Seamus goes to Liverpool?
A couple of weeks ago I ended a piece on Sectarian identity in Liverpool by suggesting that the city’s problems might be resolved by it becoming part of the Republic of Ireland.
I was joking of course. The logistics involved in building border crossings everywhere would be enough of a deterrent by themselves, though this wouldn’t be so much of an issue if Ireland and the UK both signed up to Schengen, which is of course an other issue entirely.
As well as this, in spite of the city’s predominant Catholicism and Celtic heritage and the contempt for which Westminister governments have displayed for this once-great city, most Liverpudlians probably think of themselves as being British, though not to the extent that some people in places like Burnley and Blackburn do, though what could stop them from bringing a big bag of doorknobs over to Liverpool to introduce to any Irish nationalist candidate? (I could be facetious and say the parlous state of British public transport, but I won’t.)
But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realised that it’s not really that absurd after all, when you consider that Britain owns a bit of Spain, which in turn owns a bit of Morocco, which in turn owns Western Sahara. The difference is, of course, that while Liverpudlians are “owned” by the British state in a very real sense as the UK is very obviously a monarchical state, if Liverpool was part of the Irish republic they’d be citizens who’d get a chance to vote for their head of state every 14 years or so.
The dog’s breakfast that Charles and Camilla have made of their wedding plans has given a fillip to the Republican movement in Britain, which I’ve always had sympathy for, but the monarchy isn’t going to dissapear any time soon, because, as Johhny Rotten sang, those tourists are money.
The reason I support groups like Republic is partly because if there was a genuine debate in Britain about becoming republican, people might start to know what the word meant and then they might feel silly claiming that the Republic of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. (I don’t think it would stop them altogether). As well as that, the loyalists in the north of Ireland wouldn’t have a Queen to be loyal to.
I was going to get to that, wasn’t I? It’s obviously central to my argument that a bit of North-western Ireland is still part of the UK even though only half of it’s inhabitants claim British ancestry, whereas a much higher proportion of her majesty’s Liverpool subjects have Irish ancestry. If someone could draw attention to this by standing as an Irish nationalist candidate in Liverpool it’s possible that they could make some of the northern loyalists realise how ridiculous their position is. (I stress the word possible, as if the coverage of the Pope’s death in the British media doesn’t make them see the absurdity of their position, it’s hard to see what could.) It would also draw attention to the Republic’s shameful treatment of it’s emigrants. Then, if that person got elected, how bad would that be? More candidates could follow suit, and who knows, maybe even hold the balance of power in a few years?
Liverpool voters are clearly looking for a candidate to rally around. After years of neglect by the Thatcher and Major governments, the Blair administration thanked the people of the city by betraying it’s dockworkers, then in 2001 added insult to injury by parachuting millionaire aristocrat Shaun Woodward into one of the town’s constituencies, dragging along every single-issue left-wing candidate into the city in his wake, though, disappointingly he still got elected to represent a government which hasn’t done a whole lot for the city.
Then, after watching the first half of Liverpool’s heroic victory over Juventus last night, inspired by fans singing the fields of Athenry, and then turned over to Sky News at half time to hear that the election was called, I wondered why I couldn’t be a left-wing single issue candidate in Liverpool. Obviously I’m not a subject of the UK, and even more obviously I’d have no wish to be. The prospect of being beaten up by the BNP doesn’t appeal to me so much either, though I’ve been beaten up by English fascists before and lived to tell the tale.
It’s a shame that while Irish emigrants to America managed to hold on to their identity, many of those who went to England were so scared by the “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs” signs that they gave up their identity in a way that people from of Afro-Caribean origin and their domestic pets couldn’t.
Yet the ambivalent attitude that the rest of England has to the city of Liverpool is surely rooted in race. While they’re quite happy to take the credit for The Beatles and the local, non-Everton soccer team, most of the population of the country sees the town as being crime-ridden and it’s residents as being pugnacious idiots who exist purely for their amusement and as subjects for their condesencion. Which is pretty much how most English people see Ireland, in spite of the fact that the Republic is richer than the UK and the rate of violent crime is far lower. It’s pretty obvious to me that the reason so many British governments have neglected the city is because they don’t see it as being part of England at all, that the Irish immigrants who came over there in the nineteenth century may have had a function once but now their children are abandoned to live on the meagre benefits that the state throws at them.
For those of you that don’t know, benefits are about 30% higher in Ireland than in the UK. The minimum wage is about 20%, corporation tax is lower which makes it more attractive for foreign investment and unemployment is much lower, even before you consider the massive fraud of having so many people, especially former miners, on incapacity benefit. Rather than smash trade unions as the UK did, Irish governments of the 80’s and ‘90s developed a complex social partnership system which was the basis for the country’s current economic success.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that we should share the benefit of our new-found wealth with our cousins abroad, and I’m equally sure there must be at least a few people of Irish stock in Liverpool and elsewhere in the UK who want to live in a Republic where the only queen they have to offer any allegiance to is Paul O Grady.
Eamon de Valera and others often suggested that the solution to Northern Ireland’s problems was to exchange the protestant population their for the Irish community in Britain, which the Brits always dismissed as being impractical. My proposal instead offers a chance for Liverpudlians to come back to Ireland without even having to move.
Who wants to help me? All you’ve got to do is put me up in a place in Liverpool between now and May 5 and feed me lots of vegetarian food. I’ll pay my own deposit, which hopefully I’ll get back.
Hope to hear from you scousers out there, aw’right?
I was joking of course. The logistics involved in building border crossings everywhere would be enough of a deterrent by themselves, though this wouldn’t be so much of an issue if Ireland and the UK both signed up to Schengen, which is of course an other issue entirely.
As well as this, in spite of the city’s predominant Catholicism and Celtic heritage and the contempt for which Westminister governments have displayed for this once-great city, most Liverpudlians probably think of themselves as being British, though not to the extent that some people in places like Burnley and Blackburn do, though what could stop them from bringing a big bag of doorknobs over to Liverpool to introduce to any Irish nationalist candidate? (I could be facetious and say the parlous state of British public transport, but I won’t.)
But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realised that it’s not really that absurd after all, when you consider that Britain owns a bit of Spain, which in turn owns a bit of Morocco, which in turn owns Western Sahara. The difference is, of course, that while Liverpudlians are “owned” by the British state in a very real sense as the UK is very obviously a monarchical state, if Liverpool was part of the Irish republic they’d be citizens who’d get a chance to vote for their head of state every 14 years or so.
The dog’s breakfast that Charles and Camilla have made of their wedding plans has given a fillip to the Republican movement in Britain, which I’ve always had sympathy for, but the monarchy isn’t going to dissapear any time soon, because, as Johhny Rotten sang, those tourists are money.
The reason I support groups like Republic is partly because if there was a genuine debate in Britain about becoming republican, people might start to know what the word meant and then they might feel silly claiming that the Republic of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. (I don’t think it would stop them altogether). As well as that, the loyalists in the north of Ireland wouldn’t have a Queen to be loyal to.
I was going to get to that, wasn’t I? It’s obviously central to my argument that a bit of North-western Ireland is still part of the UK even though only half of it’s inhabitants claim British ancestry, whereas a much higher proportion of her majesty’s Liverpool subjects have Irish ancestry. If someone could draw attention to this by standing as an Irish nationalist candidate in Liverpool it’s possible that they could make some of the northern loyalists realise how ridiculous their position is. (I stress the word possible, as if the coverage of the Pope’s death in the British media doesn’t make them see the absurdity of their position, it’s hard to see what could.) It would also draw attention to the Republic’s shameful treatment of it’s emigrants. Then, if that person got elected, how bad would that be? More candidates could follow suit, and who knows, maybe even hold the balance of power in a few years?
Liverpool voters are clearly looking for a candidate to rally around. After years of neglect by the Thatcher and Major governments, the Blair administration thanked the people of the city by betraying it’s dockworkers, then in 2001 added insult to injury by parachuting millionaire aristocrat Shaun Woodward into one of the town’s constituencies, dragging along every single-issue left-wing candidate into the city in his wake, though, disappointingly he still got elected to represent a government which hasn’t done a whole lot for the city.
Then, after watching the first half of Liverpool’s heroic victory over Juventus last night, inspired by fans singing the fields of Athenry, and then turned over to Sky News at half time to hear that the election was called, I wondered why I couldn’t be a left-wing single issue candidate in Liverpool. Obviously I’m not a subject of the UK, and even more obviously I’d have no wish to be. The prospect of being beaten up by the BNP doesn’t appeal to me so much either, though I’ve been beaten up by English fascists before and lived to tell the tale.
It’s a shame that while Irish emigrants to America managed to hold on to their identity, many of those who went to England were so scared by the “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs” signs that they gave up their identity in a way that people from of Afro-Caribean origin and their domestic pets couldn’t.
Yet the ambivalent attitude that the rest of England has to the city of Liverpool is surely rooted in race. While they’re quite happy to take the credit for The Beatles and the local, non-Everton soccer team, most of the population of the country sees the town as being crime-ridden and it’s residents as being pugnacious idiots who exist purely for their amusement and as subjects for their condesencion. Which is pretty much how most English people see Ireland, in spite of the fact that the Republic is richer than the UK and the rate of violent crime is far lower. It’s pretty obvious to me that the reason so many British governments have neglected the city is because they don’t see it as being part of England at all, that the Irish immigrants who came over there in the nineteenth century may have had a function once but now their children are abandoned to live on the meagre benefits that the state throws at them.
For those of you that don’t know, benefits are about 30% higher in Ireland than in the UK. The minimum wage is about 20%, corporation tax is lower which makes it more attractive for foreign investment and unemployment is much lower, even before you consider the massive fraud of having so many people, especially former miners, on incapacity benefit. Rather than smash trade unions as the UK did, Irish governments of the 80’s and ‘90s developed a complex social partnership system which was the basis for the country’s current economic success.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that we should share the benefit of our new-found wealth with our cousins abroad, and I’m equally sure there must be at least a few people of Irish stock in Liverpool and elsewhere in the UK who want to live in a Republic where the only queen they have to offer any allegiance to is Paul O Grady.
Eamon de Valera and others often suggested that the solution to Northern Ireland’s problems was to exchange the protestant population their for the Irish community in Britain, which the Brits always dismissed as being impractical. My proposal instead offers a chance for Liverpudlians to come back to Ireland without even having to move.
Who wants to help me? All you’ve got to do is put me up in a place in Liverpool between now and May 5 and feed me lots of vegetarian food. I’ll pay my own deposit, which hopefully I’ll get back.
Hope to hear from you scousers out there, aw’right?
posted by seamus @ 5:12 pm
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