They stroll arm in arm in the streets, a strawberry milkshake in their hands. The three friends are students at the Sainte-Cécile college on the hill above the Bogside in Derry, a Catholic district emblematic of the Northern Irish conflict, the “Troubles”, with the Protestants. All three wear the uniform, duck blue jacket, white blouse, black skirt and tights. They look just like the Derry Girlsfrom the famous television series, funny and grating, which features a group of teenage girls in a city marked by conflict.
Too young to vote, they are not yet aware of the stakes of the election which on May 5 saw Sinn Féin, a nationalist party in favor of the reunification of the north with the south of the island, coming out ahead of the Protestant DUP party, in favor of maintaining the six northern counties in the United Kingdom. They did not experience the conflict in Northern Ireland which ended with the so-called Good Friday agreements in 1998. So yes, they say without hesitation, they would like to live in a united Ireland within the Republic which governs to the south, although two of them have never set foot there.
Reunification, a romantic dream
On the steps of the town hall, facing the walls of the city, bordered on one side by the irreducible of the Protestant district The Fountain and on the other by the Bogside, Erin and Maureen, 18, are waiting for friends. The first is Catholic, the second was born of a mixed marriage, Protestant father and Catholic mother. Part of her family lives in the south, while Erin’s lives exclusively in the north. But both assert themselves without hesitation “Irish” what in their mind means «modernity » et ” freedom». The Republic, to the south, belongs to the European Union. In their eyes, this means openness to the world.
While the island has been divided since 1921, the idea of reunification remains an often “romantic” dream, fueled by Sinn Féin nationalists, present in both the North and the South. During the election campaign, Michelle O’Neill, leader of the nationalist party in Ulster, insisted that people do not «didn’t get up in the morning thinking about Irish unity». And yet, many have it in mind.
A complex and slow process
But from dream to reality, there is a step. Is this a priority when unemployment and inflation have broken records since the pandemic in the North and when immense fatigue is felt there in relation to a conflict which has destroyed the hopes of an entire generation? The next, she looks ahead and expresses herself. Hence the breakthrough in the last elections in Northern Ireland of the Alliance party (17 MPs out of 90 in the assembly), moderate and non-denominational, which does not necessarily advocate union.
In January 2022, the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday, which took place fifty years earlier, gathered for a commemoration. / Graham Martin/Sopa Images/Sipa
If reunification is to take place, the process will be complex and slow, warns Ireland specialist Agnès Maillot, a professor at Dublin City University. «It can only be done after a referendum in Ulster which can only be held at the request of the British government, and more specifically of the minister responsible for Northern Ireland. And provided that a majority of Northern Irish people want it. It will have to be assessed either by opinion polls or by the election of a majority of nationalist parties to the local assembly. Conditions far from met. »
Two systems to harmonize
According to recent polls, only 30% of Northern Irish people are in favor of reunification and the Unionists (pro-British) are fiercely opposed to it. «It is about their perception, their identity. Many have appropriated a Northern Irish identity. They are not necessarily unionists, or very attached to the crown, but they do not have a problem with Ireland being attached to the United Kingdom»continues the specialist.
In the South, 60% of the population wants reunification, but the figure varies according to the question asked. Depending on whether we are talking about the short, medium or long term. Many think it will happen “term”. reunification “is neither in the interests nor in the plans of the present British government, adds Agnès Maillot. Not while Boris Johnson is in power because if the yes wins, it would mean the end of the UK».
‘Ulster get the best of both worlds’
In the South, “reunification” evokes Germany and the enormous cost to be paid to harmonize the two systems. “The government in Dublin prefers to speak for the time being of a “Shared Ireland”a shared island where two different jurisdictions coexist with a view, in the long term, to reunification”, analyzes a European diplomat. It requires de facto economic integration: a unified electricity network, the modernization of road infrastructures to facilitate the movement of goods, a common tourism strategy, collaboration in the field of higher education, etc.
“In the current situation, admits Julie Gibbons, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Newry, economic and port center in the North located on the border, Ulster enjoys the best of both worlds», thanks to the Northern Irish Protocol. Planned by Brussels in the context of Brexit, in order to prevent any border between the two Irelands, it maintains the north of the island in both the European and British markets. So of course, Boris Johnson undertakes to torpedo it unilaterally for reasons of internal politics, but for the time being, apart from the DUP party which rejects it, the majority in Northern Ireland is in favor of it.
A fresco depicting the Derry Girls series, in Derry, a series featuring teenage girls in a city plagued by conflict in Northern Ireland. / Adrian Langtry/Shutterstock/SIPA
To understand, just look at the cohort of utility vehicles of craftsmen of all kinds, plumbers, plasterers, electricians, etc., who drive in the morning towards the Republic to work on a more buoyant market than in the North. And both sides benefit from it: in 2021 cross-border trade has exploded: + 64% for exports from Northern Ireland to the Republic, and + 48% for Irish exports to the North.
Julie Gibbons, who experienced the conflict as a child, notes «the interest of being in the European Union”. It should be remembered that Northern Ireland voted by majority in 2016 to remain in the EU. The President of the Chamber of Commerce deplores the current crisis over the Protocol and the paralysis of the Northern Irish government due to the defection of the DUP. «Uncertainty is not good for business, but we deal with it. We have always adapted to circumstances. Here, entrepreneurs are resilient. »
“It will happen one day, but it’s still too early”
From Newry we go south without customs officers or casemates. Only the panels change, in kilometers in the South, in miles in the North, and the alerts of the telephone operator warning which side one is on. In this breathtaking landscape, the Mournes Coast Road runs along the Clanrye River which serves as a boundary between the two Irelands. On the left bank Ulster and the road to Warrenpoint, on the right bank the Republic and the road to Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula. At the end of the day, humidity invades the landscape which is shrouded in thick fog.
In the distance, the imposing riverside tower of Narrow Water Castle served to protect the town of Newry from attack. A place steeped in tragic recent history: the Warrenpoint ambush. On August 27, 1979, in the midst of the civil war, a truck loaded with explosives parked near the castle exploded as a British military convoy passed on the A2 road. Six soldiers are killed, then a second bomb explodes, killing 12 other soldiers. The attack was claimed by the IRA.
Peter and Irene Finegan, 80 and 78, owners of an old building converted into a B&B, in the village of Carlingford in the south, mention it when we talk about a united Ireland. For Irene: «It will happen one day, but it’s still too early. »
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An island with a turbulent history
1800. The Act of Union incorporates Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1918. In the elections, the nationalist deputies refuse to sit in the British Parliament and constitute the Irish Parliament, which proclaims the independence of the Irish Republic, Éamon De Valera is elected president.
May 1921. Partition of the island of Ireland into two regions with a parliament and considerable autonomy: Northern Ireland, made up of six predominantly Protestant counties, and Southern Ireland, made up of twenty-six counties predominantly Catholic.
1969. The Northern Irish conflict broke out between Irish nationalists, mostly Catholics, and Unionists (Protestants). It occasionally extends into Ireland. It will cause more than 3,400 deaths.
1998. The Good Friday Agreement brings peace to Northern Ireland. The borders are gradually abolished between the two parts of the island. It provides for eventual reunification.