The IRELAND Story.

Posted on my Facebook page, years ago.

NEWS. “As Britain Turned Away From E.U., Northern Ireland Turned to Sinn Fein.” / “In a seismic election shift in Northern Ireland, the pro-unity Sinn Fein is winning (or wins).” May election results reflected the demoralization of unionist voters and the disarray of their leaders and an electorate with new priorities, reports New York Times. But adds that much of these can “…be traced to Brexit,” which I disagree with. But that’d be a lengthy discussion. 

       I am more interested (or concerned) with possible rekindling of bloody unrest/s between Catholics and Protestants a.k.a. The Troubles, which Sinn Fein figured in of course. Yet this Irish republican and democratic socialist political party, which is active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland—has evolved, changed, and transformed through the years, from its formation in 1905 during the Irish War of Independence.

       Sinn Fein, 2022. It is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, having won the largest share of first-preference votes and the most seats in last month’s election. That’d be the first time Sinn Fein has done so. From 2007 to 2022 it was only the second-largest party in the Assembly, after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Meanwhile, in the U.K. House of Commons, Sinn Féin holds seven of Northern Ireland's seats.

       How would Britain’s Brexit impact on new leadership power in Northern Ireland (or Ireland per se) remains to be seen. 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

SINN Fein could be in power but it also had to contend with schisms within, historically. From 1905, when its early members founded the First Dáil and the revolutionary Irish Republic during the Irish War, party split punctuated the organization. Post-civil war, two traditionally dominant parties of Irish politics: Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

       The current Sinn Féin party took shape in 1970 after another split, the other faction eventually becoming the Workers' Party. During the Troubles, Sinn Féin was associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).

       The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.

       The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fueled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension but despite use of the terms “Protestant” and “Catholic” to refer to the two sides, it was not a religious conflict. And so on and so forth.

       Yet from those years to current times, life and politics have hugely evolved. News: “Britain Moves Ahead With Plans to Scrap Trade Rules on Northern Ireland.” The action by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to scuttle the post-Brexit trade arrangement risks a clash with the European Union and upsetting the United States.

       There you go. And since President Biden is currently high with his hawkish interventionist foreign policy, again—let’s see how Sinn Fein works around it, regardless (if ever) of Mr Boris. Especially that, on first reading, Sinn Fein seems cool with E.U. 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

LOOK, I don’t pretend that I could offer a credible insight on “Northern Ireland going Sinn Fein” vis a vis Britain’s relaxing of trade rules on NI. First, we gotta see how that pans out as the region in general works around the Ukraine/Russia (per U.S. imposing shadow) tempest. G7 meets this month in Germany, by the way.

       Anyhow, Ireland imports most of its oil, 76 percent from the U.K., some from Norway and North and West Africa. Natural gas? Again, Dublin buys mainly from the U.K. via pipeline from Scotland, 53 percent. Would that mean, unlike other E.U./European nations, Ireland isn’t dependent on Moscow’s energy supplies. But Britain is obviously valuable.

       Ireland was (and maybe still is) a haven for FDIs due to its friendly 12.5 percent corporate tax. But that has long been upgraded to 15 percent in conformity with recent OECD agreement to impose a uniform tax rate, as previously proposed by President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

THE United States and U.K., (of course) are Ireland’s top trading partners, although China is moving up. In 2020, Beijing's direct investment totaled $1.1 billion, creating around 3,000 new jobs for the local public. Last year, goods traded between China and Ireland were valued at $22.9 billion, up 27 percent compared with the previous year.

       At this point, China is Ireland's fourth largest trading partner, the largest export market for Irish pork and the fifth largest market for Ireland's food and beverage exports. So how do we see this? If Ireland continues to emphasize economics as today’s Washington via President Biden sticks to his hawkish guns/politics, China could move up.

       Currently, among the fastest-growing economies in Europe, Ireland has become an information and communication technology powerhouse. Then we go to China's Belt and Road Initiative and its aim to improve connectivity between China and more than 70 countries through infrastructure investment and regional cooperation.

       That expansionism carries on faster as Washington turns to its old-school military bombast. How’d Ireland’s Sinn Fein philosophy fit in? Let’s see. 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪