A quote by a Irish friend of mine: Just think about what independence would mean? Instead of the Union Jack, the saltire will fly over Scottish institutions worldwide, a Scottish seat would be prepared at the United Nations and passports would bear its name. Edinburgh would become home to the world’s second sovereign Celtic parliament (after Dublin) and Scottish folk could eye other around the world as equals, no longer servile as Irvine Welsh depicted. The trappings of statehood would quickly follow, Edinburgh would become an international capital, with full embassies, not consulates, dotted around it and new national symbols and artistic bodies would flourish – the iconography of independence. At the next Olympic Games, when a Scots athlete takes gold, Flower of Scotland would replace God Save The Queen as they step up to the medals podium. As an Irishman, I wonder how any of my Celtic cousins wouldn’t want that. For Scots afraid to take the plunge, I have this to propose: Take the short trip to Dublin and ask one random person on the street: “Should Ireland rejoin the UK?” After they had finished laughing at you, they’d probably suggest medical help of some sort. It’s a thought so crazy that, no matter what economic troubles (and we’ve had a few) prevail, it is never so much as suggested in Ireland, and if anyone was brave or stupid enough to advocate it they’d be looked at with both amazement and ridicule. Our sovereignty makes us what we are. It unites Irish people, even those scattered around the planet, as one, single idea and it defines us. Through the zeniths and nadirs, we all know that we have a home, which we govern ourselves, that we can return to or happily stay in, no matter what. It goes beyond money or other fleeting factors – it’s about identity and a sense of place. On Thursday September 18, Scotland has a chance to do with the stroke of pens what Ireland had to force through the barrel of a gun: a chance to be a nation once again. Please, friends, say yes, or aye or gu dearbh or whatever way you wish, just make it affirmative and, I promise, you will never regret it. “So, as I grew from boy to man, I bent me to that bidding My spirit of each selfish plan And cruel passion ridding; For, thus I hoped some day to aid, Oh, can such hope be vain? When my dear country shall be made A Nation once again!” A Nation Once Again is a song , written around 1840 by Thomas Osborne Davis (1814-1845). Davis was the founder of a movement Irishman whose ultimate aim was the independence of Ireland. #VoteYES
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:01:58 +0000
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