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The Fenian Way ✍ “Many's the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing."

The predictable howls from all quarters, bar a very conspicuous one, greeted the pronouncement from British direct ruler Andrew Burnham that a border poll is ‘off the table’. Like a theatrical cue card all the players in this political farce saw these remarks as their moment to take centre stage and deliver their shibboleths with suitable indignation or glee, only to realise that once they had done so, a cold reality dawned that they have zero control over the British script.

What was equally exposed was the vacuous nature of slogan politics, tribal politics, sectarian politics, partitionist politics and the greatest whore of them all, electoral politics. And all of that before we delve into the ignorant abyss of the implications of not studying in detail what you have irreversibly subscribed to.

In a carefully crafted and impeccably timed intervention Burnham was actually telling us what is on the table, only, and what is required of the principal actors (who have absolutely nowhere else to go) if the British and Irish governments are to treat them like grown ups. And the endorsement of this British position was confirmed by Dublin due to their strategic silence amidst the rhetoric and din.

The lynchpin of the Good Friday Agreement is the complete control ceded to the British government regarding issues of sovereignty and constitutional change. The British direct ruler has just exercised that control. What is left to domestic politics is the responsibility of administering devolved issues within the Stormont Assembly.

Their ability, and suitability, to do so will not be measured by their posturing on issues outside of their remit and control. And this is why Burnham’s remarks were as much aimed at unionists as it was nationalists. Some of the more astute unionist commentators recognised this fact and urged moderation over the usual triumphalism.

Both Provisional Sinn Féin and the DUP face the same conundrum posed by Burnham’s intervention; Stormont not working will no more usher in a border poll than it will secure the union in a post-Brexit and Scottish Referendum environment. The only way they can be relevant to their electorate is to make Stormont work and that is wholly dependent on British funding, who simply cannot contemplate funding a failed entity.

Both parties stepped into the shoes of their respective predecessors, UUP and SDLP, and both now realise the shoes do not fit as comfortably as they thought they would. You can’t play opposition whilst in government. Stormont, regardless of its status, is an instrument serving British interests. And that is the trap closed.

But republicans were also caught short, the broad nature of the response falling into the ‘we told you so’ category. Like most others, republicans reacted to what they wanted to hear rather than sit back and listen to what the British and Irish governments intended everyone to hear.

It can be no coincidence that a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar should weigh in on the heels of Burnham with talk of the inevitability of Irish unity once agreement can be reached over a protracted period of time. That agreement is not confined simply between Unionist and Nationalist, it must also find agreement with the British establishment.

We can no longer entertain outdated notions of why the British remain in Ireland. The Six Counties are not as British as Finchley. The right to walk the Queen’s Highway was deemed silly by that very same Queen. The sacrifices and sufferings of Irish generations under their occupation mean nothing to a people who learn more about their history from Netflix than they do from their schools and universities.

The waltzing choreography of British long-term interests in our country are being played out in unison with Dublin’s incremental compliance. The political reasoning behind partition alters and adapts to the differing needs of the British establishment to preserve it. Those contemporary needs have a definitive international and security dimension to them as the world enters yet another cold war scenario.

Almost every day we see an assault on the neutrality of the Southern state, the primary weapon for which is ridicule. Its latest manifestation concerned the recent EU Defence Ministers meeting in Wicklow. Much was made of the fact that the security apparatus surrounding the gathering was dependant on a Royal Navy ship hovering outside of territorial waters.

Prominent Statist commentators call Ireland the ‘weak link’ in the European defence system and that we live a ‘charmed existence’ due to the benevolence of other EU countries who spend more on their defence budgets to ensure Ireland remains safe from the ‘threat of Russian aggression’.

This is the type of lens through which Westminster views her interests in Ireland. And what republicans need to urgently recognise is that the core issue of our national sovereignty may well find more strategic value in issues like neutrality to promote that sovereignty as a pragmatic and practical solution.

We cannot allow our position on national sovereignty to be constrained by simply defining it as an historic right and position ourselves as the gatekeeper of that stance but rather promote it aggressively as a solution to a range of issues that continually capture our people’s attention.

The kingdom of heaven comes in a way not foreseen by man: perhaps the same can be said for a sovereign republic.

⏩ The Fenian Way was a full time activist during the IRA's war against the British. 

On The Table

The Fenian Way ✍ “Many's the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing."

The predictable howls from all quarters, bar a very conspicuous one, greeted the pronouncement from British direct ruler Andrew Burnham that a border poll is ‘off the table’. Like a theatrical cue card all the players in this political farce saw these remarks as their moment to take centre stage and deliver their shibboleths with suitable indignation or glee, only to realise that once they had done so, a cold reality dawned that they have zero control over the British script.

What was equally exposed was the vacuous nature of slogan politics, tribal politics, sectarian politics, partitionist politics and the greatest whore of them all, electoral politics. And all of that before we delve into the ignorant abyss of the implications of not studying in detail what you have irreversibly subscribed to.

In a carefully crafted and impeccably timed intervention Burnham was actually telling us what is on the table, only, and what is required of the principal actors (who have absolutely nowhere else to go) if the British and Irish governments are to treat them like grown ups. And the endorsement of this British position was confirmed by Dublin due to their strategic silence amidst the rhetoric and din.

The lynchpin of the Good Friday Agreement is the complete control ceded to the British government regarding issues of sovereignty and constitutional change. The British direct ruler has just exercised that control. What is left to domestic politics is the responsibility of administering devolved issues within the Stormont Assembly.

Their ability, and suitability, to do so will not be measured by their posturing on issues outside of their remit and control. And this is why Burnham’s remarks were as much aimed at unionists as it was nationalists. Some of the more astute unionist commentators recognised this fact and urged moderation over the usual triumphalism.

Both Provisional Sinn Féin and the DUP face the same conundrum posed by Burnham’s intervention; Stormont not working will no more usher in a border poll than it will secure the union in a post-Brexit and Scottish Referendum environment. The only way they can be relevant to their electorate is to make Stormont work and that is wholly dependent on British funding, who simply cannot contemplate funding a failed entity.

Both parties stepped into the shoes of their respective predecessors, UUP and SDLP, and both now realise the shoes do not fit as comfortably as they thought they would. You can’t play opposition whilst in government. Stormont, regardless of its status, is an instrument serving British interests. And that is the trap closed.

But republicans were also caught short, the broad nature of the response falling into the ‘we told you so’ category. Like most others, republicans reacted to what they wanted to hear rather than sit back and listen to what the British and Irish governments intended everyone to hear.

It can be no coincidence that a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar should weigh in on the heels of Burnham with talk of the inevitability of Irish unity once agreement can be reached over a protracted period of time. That agreement is not confined simply between Unionist and Nationalist, it must also find agreement with the British establishment.

We can no longer entertain outdated notions of why the British remain in Ireland. The Six Counties are not as British as Finchley. The right to walk the Queen’s Highway was deemed silly by that very same Queen. The sacrifices and sufferings of Irish generations under their occupation mean nothing to a people who learn more about their history from Netflix than they do from their schools and universities.

The waltzing choreography of British long-term interests in our country are being played out in unison with Dublin’s incremental compliance. The political reasoning behind partition alters and adapts to the differing needs of the British establishment to preserve it. Those contemporary needs have a definitive international and security dimension to them as the world enters yet another cold war scenario.

Almost every day we see an assault on the neutrality of the Southern state, the primary weapon for which is ridicule. Its latest manifestation concerned the recent EU Defence Ministers meeting in Wicklow. Much was made of the fact that the security apparatus surrounding the gathering was dependant on a Royal Navy ship hovering outside of territorial waters.

Prominent Statist commentators call Ireland the ‘weak link’ in the European defence system and that we live a ‘charmed existence’ due to the benevolence of other EU countries who spend more on their defence budgets to ensure Ireland remains safe from the ‘threat of Russian aggression’.

This is the type of lens through which Westminster views her interests in Ireland. And what republicans need to urgently recognise is that the core issue of our national sovereignty may well find more strategic value in issues like neutrality to promote that sovereignty as a pragmatic and practical solution.

We cannot allow our position on national sovereignty to be constrained by simply defining it as an historic right and position ourselves as the gatekeeper of that stance but rather promote it aggressively as a solution to a range of issues that continually capture our people’s attention.

The kingdom of heaven comes in a way not foreseen by man: perhaps the same can be said for a sovereign republic.

⏩ The Fenian Way was a full time activist during the IRA's war against the British. 
Andy Burnham Irish Border Poll Irish Unity The Fenian Way

1 comment:

  1. Steve R10:46 AM, September 05, 2026

    TFW What do you suppose is the British interest in keeping the 6 counties?

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp80n0x7rvzo

    Northern Sinn Fein is now the defender of the colonial devolution power apparatus. They are now beyond constitutional nationalism and have most certainly jettisoned "Republicanism" of the hue they espoused for years.

    It's very strange to me as a Loyalist to see the knives out for Brendan Hughes by former comrades. Don't get me wrong, I am steadfast in the cause of peace between our communities particularly on a working class basis but he was clearly a man of principle. I have often wondered if he and Davy Ervine had lived whether they would have reached common ground. I have little doubt they would have. Both our communities are poorer for their loss.

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