United Ireland Forum in San Francisco

Hundreds packed St. Anne’s Meeting Hall in San Francisco’s Sunset District on Saturday, June 27, to participate in a forum to discuss how to unite the still divided island nation of Ireland.

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement provided for unification of Ireland by majority vote of the citizens of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the partitioned entities created by the British in the early 1920s.

The British government created the Northern Ireland to assure a Unionist majority there. Unionists, also known as Loyalists or Orange, favor British rule and are usually Protestant. Irish nationalists, the majority of the population on the island, are usually Catholic.


As the first speaker in an initial panel, Gerry Adams said the purpose of the forum was “to kickstart yet another chapter in our struggle—the final chapter.”

In writing this chapter, Adams said, “There’s a huge role for the Irish Diaspora” in the US…This conference is about what you can do.

“There have been many forms of struggle: armed, electoral and peaceful. The heart of the struggle is our fundamental right to determine our own destiny.

“A United Ireland has to guarantee liberty, justice and opportunity for all people. It will require thoughtful strategies, outreach to our Orange neighbors, and patient nation building.

“I believe this generation can make that goal a reality: to end British rule of Ireland.

“Irish unity isn’t just Sinn Fein. The primary national issue is the business of everyone.”

“We’re not here to tell you what to do. We’re here to drop a pebble in the water” and see what actions that will bring.

Following Adams’ remarks, four other panel members added their perspectives. Professor Ruan O’Donnell of Limerick University, Ireland, outlined the contribution of Irish America to Ireland’s freedom struggles. He also asserted, “Partition hasn’t worked for Ireland or Britain.” As for the current initiative, he challenged, “Some say, ‘Why now?’ We say, ‘Why not?’”

Irish artist and activist Robert Ballagh said of his native land, “All I can see is bankruptcy: political, economic and moral.” Of recent elections in the Republic, he commented, “Voters switched from one conservative party to another, from Tweedledumb to Tweedledumber. And the nation is still reeling in shock and horror from stories of child abuse.

“Looking to the North, dark malevolent forces are at work. Recently 120 Romanians were driven out of their homes by Loyalists.”

Also, on May 24 in the Northern town of Coleraine, “Militant Protestant supporters of a Scottish football team beat to death a Roman Catholic man, Kevin McDaid, 49, in the latest sign of how sports rivalries inspire sectarian bloodshed in the north of Ireland,” the Irish Herald reported in June.

“How has it come to this?” Ballagh queried. He then analyzed the dividing of the nation resulting in “two states sown with seeds of division and failure from the beginning. We have to look beyond these failed states.”

Actress Fionnula Flanagan spoke of the psychological effects of the past and present crises in Ireland on its youth: “depression, suicide, crime and drunkenness.” She also addressed self destructive tendencies of what she termed “dissenter identity,” the Irish Rebel stance “fueled by large quantities of alcohol, that we tend to cling to even if it kills us, and it is.” She called for treatment and recovery programs to be included in the program for Irish unity.

California Democratic Party veteran John Burton said he would “call for a United Ireland in the state legislature. We’ll do whatever we can do until Ireland is a nation once again.”

This initial panel was followed by remarks from supporting organization. Here’s a sample of those:


“Reach out to Unionists. Many of us are here today because of bigotry at home. We have to support those who unclench their fists and shake hands with us.”


A news article in the Sunday SF Chronicle reported “The Ulster Defense Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force (Unionist groups), two fearsome groups responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths, said the time had come for peace and democracy in a territory riven for decades by deadly conflict between Catholics and Protestants.” Both groups said they were disarming.


More comments:


“Try to coordinate all major cities to have the theme on St. Patrick’s Day be a United Ireland.”


“Tell our story on You Tube and have free fiddle lessons for unemployed brick layers”—from the president of the Stonemasons Union.


“We must support free trade and free enterprise. When people ask what is the economic plan for all of Ireland, we don’t have an answer.”


“Reach out to other communities through Internet social networking sites. Lots of education. People don’t think that Ireland is still divided, or that the peace process is working.”


“The current global economic crisis gives the lie to free market capitalism. Sinn Fein used to call for socialism.”


“This needs to be tied to immigration. When you’re illegal in this country, you tend to keep your head down. If they could speak out freely, it would help the campaign for a United Ireland.”


Comments and suggestions from the audience followed. Among them:


Letter writing campaign to local elected representatives.

Sinn Fein should take a leading role in supporting people in the West of Ireland fighting Shell Oil, to get Shell to pay the Irish people for the extraction of oil and gas.


Word of mouth, reaching out to all.


We have to convince a critical mass of Northern Protestants through interaction of communities.


Reform the Southern State. It’s perceived as Catholic and threatens Unionists.


The forum concluded with Gerry Adams summarizing its themes: “unity, networking, using our energy and the spirit of Irish cohesiveness.”


“Your job, Adams said, “is to take these ideas and make them a reality. That will be the marker of the failure or success of this initiative.


“This is in essence an assembly of the Irish American community who care about what’s happening and have a vision of a United Ireland.


“We’re going to win this struggle.”

Contact: http://www.aunitedireland.org

sffoui [at] gmail.com