A House Divided

No surprise that a British/Irish study has reached such a conclusion. The north of Ireland is very small indeed, far too small to make many things economically feasible. Bigger scale being more efficient, the two governments have declared that North/South economic cooperation makes sense.

Putting the entire island on an electrical grid is one example. What's the sense in building an entire system for one little corner, when you could add it in to the whole place and build the system much more cheaply. It would be grand to have an underground liquid gas storage terminal, but only one is actually needed given the population. It's silly to build two for the sake of some political border. As for mobile phones, it makes no economic sense for the entire island to not be on the same page.

Then there's infrastructure, such as railroads and roads. Why can't someone hop a train in Dublin and use public transportation to get to Antrim? It makes sense, if you're trying to get more people into Antrim's shops, and there's a lot of people, and tourists, in Dublin. All in all, the joint government commission has stated the obvious. The partition should not be so absolute as to create an isolated colony that costs more money in the long run and cannot compete effectively on the world stage.

Did you hear that screaming? Just now. There it is again. Sounds like a crowd of dinosaurs yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOO."

That would be the unionists throwing fits. The very idea of doing anything in tandem with Dublin must surely mean that the Republic is going to make the north a colony, rather than the colony remaining part of Great Britain. Why, it would poison North/South relations, as far as Reg Empey can see. Danny Kennedy thinks the document is the product of Sinn Fein, making the Six Counties a part of the Republic just like they've always wanted.

Dinosaur Kennedy looks on the north as vibrant, confident, and a component of the United Kingdom. Some of that cross-border economic cooperation is fine, but this latest study threatens the very integrity of the Belfast Agreement. Yes, that agreement, you know the one, the agreement that they've been trying to modify lately at St. Andrews in Scotland. Well, when it suits the purpose.....this is politics, after all.

Gregory Campbell is practically frothing at the mouth over this latest report. It had better be a practical motivation that's driving the governments to consider cooperation, and not a matter of politics. No indeed, he'll not stand for that. If the clerks in Dublin want to meekly propose something that would treat the Six Counties as a sovereign government, with a clear delineation between countries like other nations do, then maybe he might consider. But an all-Ireland anything? Never. No, not ever. No, no, no.

There was a time when London wanted the port of Belfast, back when shipbuilding was critical to the war effort. There was a time when the mills were of economic importance. That time has gone, and the economy of the north is entirely dependent on hand-outs from London. The Six Counties have become an expensive indulgence that gives back less and less return every year. The dinosaurs parade their loyalty, their resistance in the face of bombs and bullets, and they expect the gratitude of a nation. Charming notion, but it's all about the money, the cost to the Exchequer, and doesn't it look as if London would like to be rid of the lazy sot of a colony that eats at the table but never pays its share of the rent?