Former Blanket journalist DR JOHN COULTER has been developing his Revolutionary Unionist ideology in recent years. In this exclusive article for Long Kesh Inside Out, he suggests loyalists consider its concepts as a political way forward and a method by which loyalism can give leadership to the Protestant community.
Invade the South! That’s my blunt message to an Ulster Volunteer Association and Red Hand Commando Association which should be formed to promote the Protestant and Unionist culture in theRepublicofIreland.
The best way loyalism can commemorate the memory of the original Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers of a century ago is to gain a new vision, a new cause for loyalism to follow.
In an earlier article for this site, I outlined what I firmly believe are the merits of former combatants and supporters of the UVF forming an Ulster Volunteer Association (UVA), as well as the Red Hand Commando forming a similar association (RHCA).
Both would function in the same way the Royal British Legion as well as other ex-service personnel associations assist old comrades and former soldiers to remain in contact.
But my vision for the proposed UVA and RHCA is not limited to merely helping the loyalist working class get back on its feet, commemorate a few anniversaries or keep discipline among ex-combatants.
In the supposed newNorthern Ireland, loyalism must think ‘outside the political box.’ Loyalism should not see itself as being confined to the six counties of the Province; loyalism should become involved with selling the Unionist identity, culture and cause throughout the whole ofIreland, north and south.
However, this should never be misinterpreted as some form of support for a unitedIreland. We are examining a way in which loyalism can lead a campaign for the 26 counties to rejoin theUnion.
The new ideology I give loyalism to consider is Revolutionary Unionism, with its ultimate aim – one faith, one party, one Commonwealth. Before this vision is dismissed with hysterical laughter, consider other visions which were equally discounted.
In 1985, when Ian Paisley Senior – now Lord Bannside – issued his famous ‘Never, Never, Never, Never’ speech to hundreds of thousands of people outside Belfast City Hall at the massive rally to protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement, if you had told him that one day he would sit in government with Sinn Fein, you would have been laughed out of Ulster. But Paisley Senior did.
In 1981, when an estimated 100,000 marched at IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands’ funeral, if you had told republicans during the graveside oration that one day Sinn Fein would both take its seats in the Dail and run a partitionist parliament at Stormont with the DUP, you would have been chased from the cemetery. But Sinn Fein did.
So I fully expect hysterical laughter at the concept that loyalism could have an all-island dimension inIreland. Revolutionary Unionism takes its title from the Glorious Revolution of King William in the 1690s which established the Protestant Ascendancy inIreland.
Under the banner of one faith, one party, one Commonwealth, Revolutionary Unionism seeks to establish the Salvationist theological position of the Biblical New Testament text of St John Chapter 3, verse 16 as the basis for the reawakening of the Christian faith inIreland.
Given the fragmentation and apathy in political Protestantism, Revolutionary Unionism seeks the formation of a single Unionist Party to represent all shades of pro-Union opinion inIreland. Unionist unity must never be relegated to mythical status, but must become a political reality.
Revolutionary Unionism recognises that the so-called once high and mighty Celtic Tiger economy of the South has gone into complete meltdown and is nothing more than a muted kitten financially. The Celtic Tiger’s glory days are over and the South as a republican political experiment has failed.
European bailouts will not work. The only way forward if the citizens of the South are to have any hope of a secure financial future and stable government is for the South to rejoin theBritish Commonwealth.
An initial step is for the Irish republic to join the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), which represents more than 50 national and regional parliaments across the globe.
The CPA represents a viable alternative to the rapidly crumbling European Union. It must never be forgotten that when all ofIrelandwas in theUnion, it was a founder member of the original Empire Parliamentary Association in the early 1900s.
Within the next few years, a referendum has been promised which will radically examine theUnited Kingdom’s future in the EU. If theUKvotes to eventually leave the EU, the Irish republic must follow.
The days when a Unionist politician could be severely disciplined by his or her party for venturing into the republic are long gone. Senior Unionist politicians now echo my call for the republic to rejoin the Commonwealth.
Orange Order Grand Secretary Drew Nelson recently addressed a meeting of the Irish Senate inDublin. The Order continues to thrive in Southern border counties, such as Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim.
Donegal’s annual Rossnowlagh demonstration now ranks as one of the most prestigious parades each July. Having a Southern dimension to a political ideology could be the direction and vision which loyalism requires.
In the past, loyalism led from the front in times of crisis with marching feet as it did in 1974 against Sunningdale, in the 1980s against the Dublin Accord, and in the 1990s at Drumcree.
Using the concepts of Revolutionary Unionism, loyalism can lead the Protestant people in a new direction. With a collapsed economy and Southern politics viewed as corrupt, the republic is ripe for the plucking for Northern loyalists.
Why should we be content with six counties, when with careful planning, loyalism could have an influence across all 32 counties? No longer should the jibe of Unionists wanting a 32-countyUlsterbe dismissed as a lodge night joke.
Perhaps in considering an all-island dimension and influence for loyalism, we could speculate as to what might have happened ifCarson’s Volunteers had not marched off to war in 1914.
What might have been the outcome if the Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers had had to go head to head with the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army; if the Irish Civil War had not been republican against republican, but the UVF against the IV?
Could the political outcome have been anUlsterwith up to 20 counties? Using purely political and democratic means and methods, it is time to commemorate the centenary of the founding ofCarson’s UVF by fulfilling its destiny – having an all-island influence for loyalism.
Is this a vision worth working towards as a way of honouring the heroes of 1914? Do not dismiss Revolutionary Unionism as post-Twelfth hysteria. It is genuine food for thought as loyalism seeks a realistic way forward.
