Keeping to the long-term objective
The purpose of Fortnight since it started in 1970 has been to avoid dangerous short-term policies and solutions. In the start that was to avoid escalating military action on all sides; then to encourage the two governments to work together towards a more lasting settlement,
The contributions in this 500th issue – 55 years on – are designed to assist in the same goal: not to set out the pros and cons of voting now for unification but to plot a less risky path to longer term peace and stability.
The contributions on the policies of the two governments make it clear they share the view that any irrevocable one-way vote should be delayed as long as possible, given the unfortunate and hasty wording in the Good Friday Agreement.
The contributions from leading long-term commentators, Padraig O’Malley and Andy Pollak focus on the huge number of unanswered issues that would arise if there were to be a marginal majority vote in the North – or equally a continuing reluctance in the South to consider seriously what changes to their political structures might be needed to absorb a million and a half new citizens with very different identities and aspirations.
Others like Tom Hadden and Sarah Creighton focus on the equally wide range of difficult readjustments that would be called for in the North and argue that at the very least these need to be worked on and agreed before any referendums are held. The spectre of the marginal Brexit vote in the UK looms large in this and is highlighted in Katy Hayward’s analysis of the need for EU involvement in the search for workable compromises.
The overall thrust of the issue is to argue against simplistic solutions and for the two government to continue to work together to support the Good Friday institutions, and to develop the ‘shared island initiative’ in infrastructure, in shared services and in shared funding.
View Issue 500