Why Great Britain Should Leave Ireland

by

Christopher Gardiner and 

Steven Vuolo

            Britain believes that it can solve the problems between Northern Ireland and Ireland but to this point it has been a bloody conflict. In order for these problems to be solved Britain will need to take its resources out of Ireland and Ireland to help itself. Many international organizations have been pushing for stricter adherence to civil rights legislations in this region and have been backed by foreign governments. (For an article on Stricter Civil Rights Laws click HERE). Another problem facing Ireland is the Irish Republican Army. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is an internal terrorist organization fighting for the withdrawal of Britain from Ireland and for equal rights of Catholics in Northern Ireland. Aside from threats from the IRA, Britain should pull its assets from Ireland for its own economic protection. Had Britain never placed troops in Ireland none of these situations would have arisen.

              Ireland is a country where the majority of the population is Catholic. It won its independence from Great Britain in 1921, but Northern Ireland wished to stay united with Great Britain. It decided to stay loyal to Great Britain because the majority of its populace is of British descent and of the Protestant religion. Catholics in Northern Ireland formed a minority that pushed for equal opportunity for housing and employment. But because the Protestants monopolized the government and the economy of Northern Ireland the Catholics could not do much. In order to combat this monopoly the Catholics formed the IRA, which started violent protests that claimed more than 3,000 lives and left more than 36,000 wounded on both sides since the 1960's. In 1994 the IRA and loyal terrorists Protestant factions agreed to halt all hostilities and begin talks aimed at resolving their differences. These factors have impacted how the rest of the world has dealt with Ireland and the United Kingdom.

            For more information about these countries click HERE for a Country Profile Page.

            Many organizations and foreign governments have examined the civil rights situation in Northern Ireland. On November 17, 1995 the United Nations Committee Against Torture met with members of the government of the Untied Kingdom to examine how the UK was enforcing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (For an article on A Report of Torture Against the United Kingdom click HERE). The main concern of this meeting was the treatment of people of color and the methods used by the army and police of Northern Ireland to interrogate prisoners. The British representative stated that he would like to secure the objective of peace and political settlement in Northern Ireland through the power of politics and that his country was completely committed to this. A main concern was that even though a cease-fire was declared with the IRA and other "loyalist" terrorists organizations, terrorists organizations remained ready to attack if so provoked. During this cease fire, however, a few encouraging actions have taken place, such as the withdrawal of some troops and lifting many of the exclusion orders. Contrary to this positive outlook on the Northern Ireland human rights condition an Amnesty International Delegation sent to examine civil rights abuses found evidence of past and present civil rights abuses being left unresolved. (For an article on Human Rights Protection click HERE). The Delegation did praise Northern Ireland's decision to review the country's police and criminal justice system and another opening in the 1972 "Bloody Sunday" massacre case. The Delegation came to an agreement that prisoners interrogated under the country's emergency laws are now better protected through the use of video and audio recording equipment during interrogation, but the prisoners lawyers are not present which would be the best protection for them. Also some other recommendations will be made: the repeal of emergency laws that conflict with international human rights standards, a refurbishing of the government police authorities so as to help eliminate human rights abuses, the protection of lawyers from threats, and the need for full cooperation with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. 

         The Delegation from Amnesty International the 107th Congress of the United States' House of Representatives submitted House Resolution 185, which stated that it fully supported the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement is a pact to facilitate the framework for the peaceful settlement for the Northern Ireland conflict and was signed on April 10, 1998.  Some provisions of the Good Friday Agreement were for the establishment of a North/South Ministerial Council along with a British-Irish Council and contained other provisions regarding human rights and policing. When the agreement was in referendum the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland overwhelmingly voted in favor of this bill. For Britain to maintain a presence in Ireland for the enforcement of civil rights laws and for the investigation of civil rights abuses would be a waste of resources. The United Nations and Amnesty International keep a presence in this region, along with other international powers keeping record on the peace process. Because the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement it proves that they are willing to seek peace on their own. This will only be accomplished when Britain pulls out of Ireland and they can seek peace on their own terms. The information about the Good Friday Agreement was gathered by using a USENET newsgroup.

            An organization that has continued to push for civil rights is the Irish Republican Army. The IRA is a Catholic terrorist organization aimed at equal rights for Catholics in Northern Ireland. The political party that makes up the IRA is named the Sinn Fein party, which translates to "ourselves" but many times it is translated to "ourselves alone", implying that the Catholics stand alone in Northern Ireland. A provision of many of the peace agreements in the Ireland/Britain conflictions is the disarming of the IRA. With the Good Friday Agreement moves were supposed to be made by both sides in order to ensure that the provisions of this pact were met. But within forty-eight hours of the signing a bomb exploded in London, planted by an IRA group. This act alone showed that some portions of the IRA did not agree with the Good Friday Agreement and because of this Britain gave into key IRA demands.      

              For more information on the Irish Republican Army click HERE.

             After the September 11th terrorist attacks pressure was increased on the IRA to disarm. This pressure was internally coming from the IRA because it realizes that the world would now not stand for any forms of terrorism. Ex-councilor to the Sinn Fein party Mairtin O'Muilleoir is quoted as saying "There's a global debate under way, and we need to be on the right side." This statement alone shows the IRA's commitment to speeding up the peace process and disarming as soon as possible. A few weeks before the September 11th attacks the IRA had stalled the peace accords by not giving a timetable for the laying down of arms. After the September attack, however, the IRA would come to the conclusion that if it did not speed up and lay down arms for a peace agreement it would lose support form outside nations, such as the United States. With an international task force overseeing the disarming of the IRA British assets are no longer needed because they provoke the IRA to attack. If the British were to pull out they would not hinder the process because the IRA would not do damage to them, such as bomb London, which in turn halts the peace process. If the British had not intervened in Northern Ireland the IRA would not have become the threat it has become.         

            The European Union is the economic alliance formed by many of the countries in Europe. All the countries in this alliance circulate the same currency and hope to bring economic gain to each of the individual countries. Great Britain opted not to join the European Union because it is opposed to more integration. The potential danger to Great Britain not being in the European Union and keeping assets in Ireland is the potential retaliatory response Ireland could perform. The president of the European Union changes annually, this means that Ireland will one day head the European Union which could limit economic deals concerning Great Britain. While other countries in the European Union are benefiting, Great Britain may be left out because Ireland is leaving them out. The time for Ireland to be president of the European Union may not come quickly because of Ireland's refusal of the European Union's Nice Treaty. If Britain wishes to benefit from some of the European Union's proposals it must pull out of Ireland so that when Ireland is the president Britain is not punished when Ireland seeks revenge.

          To visit the Official Website of the European Union click HERE.

            Britain should not have expected to be able to fix a rift between the Catholics and the Protestants that dates back far beyond 1921 when Ireland gained independence from Britain. The problem of British intervention in this region of the world has done nothing other than fuel the hate of the Irish Republican Army, which in turn has slowed down the peace process considerably. When the peace process is slowed down many other things are slowed down, in this case in Ireland a review and end to civil and human rights abuses. When civil and human rights abuses are postponed there can be no progress in government. Therefore Britain is slowing down the progress of the Republic of Ireland. Also for its own benefit Britain should pull its resources and save itself from possible future economic troubles at the hands of the Irish European Union presidency. It is arrogant of one country to think that it can solve a problem that has arisen between two separate states by stepping in and further complication the problem.

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