Unions avoid taking a stance on unity for very good reason

TRADE unions on the island of Ireland have long maintained a neutral position on the question of Irish unity, and it is regrettable there are calls from some quarters for an end to this, as Martina Devlin outlines in her article (‘Trade unions have recognised the reunification of our island would be a great opportunity to benefit everyone who lives here’, Irish Independent, March 2).

Arguing in support of Irish unity, Ms Devlin casually waves away having to take on the €11.6bn subvention to Northern Ireland by pointing out we managed to find €64bn to bail out our banks, and moreover points to vague “economies of scale” that would be created by amalgamating the different health and educational systems in a united Ireland.

She omits to mention the bank bailout cost us our economic sovereignty, while the only way significant “economies” could be made from merging services would be through large-scale redundancies, which is not exactly something to be welcomed from a trade union perspective.

There is no evidence the views of those involved in the ‘Trade Unionists for a New and United Ireland’ grouping are anything other than a small minority and it is for good reason unions have avoided taking a stance on the “national question”, namely that it is a divisive and sectarian issue for workers in Northern Ireland.

Not inherently sectarian, perhaps, but sectarian in the reality of Northern Ireland as it is today, and, as long as people continue to be brought up in a sectarian educational system, will remain so.

It may be that at some future point a new generation who have come through an integrated education system will be able to consider the question of a united Ireland on its merits, but until then it will serve only to exacerbate divisions and distract workers from the struggles we have in common. Osal Kelly

Delgany, Co Wicklow