Variable Democracy

 Cieran Perry

As the “Free World” never tires of telling us, aren’t we lucky to live in a democracy. With the onset of this unjustifiable war against Iraq it appears that we are even luckier than we realised because the democracy we live in is a variable democracy. As the vast amount of citizens of our country are against this war (along with the people of most European countries) and against the use of our supposedly neutral countries’ airports to attack Iraq it could be argued that there is a popular mandate against any participation, regardless of how small, in this war.

Invalid argument according to the democratically elected Government of our democratic state. It seems Ireland is indeed neutral in this conflict but neutral on the American side! The fact that the majority of the people of this island are opposed to this war is secondary to not wanting to upset the USA. Very handy this variable democracy as this could be classified as a lack of popular support. In the past the taunt of “lack of popular support” was used against Republicans waging a war against an occupying army but on this occasion popular support has been ignored. The craven politicians and the journalists of our “Free Press” have argued that we must not upset the Americans, that we mustn’t bite the hand that feeds us, that it would be impolite to offend these great friends of Ireland. We are told that while neutrality is a good thing and peace is to be desired, this is the real world and we must be realists.

A perfect example of the craven politician was the PD’s Mary Harney stating in an interview with RTE on the day the war started, that we shouldn’t question the legality of this war. Whether this is typical post colonial lack of confidence in ourselves as an independent nation or whether Harney really believes that as the only super power the USA can do whatever it wants, can only be guessed at. The organ grinder pays the bills so the monkeys must jump when told.

We should be clear on a few things regarding the relationship between the USA and Ireland. As a nation we owe the USA nothing. At most, we are in debt to those Americans who have supported Republicanism, both financially and politically, in the war against the British. American companies come to Ireland because they get huge financial aid packages to set up here. They come here because they have access to a well-educated English-speaking workforce who will work relatively cheaply. The most important reason American companies come to Ireland is because it gives them a backdoor into the vast European market. Profit dictates where these companies locate. If it is profitable to remain in Ireland and Ireland withdraws refuelling facilities at Shannon, the companies will remain here. If Ireland is totally supportive of the USA in this war and it becomes more profitable to relocate to the Far East or Eastern Europe, our fair weather friends will disappear.

American support for the “Peace Process” is often referred to as an indicator of the “special” relationship between the two countries. However, another group pacified and those elements within it who were willing to fight for their rights, either defeated or subsumed into the system, is a huge bonus for the New World Order. The necessity of American support for the “Peace Process” is exaggerated. When the leadership of the main protagonists in the conflict, the Provisional IRA, decided to abandon armed struggle and involve them in the running of the six county statelet, the die was cast for an end to the current phase of the war against the British. From Alex Reid to the Irish Government to the American Government, all were just facilitators at best and irrelevant at worst. The willingness of the leadership of the Republican movement to integrate themselves into the system and the ability of the British to seize the opportunity to normalise the situation in the occupied six counties were the deciding factors in the “Peace Process”.   

The most noticeable common bond between the two nations is the fact that the peoples of both countries are governed under the variable democracy system.