In a major political initiative the 1916 Societies have today written to every member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP’s) asking them to support the campaign for an all Ireland referendum. Next years referendum is about Scottish independence and it is also about the future of the UK state. The same state which continues to occupy part of Ireland. For Irish republicans in Scotland next years vote of a strategic priority. We must do all we can to encourage a Yes vote. The people of Ireland have the same democratic rights as the people of Scotland. The right to national self-determination, exercised through a national constitutional referendum, just like Scotland is Ireland’s democratic future.
Below is the full text of the 1916 Societies letter. For more information contact 1916scotland@gmail.com.
A chara,
On behalf of the 1916 Societies I request your support for our campaign to hold an All Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity. The people of Scotland will exercise their right to national self-determination in a constitutional referendum in September 2014 and we believe the people of Ireland have the same right to determine their constitutional future without outside interference or impediment.
Irrespective of their personal and political positions on independence Scottish parliamentarians have acknowledged the right of the people of Scotland to decide. We ask you to support the campaign to for the Irish peoples rights in this regard to be respected.
The 1916 Societies are an independent Irish Political Movement that looks upon the ideals and principals set out in the 1916 Proclamation as our significant point of reference.
The proposed Six County border poll under Britain’s Northern Ireland Act 1998 permits the Secretary of State (an English politician devoid of a single vote in Ireland) to determine:
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when and if a poll may be called,
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the wording of the poll and,
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who qualifies to vote.
Even if passed the British parliament retains the final say on whether or not the result will be endorsed by the UK government.
We believe the core concept of Irish republicanism is that Irish constitutional authority derives from the Irish people and does not defer to laws or decrees emanating from London.
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising it is clear that Britain continues to refuse to recognise Ireland as one democratic unit and presumes that Westminster will define the parameters of Irish democracy.
Republicanism is a unifying concept based on interdependence as opposed to tribal commonality. The exceptional Republican leadership of 1916 knew that interdependence could only be nurtured within a national context and not a partitionist one. They were very specific about that in the Proclamation calling for a ‘National Government representative of the whole people of Ireland’ and declaring that the Republic must be,
‘…oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.’
A Six County poll legitimises the very mechanisms invented by Britain to harness these differences to British interests by endorsing the Unionist veto and accepting the artificial statelet that incubates and nurtures the sectarian dynamic in Irish politics.
The 1916 Proclamation for too long has been relegated to the status of a notional aspiration. The 1916 Societies wish to be part of a broad movement which reinstates the Proclamation of the Republic to its rightful place and its original intent as a template for action. In that spirit we respectfully request your endorsement of an All Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity. One Ireland – One Vote.
Is mise le meas,
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