Radical thinking on Irish Unity: was Iveagh House in 1969 ahead of Republic’s electorate in 2025?

Sam McBride, Sunday Independent, March 9th, 2025

We are in a phoney war about Irish unity. A united Ireland is not yet credibly close, so most people are only thinking about it shallowly. If a border poll was imminent, what would happen would most likely take many of us by surprise.

The last time this was seriously considered by an Irish government was at the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s. This was a time where some believed Britain could beat a hasty retreat from Northern Ireland, leaving Dublin the challenge of taking on the Six Counties. Others believed Britain could be persuaded to agree a timetable for a more orderly withdrawal.

Either scenario required serious planning about a united Ireland — and despite Irish unity ostensibly being the State's key goal, civil servants realised little such planning existed.

Newly declassified cables from 1969

Newly published declassified government files demonstrate radical thinking on the issue. Contrary to the view many people now have of De Valera's Ireland, there was heterodox thinking throughout the government machine and acceptance that key elements of the first half century of Irish independence — the dominance of the Catholic Church, economic protectionism, extreme social conservatism — had made Irish unity hard to achieve, and had to be changed.

A new volume of the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish ­Foreign Policy contains diplomatic papers from the chaotic early years of the Troubles. Among them is a confidential cable issued to Irish diplomats around the world in September 1969.

The cable — from Hugh McCann, the most senior official in the Department for External Affairs (now the DFA) — appealed for ideas to alter policy on Northern Ireland. Ideas "should be attainable and acceptable both at home and in Northern Ireland and abroad” and, unusually, he wanted to hear their "personal view”.

The responses included radical suggestions: ditching the flag and anthem, abandoning neutrality, and ending the Catholic Church's pre-­eminent role in national life.

Influential diplomat Eamonn ­Gallagher believed that "unionist moderates will see the need to get out of a steadily more untenable dead end; their only credible alternative is an accommodation with Dublin”, because they would be "squeezed from the right by a monstrous bigotry of their own creation” which would mean they would have to "suppress definitively the Orange disease” — language which would be offensive to many unionists.

Yet he went on to say Dublin should "seriously examine constitutional and statutory provisions which repel ­Protestants and be prepared to get rid of them... a united Ireland is necessarily a plural society — our Constitution should reflect this and our statutes should never lose sight of this.”

He added that ending partition peacefully "presupposes in practice obtaining the large consent of the people of the North”.

‘Hard realities cannot be wished away’

Eamonn Kennedy in Bonn advocated facing "hard realities which cannot be wished away”, one of which was that among northern Catholics there was a fear of unity due to "the real fall in living standards” that would ensue.

He said many southerners "may not yet be prepared to carry the burdens reunification would imply” and wondered: "Would our taxpayers be prepared to subsidise the North in the manner to which it is accustomed?”

He said that for half a century, Dublin had followed policies "whose ultimate effect was the psychological heightening of the frontier”. A "realistic” unity would mean "some kind of a federation in Ireland which will not be entirely Gaelic, or Catholic, in which the non-republican attitude of the majority in the North will have to be accommodated and in which the policy of neutrality may have to be abandoned in favour of participation in the defence of the West.”

He also said the government should "take the IRA out of Irish politics,” observing that "the IRA did little to help the ordinary citizen in his hour of need, but they did a great deal to strengthen the reactionary hand of the northern government.”

Dispelling mutual fear

TJ Horan in Stockholm admitted he didn't know a single unionist, and had "no direct knowledge of what these people think and how they feel”. He thought "the Six-County Orangeman's or Protestant's fear of us is real — as real as the Russians' fear of the Germans. We must do something to dispel that.” His solution was to buy the Irish News, Belfast's main nationalist newspaper, to give it "new life”.

He said that since partition "we have done nothing to 'woo' the Six Counties. On the contrary, practically everything we have done has tended to widen the separation.”

He added Dublin should "stop using the propaganda line that partition is the root of all these troubles. It is not... partition was already there, and has been there since the planters were settled… Before partition became an established constitutional fact, partition was already there in embryo. I think we should face this fact.”

Con Cremin in New York suggested the Irish language's official status need not extend to the entire island.

Seán Ronan in Dublin observed: "We must prepare ourselves for a pluralist rather than a confessional society.”

An unnamed official in Madrid proposed consideration of Nato membership. A diplomat in Ottawa proposed a new flag and anthem, as "neither would be acceptable” to unionists.

An official in Buenos Aires suggested "inviting some prominent and ­liberal Northerner, like ­Captain ­[Terence] O'Neill, to be the next ­president of Ireland.”

A diplomat in Washington suggested "a restricted area around Belfast having wide and substantial powers within in a 32-county democratic Republic”. He also suggested Dublin should set aside millions of pounds to pay unionist diehards to "make a fresh start in England or elsewhere”.

‘Soldiers Song’ or ‘A Nation Once Again?’

A diplomat in Canberra suggested replacing the national anthem, changing The Soldier's Song to A Nation Once Again.

Some of these suggestions were ham-fisted, or unworkable, or no longer apply. But the level of radical thinking from influential figures in the 1960s illustrates how much of what is outwardly sacrosanct can be cast aside, either in a crisis or because the goal is sufficiently grand.

If a border poll was to come suddenly — which is unlikely but not impossible, because the power lies entirely with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State — it would focus minds, just as it did in 1969.

The nationalist offer to unionists is likely to be more radical than many unionists expect — and the unionist offer to nationalists may be similarly surprising.

Comment

I know by 1972 the Dept of Foreign Affairs was researching opinions in NI. An official asked me for a contact in UVF and met him in the Russell Court Hotel.

Erskine Holmes

'We're ready to welcome the world' - Belfast confirmed as host of 2026 All-Ireland Fleadh

Adrian Rutherford, Sunday Life, March 9th, 2025

THE world's largest festival of Irish music and dance, Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, is coming to Belfast next year.

It had been widely speculated that the city would play host to the event's second show in Northern Ireland. Derry previously hosted it in 2013.

The All-Ireland Fleadh, held for a week during August, can attract up to 600,000 visitors.

The formal announcement was made at City Hall yesterday afternoon following a meeting of the Ardchomhairle of Comhaltas in Belfast.

It follows a bid by Belfast City Council, along with partners Ards CCE, to bring the festival to the city.

The Belfast fleadh will run from August 2 to 9 next year.

Events will range from large concerts and big-name acts to street performances, pop-up gigs and community ceilis.

There will also be competitions in music, song and dance, ranging from local, county and regional levels to provincial and All-Ireland titles.

Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray, said: “I am delighted that the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann will finally be coming to Belfast in 2026.

“Our council is committed to bringing major events to the city because we know from past experience the huge social and economic benefits they can bring, not just to our city centre, but to local communities also.

“I have no doubt that the fleadh in Belfast will be something unique.

“It will be a truly inclusive festival that will allow our citizens — and visitors from near and far — to celebrate together.

“Having visited Wexford myself for last year's event, I've seen first-hand the buzz and atmosphere the fleadh can create.

“It's a massive boost for hospitality and retail businesses, bringing a real vibrancy and attracting visitors from across the island of Ireland — and indeed from across the world — into our city and the wider region.

“Whether you're a fan of live traditional music already, or it's all new to you, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.”

‘Game Changer’

Dr Labhras O Murchu, the director general of Comhaltas, said the fleadh was “a special event”.

“The talent on display is world-class and the atmosphere is indescribable,” he continued.

Niall McClean, chairperson of Ards CCE, said: “This really is history in the making and an amazing opportunity and milestone for our branch as we will also be celebrating our 50-year anniversary in 2026.”

Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said Belfast was ready to welcome the world.

“This is the world's largest celebration of Irish music, culture, language and heritage, and it will be the first time it has come to the city,” he added.

“This will be a game hanger for our people and communities, and will provide a significant boost to our economy, supporting business and jobs,” he added.

The 2025 fleadh will be held in Wexford in this August.