The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the United States’ oldest and largest Irish-Catholic fraternal organisation, has issued a statement in support of President Donald Trump’s desire for a united Ireland and called for the United Kingdom to determine if now is the time for a border poll.
“For the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which has long supported Irish reunification through the democratic provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, the President’s remarks are welcome,” said a September 12 statement from Sean Pender, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) national president, and Neil Cosgrove, the AOH’s political education chair.
Earlier that day, while on a trip to Ireland, Trump characterised Irish unification as something that’s “going to happen eventually” and “may as well happen now”.
“The response from representatives of Unionist political parties has been sadly predictable: a selective reading of the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement their parties initially opposed, coupled with declarations that the future of Northern Ireland must be decided by the people of Northern Ireland,” said Pender and Cosgrove.
To this, they said: “We agree.”
“If Unionist leaders truly believe that Northern Ireland’s future belongs in the hands of its people, they should have nothing to fear from clear criteria, transparent assessment and an honest democratic process,” they said, adding: “One cannot champion the people’s right to decide while simultaneously opposing the democratic mechanism by which they are allowed to do so.”
Pender and Cosgrove were critical of recent comments from British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who said that he did not “see” evidence that a border poll would pass.
“The obvious question is: is the British Government even looking? Not seeing evidence is not evidence of absence, particularly when the government has never established a transparent process for looking for it.”
The people of Ireland and Northern Ireland “deserve more than a ‘gut feel’” when it comes to their right to self-determination and their constitutional future, they said. The Irish people “require credible and transparent criteria; criteria Whitehall has not revealed”.
“London should not be able to postpone indefinitely the democratic mechanism through which the people of Ireland can determine their future,” they said.
Prime Minister Burnham’s position on Northern Ireland is inconsistent with his views on other parts of the United Kingdom, said Pender and Cosgrove. Notably, “his government vigorously defends the right of the people of the Falkland Islands to determine their constitutional status, yet when the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is raised, a referendum is declared ‘off the table’.”
The geographic location of an area should not matter when it comes to these rights, they said, and “a border poll should be called when the conditions established by the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act are met, not when doing so is politically convenient for Whitehall.”
If there were to be continued discussions about the status of Northern Ireland, the United States should play a role, said Pender and Cosgrove.
“American diplomacy was central to the peace process that produced the Good Friday Agreement, and successive administrations have remained engaged in defending that agreement and encouraging peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland,” they said.
The AOH is calling for “renewed American engagement, including the appointment of a US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland”, and for the British Government to “establish and publish a clear and transparent process” for determining if a border poll should be held.
“President Trump has expressed his view. British Prime Minister Burnham and the Northern Ireland Secretary have expressed theirs. The final decision does not belong to any of them,” they said.
“It belongs to the Irish people; it is time to give them the mechanism to express it.”
