Articles Two and Three cannot be bartered
The Dublin government has again come under renewed
pressure to accede to changes in Articles Two and Three
of the 1937 Constitution. The calls from Unionist
politicians on this issue, echoed in statements from
the LVF, have once again been taken up by some
politicians and media commentators in the 26 Counties.
It is a ludicrous proposition that the removal of
Articles Two and Three will bring long-term peace in
Ireland any closer. Articles Two and Three did not
cause the conflict in Ireland and changing them will do
nothing to end it. The only `concession' to be made by
such a change will be to the British government in
accepting its aggressive claim to sovereignty over the
Six Counties as set out in several British Acts of
Parliament.
To portray Articles two and Three, as some media
commentators have done, as meaningless words that could
easily be dispensed with or watered down to become an
aspiration, ignores the concerns of more than half a
million Northern nationalists who are trapped in a
state to which they have no allegiance and in which
they are second class citizens.
A removal of Articles Two and Three would contribute to
a situation where many nationalists would feel even
further alienated from the political system. In that
sense, rather than lead to a more peaceful scaenario it
would most likely contribute to an aggravation of the
problems which face us all.
It must be said that both the SDLP and the Dublin
government have been extremely weak in their defence of
Articles Two and Three and in their challenges to the
British claims. It is now time that nationalist
political leaders united in facing down pressure on
this issue. Nationalist Ireland must make its position
crystal clear. Articles Two and Three cannot be
bartered away in return simply for the recognition of
basic rights for nationalists in the Six Counties.
Rights to equality of opportunity in employment, to a
fair policing system and to recognition and respect for
cultural identity cannot and will not be bought at the
cost of Irish nationalists selling their birthright.
The unilateral removal of the Irish constitutional
statement of nationhood while leaving British claims
intact would institutionalise the ultimate inequality
for Irish nationalists in the Six Counties.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif)