A Picture Worth 3000 Dead
With all the news going on with Syria, Turkey, and Egypt, one important conflict has been overlooked. Specifically, "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland achieved a landmark previously unthinkable: former IRA commander Martin McGuinness and Her Royal Highness Elizabeth II shook hands in an effort to promote peace and show an end to the fight over Northern Ireland. Martin McGuinness spent most of his adult life being hunted by British Intelligence and Special Forces as he was the head of operations for the Irish Republican Army, by many accounts. The Queen, well, she's the bloody Queen. Head of state for dozens of countries around the world that are part of the British Commonwealth and born into a life so posh it has no real comparison. She is the physical embodiment of all things of Imperial Britain and he was the literal force fighting that in Ireland. And they shook hands. He is deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland (which is roughly equivalent of being Lieutenant Governor in a state here) and formerly Minister of Education for the same. He gave up the guns for the pens and in so doing made everyone believe this whole peace thing could really work in Northern Ireland. And it has. Now, we have him shaking hands with the Queen herself celebrating peace and stability in Northern Ireland. And any person who would have predicted this 5 years ago would have been judged insane.
Going into the history of Northern Ireland, and Ireland in general, regarding the British would make this too long to actually read sanely. Suffice it to say, over 3000 people died between 1972 and 1998 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. The IRA became one of the most horrific terrorist groups in the world and Northern Ireland became the one place in the UK British police are allowed to carry firearms routinely. Generations grew up with violence in their neighborhoods, military forces everywhere and all but war between different terrorist groups and the British military/police force. Crossmaglen, the heliport along the border with Ireland, was the busiest heliport in the world. Derry and Belfast were all but divided cities: there were clear signs denoting Derry from "Free Derry", that is the Catholic part of Derry, often called the Bogside. Belfast poor neighborhoods fought each other simply because one was Catholic (Lower Falls) and one was Protestant (Shankhill). Both are working class neighborhoods, but back in the 60s and early 70s, Shankhill got more assistance than Lower Falls did. Primary reason that the Stormont Parliament was called "A Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people". It was shut down eventually, but the fighting raged on. Bombs here, shootings there and everywhere an air of inevitability. Like this was never going to change, so it couldn't, so why try? There will still be Irish and there will still be British and never the two shall be together.
And now we have Martin McGuinness shaking hands with the Queen. It's like if Robin Hood popped out of Sherwood Forest, agreed to be deputy mayor of Nottingham and hung out with Prince John. It's historic, and for once that's not actually hyperbole. The Queen doesn't shake hands often, it's against royal protocol to even touch the Sovereign, let alone engage in a gesture that would make like an equal to anyone else. There was a time not so long ago that no Irishman would have even thought of touching the Queen in such a way. It was also not thought that an Irishman of republican leanings would have touched the Queen with anything less than an explosive. To say they have both come far doesn't quite cover it. Less than a hundred years ago, republicans were killing each other because of a treaty signed with the British that gave up the Six Counties of Northern Ireland. While McGuinness might be worried about death threats, but odds are he really isn't. After all, he was a deputy first minister under Rev. Ian Paisley, which is kind of like being a black lieutenant governor of Alabama with Nathanial Bedford Forrest as governor. They made it work against all odds, and that gives McGuinness confidence in doing this. The majority of people and even the arc of history are on his side. It's a certain bet that McGuinness doesn't want to die, but he's probably thought about it as well.
The Queen, however, does not have any of these risks. She's in for life, has divisions of armed troops securing her and an army of photographers around her at all times. Not in that Diana in a tunnel in Paris kind of way, but they're always there and hard to do anything around her. Politically, she has odd sense of power. Legally, she can dissolve Parliament (indeed, the she did appoint the current prime minister) and proclaim whatever she feels like. Practically, this would be a lot harder, but she still has power as a figurehead. She is the walking embodiment of the British Empire and a personification of all things British. All of this leaves her a lot freer than her counterpart to do what she wants in regards to this process. It also leaves her freer than the other elected leaders of Britain to show her support for the peace process. Other MPs have to answer to their individual constituencies who have differing opinions about the peace process. Mostly ranging from "why are we still talking about this?" to "they should shut the hell up and just deal with it". There are a lot of other issues that the British have to deal with right now, like say Syria and Turkey. Northern Ireland, not being actively at war and killing people, is not the highest priority, so most MPs are not going to expend political capital to deal with it. The Queen, however, has unlimited political capital and no one to answer to about anything. She can do as she likes, and right now, she desires to give the most effective image for Irish peace imaginable.
Which is probably the best use of royal power ever.
So it is written, so do I see it.
Going into the history of Northern Ireland, and Ireland in general, regarding the British would make this too long to actually read sanely. Suffice it to say, over 3000 people died between 1972 and 1998 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. The IRA became one of the most horrific terrorist groups in the world and Northern Ireland became the one place in the UK British police are allowed to carry firearms routinely. Generations grew up with violence in their neighborhoods, military forces everywhere and all but war between different terrorist groups and the British military/police force. Crossmaglen, the heliport along the border with Ireland, was the busiest heliport in the world. Derry and Belfast were all but divided cities: there were clear signs denoting Derry from "Free Derry", that is the Catholic part of Derry, often called the Bogside. Belfast poor neighborhoods fought each other simply because one was Catholic (Lower Falls) and one was Protestant (Shankhill). Both are working class neighborhoods, but back in the 60s and early 70s, Shankhill got more assistance than Lower Falls did. Primary reason that the Stormont Parliament was called "A Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people". It was shut down eventually, but the fighting raged on. Bombs here, shootings there and everywhere an air of inevitability. Like this was never going to change, so it couldn't, so why try? There will still be Irish and there will still be British and never the two shall be together.
And now we have Martin McGuinness shaking hands with the Queen. It's like if Robin Hood popped out of Sherwood Forest, agreed to be deputy mayor of Nottingham and hung out with Prince John. It's historic, and for once that's not actually hyperbole. The Queen doesn't shake hands often, it's against royal protocol to even touch the Sovereign, let alone engage in a gesture that would make like an equal to anyone else. There was a time not so long ago that no Irishman would have even thought of touching the Queen in such a way. It was also not thought that an Irishman of republican leanings would have touched the Queen with anything less than an explosive. To say they have both come far doesn't quite cover it. Less than a hundred years ago, republicans were killing each other because of a treaty signed with the British that gave up the Six Counties of Northern Ireland. While McGuinness might be worried about death threats, but odds are he really isn't. After all, he was a deputy first minister under Rev. Ian Paisley, which is kind of like being a black lieutenant governor of Alabama with Nathanial Bedford Forrest as governor. They made it work against all odds, and that gives McGuinness confidence in doing this. The majority of people and even the arc of history are on his side. It's a certain bet that McGuinness doesn't want to die, but he's probably thought about it as well.
The Queen, however, does not have any of these risks. She's in for life, has divisions of armed troops securing her and an army of photographers around her at all times. Not in that Diana in a tunnel in Paris kind of way, but they're always there and hard to do anything around her. Politically, she has odd sense of power. Legally, she can dissolve Parliament (indeed, the she did appoint the current prime minister) and proclaim whatever she feels like. Practically, this would be a lot harder, but she still has power as a figurehead. She is the walking embodiment of the British Empire and a personification of all things British. All of this leaves her a lot freer than her counterpart to do what she wants in regards to this process. It also leaves her freer than the other elected leaders of Britain to show her support for the peace process. Other MPs have to answer to their individual constituencies who have differing opinions about the peace process. Mostly ranging from "why are we still talking about this?" to "they should shut the hell up and just deal with it". There are a lot of other issues that the British have to deal with right now, like say Syria and Turkey. Northern Ireland, not being actively at war and killing people, is not the highest priority, so most MPs are not going to expend political capital to deal with it. The Queen, however, has unlimited political capital and no one to answer to about anything. She can do as she likes, and right now, she desires to give the most effective image for Irish peace imaginable.
Which is probably the best use of royal power ever.
So it is written, so do I see it.