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First published – 8am
AARON MCKENNA MADE a weak argument against Irish unity in his column for TheJournal.ie last week, using a tired logic and a failed economic position that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Of course, a debate on a united Ireland cannot and should not be limited to the economics. But seeing as McKenna emphasises it, let me respond to some of his key points.
The “unmitigated disaster” in this story is the absolute failure that partition has been for the people of Ireland, north and south.
No independent analyst given the task of designing the best economic model for an island of 6.4 million people would dream of separating the north-east corner from the rest of the country and, in turn, creating two separate competing currencies, tax systems, legal frameworks and two administrations.
Island-wide reconciliation
McKenna’s column makes the same fundamental mistake when considering the outworkings of Irish unity as almost every partitionist since our country was first divided by an artificial border – either by laziness or lack of imagination they can only consider a united Ireland to mean an extension of the current 26 county southern state.
That is not what proponents of change are seeking. The type of nation building and island-wide reconciliation that Sinn Féin, for example, is working towards is not about grafting the north onto the current political, cultural and economic status quo of the south.
We are seeking a new, agreed and united Ireland that caters for the aspirations of all of us who share this island. We want to build a just, fair and equal Ireland.
Securing a referendum on Irish unity north and south is only one step within the process of nation building and reconciliation.
Taxes returned to Britain
Some commentators and political figures try to distract and halt demands for change by focusing on estimates of public expenditure in the north.
The truth is we would all be better off with a single economy within Ireland.
Outlandish numbers are frequently presented to illustrate the level of subsidy of the north by Britain, with no focus upon resources generated within the north.
The fact is the people of the north pay taxes that are returned directly to Britain, but the British government has refused on repeated occasions to publish the exact amount of taxes that are raised in the north.
The most recent and complete estimates of the level of taxes raised in the north are available in a report commissioned by the former Finance Minister in the north, Sammy Wilson, and it underestimates the amount of revenue raised in the north in 2011-12 at £14.1 billion.
These figures are incomplete because they fail to take account of the level of corporation tax and VAT generated within the north by companies with British headquarters. The British Treasury tells us that in the same year for which Sammy Wilson has provided us with an estimate for revenue, the northern executive and councils spent £17.7bn.
That leaves an over-estimated fiscal gap of £3.6 billion, much less than the deficit McKenna quotes. Sinn Féin will continue to demand that the British government release full and accurate details of the amount of revenue generated in the north so that we can move beyond this stale non-debate.
Integrated economy
Let’s be clear, simply maintaining the status quo in the form of two separate competing economies on a tiny island will not deliver prosperity for the people of this island.
There are no advantages for a small island nation on the edge of Europe having separate tax regimes, regulatory and legal systems, disparate economic development agencies and programmes, divergent and competing investment strategies and economic policies.
Harmonised and integrated policies, laws and structures across the island are central to creating a fully integrated and healthy economy.
Healthcare is one area in which the case for Irish unity is strong.
There are multiple examples in which a better service has been delivered through an all-Ireland approach. The new joint cancer centre in Derry now provides services for patients from throughout the north-west. No longer will patients from Donegal or Derry have to travel to Belfast or Dublin for treatments.
There are opportunities within a new integrated island wide structure to reconfigure how we deliver health services across this island.
The total money spent per person within the current regressive health system in the south is more than what is spent per person in the north of Ireland or in Britain.
With vision, commitment and determination we could deliver better services to all the people of Ireland north and south.
Democratic choice
The real question of Irish unity is about a fundamental democratic choice for us all.
Is an all-Ireland government representative of all the people best placed to deliver prosperity, equality and reconciliation or should that ultimately rest with an unaccountable and unrepresentative government in Westminster and political administrations that can only serve some of our people?
It can no longer be a case of asking if we can afford a united Ireland. The real question is how much longer can we afford partition, and the duplication and inefficiencies it has created.
Matt Carthy is a Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands North West.
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FFFG: politely asking industry to behave since 1916.
@ed ed: I disagree. Enforcement in the years 1916 – 1923 was more effective than anything since.
@ed ed: enforce a maximum % above ECB rate for all primary residential mortgages….. the banks exist only because we bailed their behinds out. They need a licence to operate, and make this a condition of it.
@Brian Keelty: Pepper would be even bigger if we hadn’t bailed out the pillar banks, you do realise this?
Disgraceful the way this government will not take action for the better of its citizens and stand in the sidelines shouting is just bizarre. Time up FFG.
@Vincent Hughes: Oh yeah,and sf will march into all the energy providers/banks/supermarkets/insurance companies etc etc and DEMAND they lower their prices for ‘the people’…..they will be laughed out the door and told ‘if you want to subsidise it,go right ahead’.
@uUleRhCu: As sure as night follows day, Here’s Terry with his anti SF nonsense on a non SF story, If SF do DEMAND services to do what you’ve said – at least they would be TRYING not like FFG who have had a bite at the cherry for 100 years and get laughed at constantly… Let’s give someone else a bite of that cherry, I don’t think anybody could be as inept as FFG.
@KTH: you’re 100pc right.
@KTH: this absolute nonsense that things can’t get any worse is exactly that.nonsense.And sf are the gift that keeps giving in regards to their silly promises that they will ‘fix’ things that they have no control of…pearse Doherty had a big whinge at the government recently about hotel costs!!!.what has that to do with the government……finally I will be as vocal as I am now about the next opposition and peoples stupid call outs to the government to fix things that they can’t.
@uUleRhCu:
I never said things cant get any worse did I?
So you’re the one talking nonsense.
What has hotel costs got to do with the government?
Do the hotel lobby not go cap in hand all the time looking for more favourable VAT rates all the time?
Who is that they ask for their “special” VAT rates?
Oh yeah it’s the government.
So when the hotels GAZUMP their loyal customers with their prices it actually could be brought up by the government to address this.
@uUleRhCu: tbf here now John, current hotel costs have an awful lot to do with government. It was this government who decided to take in 100k (?) refugees with absolutely no where to accommodate them. They were then shoe horned in to hotels at a large expense to the tax payer. This has basically decimated the supply of hotel rooms in this country and ultimately driven prices through the roof. I say that with no real fondness for SF but it is very fair to blame the price of hotels on the government as it is 100% their fault.
@Journal Commenter: hotel prices were high before the Ukrainian war.
@uUleRhCu: they weren’t cheap that’s for sure. But come on, theres no comparison now. If there is an event on in Dublin you have hostels looking for anywhere from €400 to €800 for a bed in a 10 bed dormitory. I’ve seen it first hand. And that is solely because there is no demand due to the massive amount of hotels housing immigrants and that absolutely is government policy. It is also having massive adverse effects on the tourism industry here. The government cop a lot of unfair criticism for stuff beyond their control, but when it comes to accommodation costs it is largely on them. Lets be fair both ways.
@Journal Commenter: *there is no supply that should say. There is plenty of demand haha.
@Journal Commenter: 175 euro for 7 October in the rochestown lodge,not a chance.
@Thomas: I have a wedding next year in west cork. There is a large number of rooms reserved for the guests. Mind you they want close to the bones of 350 per rooms per night for the privilege. As if weddings are not expensive enough as it is without throwing close to 700 on top for the two nights stay. Absolute gouging when they are already making a fortune from the wedding you would imagine. I certainly won’t be paying it anyway.
@Journal Commenter: I don’t blame,we’re having our kids after christening party in said venue,il be spending a few hundred euro,meal etc,like yourself I won’t be paying that to stay.
@Thomas: apologies, I don’t blame you.
@Thomas: I’m lucky all the same though, I have a friend who actually lives fairly close to the wedding venue and he invited me and the missus to stay with him and his wife for it. Il get him a good bottle of whiskey and bring himself and the wife out for a nice lunch before we head off again as a thank you. But the sad thing is a lot of wedding guests are travelling from all over the country and there is next to nothing available in the area to rent other than the hotel rooms in question, so most will be forced in to paying that kings ransom. Disgusting greed from an industry that not long ago was crying and pleading to be helped when Covid raged. As the saying goes, eaten bread is soon forgotten! I hope ye enjoy the christening all the same and have a good day out from it!
@Journal Commenter: Thank you,and you enjoy the wedding,and west cork bye the way,lovely spot.
@Journal Commenter: are you suggesting the government should ignore their international and EU obligations in regards to taking in migrants? SF are fully behind the migration numbers, so where will that leave you?
This country is in bits:
Law and disorder
Mortgages
Housing Crisis
More excise duty on petrol/diesel is being discussed
Homeless
Cost of living
Skilled workers moving abroad
Road deaths
Climate crisis
And you can add and add and add to this
nothing is getting better
The country is an absolute disgrace and it’s all down to FF and FG.
General Election as soon as possible, please.
No votes for FF or FG at all – will put anyone else all the way down the ballot paper.
No backdoors for these greedy greedy men/women on over 100k a year in their private cars and government-sponsored holidays on private jets.
@Someone Financing The Welfare Leeches:
A wonderful contribution to a serious situation. Well done.
Please go back under your bridge where you use a puddle as a mirror.
@Rafa C: The republic is starting to look like (and I cant believe I am typing this), A Failed State!
@Gerard Hayden: Starting? It’s been failing for decades!
@Rafa C: the space button is your friend Rafa.
At the end of the day a CEO of a bank is only interested in making a profit – so the house will always win. They just pretend to listen to government and the game goes on. If government really interested in tackling costs of mortgage they should look to remove dual income calculation and base it on one pay etc. we are still living with low interest rates (even though they are going up). But we know high property prices benefit property agents/lawyers/banks and government – and they will tell us it’s our fault when it all comes tumbling down!!!
@Shane C: Why base borrowing on a single income? All that would do is give preference to individual borrowers over couples/families
Pepper are a disgrace.
That debt still has to be paid so the term will just be extended after the 2 years at low rate. More interest for them overall.
And more debt for those stuck mortgage holders.
glad I left ireland
@John Terry: “energy providers/banks/supermarkets/insurance companies etc…”
Gov can always:
Energy providers – see Nationalisation of EnergyvSystem: Motion [Private Members] Vol.1031 No. 2, 12 Dec 2022
Banks: create a state or county bank of last resort for lending / mortgages
Supermarkets – make them publish figures for turnover / profit on a regular basis
Insurance companies: create a state or county insurance company of last resort
With the stroke of a pen, government can do any of these without breaking EU rules.
I often wonder why Ulster bank and KBC jumped ship !
@:
@Trent: both of them called it wrong. All the Banks making record profits with the ECB hikes. Bad management decisions!
@Dave X: no they didn’t. Ulster bank wanted out of the Irish market for years. Nat west make more than enough profits without needing UB and the pain in the ass of having to deal with the CBI and the hoop jumping required to do business in Ireland is my understanding from what Iv been told by people within the bank itself. It has nothing to do with bad management decisions or getting it wrong.
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