Constitutional Change is the Way Forward.
This letter was published in the Belfast Telegraph in Write Back 27th July.
The following claim made by Ultonian Portadown in the Telegraph 24th July is noted: -
“ The big constitutional question has relatively speaking been sorted out, most now accept nothing changes unless and until we want it to change.”
This claim may be comforting to the unionist community in Portadown but it gives little solace to Derry/Londonderry where the constitutional question is alive and kicking and divides the communities and ends in violence. To quote examples of constitutional division; the Queen isn’t welcome in the Catholic Bogside but would be welcome in the Protestant Fountain. On the other hand President Mc Aleese would be a guest of honour in the Bogside but would be shunned in the Fountain. The Irish Tricolour is evident in the Bogside while the Union Jack is on display in the Fountain. The National Anthem in Derry is Amhran na bhFiain while in Londonderry the National Anthem is God Save the Queen. One community travels on a British passport the other on an Irish passport. What has been said of the communities in Derry/Londonderry holds for the communities in Belfast so while the constitutional question may be sorted out in Portadown it’s still a live issue in Derry/Londonderry and Belfast.
Ultonian is averse to Constitutional change and adheres to the constitutional status quo but if a stable state is to be found in N. Ireland/Ireland the U.K. constitution needs to change to a Federal Kingdom constitution for all Ireland. Such a constitution expressed in the National Government of Ireland Act can be made as acceptable to the Protestants of Portadown as to the Catholics of Kerry. The nuts and bolts of doing this can be found in the novel—THE WAY IRELAND OUGHT TO BE (Amazon Books).
Derry/Londonderry
