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Bertie To Fall At The Feet Of The Coloniser

30/12/07

In a crude attempt to place another veneer of normality over the abnormal relations that pertain between Ireland and the Britain, Twenty-Six County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced his desire to see the queen of England, Elizabeth Windsor, coat-trail through the country her forces have forcefully occupied for centuries.

Speaking on RTÉ radio on December 24, Ahern said he thought such a visit was inevitable.

“I think she will come in the next few years, I’m not sure if it will be 2008,” he said.

However, the Twenty-Six County establishment seem keen not to let the issue hang, with Ahern stating that an invitation to Windsor, who double-jobs as the commander-in-chief of Britain’s notorious armed forces, “would probably be issued” after the resolution of “outstanding security issues” in the next year. He declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the outstanding issues.

The prospect of a visit by Windsor, one of the richest and most idle figureheads in the world, presiding, as she does, over an armed forces responsible for vast historical and contemporary acts of brutality and oppression, not least in Ireland, has previously been championed by Mary McAleese and is now echoed by Ahern.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistír gave the party’s reasoning for opposing the extension of any invitation and encouraged Irish Citizens to oppose any such affront to the Irish population who have and continue to suffer under British rule.

“2007 has seen a massive attempt to whitewash Britain’s interference in Irish affairs. From the re-establishment of Stormont to the fanfare surrounding the ending of Operation Banner, the British government has had a good propaganda year in relation to Ireland. An invitation for Elizabeth Windsor to visit the Twenty-Six Counties would be the icing on the cake in the false projection of a 'placid colony'."

“However, behind the propaganda the same imperialist interests are at work. The Stormont assembly and executive remain hopelessly ineffective bodies, which are inextricably linked to the right-wing programs and policies of the British state. Operation Banner gave way to Operation Helvetic, which provides for the indefinite presence of 5,000 British troops in the Six Counties, complete with all their repressive legislation and apparatus including the second largest MI5 Base in the world.

“Likewise, the welcoming of Windsor by the rancid politicians of the twenty six county regime would provide Britain with a perfect opportunity to declare that the people of Ireland have finally accepted the occupation and partition of their country.

“Only last month, a number of newspapers in the Six Counties carried interviews with a former British army operative who revealed that British military intelligence have been carrying out numerous covert surveillance operations in the Twenty-Six Counties. 

“The former mercenary also revealed that the level of covert operations increased as the number of uniformed British soldiers in occupied Ireland fell.

“Given this, how can Bertie Ahern really think it appropriate to invite the head of these forces on an official state visit?

“The flip side of the coin is the entrenchment of anti Irish racism in Stormont, vis-à-vis the refused Irish language act, the banning of the Irish language and identity on the national airline Aer Lingus and the embarrassment of a national rugby team without flag or national anthem lest the sensibilities of the occupier be offended!”

“It is obvious that the elephant in the room is being ignored by the status quo in Ireland having found apt bed fellows within the British regime”

“Daithí continued: “It is inevitable that, in the run-up to any monarchical showboating exercise that the political establishment and their allies in the media will attempt to pigeon hole any opponents of the Windsor visit. This did not deter us in the past and should embolden us in the future."

“When the Famine Queen, Victoria, publicly flounced about Dublin at the turn of the 20th Century, citizens of the calibre of James Connolly and Constance Markievicz were similarly pigeonholed as obstructing progress for having the temerity to oppose the ruthless monarchs presence.

“The sight of modern Irish politicians of the Twenty Six County state, fawning over another English monarch almost one hundred years later will be an indictment on their inability to confront our colonial past and present and will provoke similar action from Irish citizens."

Daithí concluded by pointing up the blatant hypocrisy in Ahern’s RTÉ announcement.

“Bertie Ahern has stated that there are some outstanding security issues which need to be resolved before an invitation can be extended to Elizabeth Windsor – on behalf of éirígí, I couldn’t agree more.

“Once Windsor’s government have removed their troops, military installations, paramilitary police force, spies, spooks and all the apparatus of their military and political domination from the equation, the Irish people should then be able to have a mature debate on whether an anachronistic, anti-democratic, imperialist relic of the middle-ages should be allowed to visit our country.”