuccessful are expected to accept subjugation. However, this system (a mindset as well as an economic ideology), is not natural to humankind, most especially to us, na Gaeil. The Brehon system which was to be found throughout the island until the 12th century was a largely egalitarian, bottom-up system, with much land being commonly owned. Its replacement was a profit-based, feudal system brought to Ireland by invaders. The use of this comparison does not in any way argue that Ireland was a utopia before 1169, or that we should return to that system – of course not. I am stating that the economic system imposed upon Ireland is wrong. The counter revolution of the 1920s to which I referred previously, did not set about the creation of a state based on what can only be described as the socialist programme of the First Dáil, which affirmed that “all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare”. If we are really in favour of “the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland”, we are in favour of an athghabháil by Irish people of their economic destiny, and an assertion of the fundamental rights to a home, to healthcare and so on. Ireland would remain unfree if this change was not brought about: for England ‘would still rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers’, in the words of Connolly. Republicans are, creid nó ná creid, in favour of a Republic – citizen rule, rights based. This is a central aspect of the reconquest, without which Irish people cannot be free, and which cannot be brought about in a divided Ireland. So this is the second symbol of colonialism we must tackle.

Unity between our People

We are not the only nation to have suffered as a result of the policy of ‘divide and rule’. India, and our comrades in Palestine, among others, have been at the receiving end of this disastrous British policy, that sought (and seeks) to weaken its enemies by dividing their land and their people, to prevent those nations from prospering. Ireland was partitioned long before the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. Ireland was partitioned by a sectarian divide, not even between two religions, but between two shades of the same religion, which goes to show how absurd Irish sectarianism is. This divide is an artificial one. Mandela, whose struggle was similar to our own, said that: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate”. England is the teacher. England has taught Irish people, particularly unionists, to distrust their neighbours. They were granted privilege, and rights were denied to nationalists, creating a divide between the Irish people.This policy (for this is what it was) was successful. How? Well we have to first ask ourselves what the aim of this divide was – to prevent the Irish from uniting, ‘Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter’, against British rule, thus leaving Ireland trapped in the Union. Part of the country remains in the Union, as a result of this divide, and the prosperity the country could have seen was stunted by an economic and political partition of the island in 1920 and in the 1921 Treaty. A central tenet of the athghabháil is turning our backs on this principle of divide and rule, for which, I regret to say, we have fallen many times. Though a unity of all the people of Ireland is not legally or technically necessary for Irish independence (as a simple majority is what is needed in the 6 counties), we will still be ruled by England’s division if we do not unite.

Our Language

“Is í an Ghaeilge athghabháil na hÉireann, agus is í athghabháil na hÉireann slánú na Gaeilge”, or “The Irish language is the reconquest of Ireland, and the reconquest of Ireland is the saving of the Irish language”. An interesting point to which I always refer when discussing the role of Gaeilge in the struggle with people, is that English governments have always seemed to have a better understanding of the importance of Gaeilge than we have. Edmund Spenser, a close personal confidant of Elizabeth I, wrote that “It hath ever been the use of the conqueror to despise the language of the conquered, and to force him by all means to learn his”, and that “the speech being Irish, the heart must needs be Irish”. I have advocated not following England’s teachings in this article, but let me make one exception: listen to Spenser. “The speech being Irish”, that is, when the Irish speak Gaeilge, “the heart must needs be Irish”, our heart, our loyalty, our allegiance will be to Ireland. This is, of course, what England feared, and they have acted on this fear consistently over the centuries by banning, criminalising and attempting to eradicate one of Europe’s most ancient tongues. Returning to the words of Ó Cadhain above, an Ghaeilge will play a substantial part in the fight for Irish freedom, and only through Irish freedom can Gaeilge be fully restored – and make no mistake about it, this is our aim. We cannot claim to be republicans, separatists, and be indifferent to Gaeilge. One of the privileges (if I can use that word) of being an Irish republican, is that we are simulataneouly commited to Ireland and our Gaelic heritage, while being unequivovally anti-racist and pro racial diversity. How? Quite simply because being Irish is not impacted by the shade of our skin, or the country of our birth. The Irish language is a language for everyone who shares this country, and has to be seen and espoused as such. Ireland will never be free while the statue to colonialism that is Béarla reigns supreme. Let us begin the reconquest with the reconquest of our minds. 

Sinn Féin is the voice of this idea. The narrow-minded view that republicanism is simply a “stick ‘em together” approach to partition is unfounded. Republicanism is broad and multi-faceted, but which revolves around the one, immutable principle of the Athghabháil. The reconquest is to break the connection with England. The reconquest is revenge for Skibereen. The reconquest is the laughter of our children. When our reconquest finally sets the sun on the British empire – it is then we’ll see the rising of the moon.