Why are so many unionists calling for the Republic to improve its defences and join Nato?
The status quo, with Ireland harmless and dependent on Britain, might be expected to suit unionism down to the ground. As global security deteriorates, a weak and neutral Republic strengthens the case for the union – a point increasingly made by defence experts.
Last month, a report by the centre-right British think tank Policy Exchange said “Irish defence freeloading” requires the UK to “rediscover the strategic importance of Northern Ireland to its national security.”
This report, with the unfortunate title of Closing the Back Door, was endorsed by former British defence ministers and senior military figures.
Unionists are enjoying the pile-on over the Republic’s defence freeloading
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Sinn Féin voters in the Republic and unionist voters in Northern Ireland agree on something
The same claim was made weeks later from a nationalist perspective by one the world’s leading defence think tanks, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. It published an article by an English academic, Jonathan Stevenson, who warned the Republic must join Nato to “defuse attempts to revive unionism and preserve the Good Friday Agreement’s pathway to a united Ireland.”
Nationalists heard this message again on Tuesday from Conor McGinn, a British Labour MP and former shadow minister, originally from Co Armagh.
British and Irish security partnerships, probably involving Nato, are required for “the world as it is” and to deliver a united Ireland, he wrote in the Irish News.
Unionists might be excused for wondering if a stronger Irish army might one day be used to keep them in line. This idea was once fit only for loyalist paranoia, republican fantasy and delusional state papers from the early 1970s. It has now entered mainstream nationalist debate, having been discussed at the Oireachtas Committee on the Good Friday Agreement and in Prof Brendan O’Leary’s recent book Making Sense of United Ireland.
Nationalists are still effectively banned from appointing a justice minister at Stormont because unionists do not trust Sinn Féin to have any control over the courts, yet unionists seem unconcerned about a Sinn Féin government in Dublin controlling a squadron of fighter jets.
One explanation for this paradox is the irresistible urge to have a go at the other side.
Ireland is facing international criticism, so naturally some unionists want to join in.
Last week, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said “the Republic’s neutrality indicates a selfish willingness to rely on others to make sacrifices for the very values it claims to uphold”.
Yet two days previously, DUP MP Gregory Campbell, considered a hardliner, was quoted in a party statement saying “strong and respectful co-operation between the UK and Republic of Ireland is essential in meeting geopolitical challenges”.
Few issues evoke the worldview and values of the western conservative mainstream quite like defence. These views are apparently so instinctive to unionism they can bypass even its usual constitutional fears.
Incomprehension is also a factor. Ireland’s unarmed form of neutrality is a unique policy evolved over decades of national reflection. Little wonder it is poorly understood by outsiders, among whom unionists count themselves. Irish neutrality’s most relatable aspect for many British people is the vocal support it receives from the allegedly anti-war left, which is hardly conducive to it being taken seriously. Widespread public support for neutrality within Ireland is bewilderingly foreign behaviour from an otherwise-familiar neighbour. There are other neutral countries in Europe, of course, but they are known for being well drilled and armed.
Eight per cent of Northern Ireland’s population belongs to the “veteran community”, defined as having served in the UK military or been in a serving person’s immediate family. The majority are from unionist backgrounds, so they comprise almost a fifth of the unionist population.
The British army has a curiously pre-partition culture, with a single Irish regiment that boasts of “recruiting across the island”. People from North and South serve together throughout Britain’s armed forces: about 2,000 sign up every year, 800 from the Republic. This all clearly influences unionist attitudes.
In a social media post last week, former UUP leader and army officer Doug Beattie wrote: “Ireland is a mature democracy that can stand on its own two feet. It doesn’t need permission to deploy its own defence forces. Its neutrality is safe even if it invests in its military capability and capacity.”
It should not be a surprise that a unionist veteran can distinguish between neutrality and capability, and respect both – although not all have this view.
Another former UUP leader Steve Aiken, who previously commanded a Royal Navy submarine, issued a more straightforward plea last year for Ireland to invest in its defences and join Nato.
Polls suggest only a third of people in the Republic support Nato membership. Few presumably care whether unionists agree with them or not. But for those interested in cross-Border relations, it remains an intriguing fact that the Republic could become a military player to almost universal unionist applause.
