Monarchism, the Nationalist's Guide part 1

It has already been put forward on this blog many times that in order to successfully propagate monarchism as an ideology to my fellow Irishmen several things need to made clear. (This is only terms of propagation of Monarchy as an idea, not touching upon the other myriad cultural factors that need to change in order for a successful restoration)

1) The distinction between Irish Nationalism as a sociopolitical force and the Republican Ideology. Defining what Irish Nationalism actually pertains to since its inception, its modern permutations and driving a wedge between this understanding and the Republican ideology.

And

2) The disassociation of the idea of Monarchy and Monarchism from Britain. This will be done by emphasising the long tradition of Irish Kingsmen both at home and abroad and Ireland's relations with other monarchies, particularly those of France and Spain, throughout the centuries.

We shall deal with the first factor for now.

What was Irish Nationalism and what is it now?:
Nationalism in Ireland did not actually exist until the late 19th century. Prior to this, the Irish people had always possessed a fierce sense of identity, culture and a sort of National pride. However the War of the three kingdoms, Cromwell's effective destruction of Gaelic Civilization, the flight of the earls and the penal laws had essentially dismantled Irish culture to the point almost nothing remained and the Irish themselves, almost wholly, existed as a race made up entirely of peasants, prisoners in their own land. Oh surely we Irish made fine peasantry, in fact we were once described as the finest peasantry in the world for a time. But for too long that had defined the Irish character, and the English notion that the Irish were 'unfit' to govern ourselves.

However stirrings began in the 19th century when largely protestant intellectuals began flirting with the ideas of 'Irishness' and appeals for greater legislative autonomy for Ireland in the form of a parliament in Dublin. During this period three forms of Irish 'Nationalism' emerged which were distinct both from eachother and, on a whole, largely distinct from other forms of nationalism found in Europe. These three strands of Nationalism were Cultural, Political and Intellectual. The movement grew to become something of a force in Imperial politics when the Home Rule question and the growing Catholic Middle class in Ireland putting their own weight behind the push for legislative independence (as well as further associating Nationalism with Catholicism which alienated many protestants) led to increasingly strengthened Home Rule bills which had almost resulted in a separate Parliament for Dublin had it not been for the outbreak of World War One.

What is casually looked over quite often when studying this period of History, (late 19th-early 20th century Ireland), is the lack of violent revolution in Ireland despite the tremendous popular support the home rule movement enjoyed. More specifically why there was a lack of violent Revolution. This is because Irish Nationalism, from its inception right up to the Easter Rising, had been a prominently monarchist affair, and the vast majority of Irish 'Nationalists' were in fact Irish 'Monarchists'.

This is particularly evident when looking both at the nature of the Home Rule bills themselves, what they sough to achieve and looking at the revolutionary elements of Irish Nationalism that did exist and why they failed to achieve dominance in the Nationalist movement.

The Home Rules bills were and always have been, about the formation of a Parliament in Dublin to deal with Irish Affairs separately from Imperial affairs. Nowhere in these bills did the Irish Nationalists seek outright independence from the Empire in fact, despite the horrible treatment and misgoverning of Ireland by England, the vast majority of Irish where loyalists to the King and the Empire. The Home Rule bills at most sought an effective end to the lie of the United Kingdom. That being, it cannot be the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the territories are only treated as one kingdom with one parliament when there is obvious difference in culture, identity and needs between the two kingdoms. Home Rulers sought, at times, the creation of a Personal Union, a Parliament in Dublin and London with the King being the Head of state for both, the sovereign being the 'King of Ireland' in an official context. In fact even one of the leaders of Sinn Fein, the then 'dual-monarchist' party, envisioned a union along Austro-Hungarian lines.

The British of course, would never have it, and it was more blind pride and prejudice then practicality that fueled Tory resistance to the Home Rule movement. That a nation of 'peasents', Catholic ones at that, being the equal to the English was unthinkable for many in britain. In fact, the prejudice was so strong that a comment by an Irish priest stating that, truthfully, the incompetence and cruelty of English governance was such that the English were unfit to rule Ireland, had caused a furious uproar and shock amongst the upper classes there.

Furthermore, under the New Departure initiatives, the attempts to find common ground between Irish Nationalists and Irish Republicans is proof that in the beginnings, there really was little common ground between Nationalists and Republicans in Ireland.

In fact, such was the profound monarchism of the Irish Nationalist movement in the early 20th century that DeVelera himself had to promise the electorate that he would allow a referendum for the formation of an Irish Kingdom should such a thing come to pass.

How quickly we forget history.

In the modern Context, Irish Nationalism, especially here in the North has been so intertwined with Irish Republicanism that it seems to be an impossible knot to untangle. I will attempt to explain the ways in which Irish Nationalists, through the education of history, can untangle the snarl of republicanism, and return to the true implications of their own social identity in my next part.

Interesting times

Well this has been a busy start to the new year. Some of you may remember my fear mongering over a summit to solve the EU debt crisis last year and how, if the leaders of the European nations did not come to an agreement to restore confidence in the euro it would spell a disaster that would domino around the world.

Now of course any reasonable person would have and should have, slapped me about the head for thinking that the European powers WOULDN'T submit to whatever deal was required to restore confidence, and indeed, that seems to have been the case, with the only surprise being Mr.Cameron conceding to his Tory backbenchers and keeping Britain out of the deal. Which Sarkozy was all to happy to allow in all honesty.

Now lets look at the state of affairs, there is a new tax being imposed regarding Financial transactions by Sarkozy and Merkel over the member states has caused some amount of alarm, with even Ireland's own government making overtures to align with Britain in opposing the tax, citing it is oppressive to their businesses. Now, I wont be expressing the alarmism in the stalwart anti-EU newspaper the Daily Express in citing it would bankrupt Britain, but it is a threat to their businesses nonetheless. All is not well in Europe.

As well as that we have the puppet technocratic governments of Greece and Italy trying their damnedest to restore viability in their own markets and implement austerity measures to no noticeable effect so far. It really does not look well when your own puppet government cannot do what you want for a country.

And not only that, there are tremors working along the foetid underbelly of the economic class that confidence in the euro's viability is still shaky despite the austerity measures put in place, now with rumours that it may not even last till the summer before the euro collapses. I doubt that, learning from my previous alarmism, and fully expect further committees and conferences and summits of all sorts to try to restore confidence and cut spending. Which will again, only prolong the inevitable.



Here in Ireland meanwhile, our government is entertaining thoughts of cowtowing to the European Court of Human Right's ruling in favour of liberalizing abortion laws in the Republic. This is a preposterous turn of events. First of all, there can be no altering of the Irish constitution without a referendum or, as is the case with the Lisbon treaty, direct pressure from the EU institutions. The European court of Human Rights, despite its name, is NOT an institution of the overall European Union and is seperate and distinct from the Union, its rulings have no actual authority over nation states, even member states of the Union such as Ireland. This is not to say that many nations, including the EU itself, takes rulings of the court into consideration when making legislations, but its power is limited to solely that. Irish pro-life groups are correct in opposing this movement and in laying siege to the government proclaiming that the Republic does not have to obey the commands of the court. Doubtless the secularists in power will do everything in their abilities to avoid allowing this matter to go to referendum, which will surely sound a death knell to bringing abortion to greater availability in Ireland.

But apparently, the demise of the European dream of a US style economic union of states seems to be the least troubling thing on our overlord's minds right now.



By now word has reached the ears of practically everybody of the bold steps taken by Hungary in rejecting the secularism of our age.

Admittedly, the first inklings I had heard of the changes occurring in Hungary where, in all honesty, a thread on a forum board in the back of beyond on the internet, where some left leaning poster had linked to some article or other, (the article was probably in Hungarian, I wasn't in the mood for hitting Google translate at the time and reading through it), and proclaiming some alarmist concerns that Hungary was turning into a fascist state. Now at the time I just passed it off, so a European country elected a conservative government and left wingnuts were proclaiming it as fascist. What else is new? I went on with my business.

Turns out now I should have paid closer intention, the events in Hungary are startling and unprecedented since the inception of the European Union. In fact, it is borderline counter-revolutionary and I for one sure as hell never saw this coming.

The Hungarians radically conservative alterations of the Constitution, effectively declaring Hungary a 'Catholic' State, rejecting secularism and rabidly condemning communism and socialism, as well as forbidding non-Hungarians from high positions in Hungary's media as well as, horrors of horrors, joy of joys, removing the word Republic from Hungary's official name, has absolutely terrified the elites in not only Brussels, but also, apparently, scared the hell out of the Obama Administration in the United States. This is easily deduced from both administrations denouncing Hungary's moves as dangerous and even badnying about the word 'fascist' themselves with regards to Hungary's change of status.

Now I will admit, they are right to be afraid, Hungary, along with some eastern European members of the EU, are very conservative countries, and the precedence set by Hungary, which mind, technically does not breach any major EU directives - yet anyway, could start a stronger habit of member states asserting their right to self-determination, a cardinal sin in the growing centralization of the EU. Would anyone really be surprised if this brave direction inspired, say, the conservatives in Poland to redouble their efforts and continue along a similar line? And if another country follows and thereby legitimizing the self determination of Hungary, others may follow. And the EU establishment can't have that now, can it?

Now my fellow monarchists may be hoping for a restoration with the removal of the word 'Republic' from Hungary's official name, but I again urge caution. Counter-revolutionary many of the changes in Hungary's constitution may be, it does not neccessarily foreshadow a monarchical restoration in that nation, though it seems the local Archduke would be ready if they restoration movement there pulls through. THEN we'll see the EU's true colours when it reacts to such scandalous insubordination from a 'mere' member state.

These are, indeed, interesting times we are living in, slan go phoile.

Culturalism: A distinction

(Hope everyone has had a good Christmas and New Year, I'm currently mired in January Examinations for my part, sorry for the lack of activity)

I speak a great deal on this blog about the need for a solid and assertive national identity, however at times I find myself restraining from going overboard, from being too nationalistic and descending into the dangerous pit of nationalistic chuvanism. This is not to say I view all cultures as equal and that I should watch my words lest I offend my fellows. Certainly not, I describe myself as a Nationalist Monarchist for good reason, after all. What I mean is that we should neither seek to overly accomodate the cultures of minorities in our nation to the point of self-defeating sycophancy, for we have seen the failures of multi-culturalism in the practices of our neighbours' governments and the long, shameful displays of newstime entertainment they have provided on the airways trying to contain their race riots. However, I do not want to foster a form of nationalism on par with that of the rabid nationalism of certain groups in Europe and elsewhere that thrive on hatred and persecution of minorities, and, more to the point, driving out such groups from the nation. Because fundamentally, such hatred is un-Irish. Let me elucidate.

I am a Culturalist. Meaning I see the collective cultures, civilizations and histories of the human species as a grand, interwoven tapestry of colour that we can never fully see from a God's eye view. No culture is truly equal to another, just as some coloured thread is used more often then others in the tapestry's patterns. It is this inequity that tells the story of human existence and truly expresses the beauty and tragedy of the human experience. But while certain all cultures are not equal, cultures, like human life, have value. I enjoy spending my free time looking into a country from a certain time period and finding out their cultural mores and ways of doing things. Naturally of course there is values dissonance, as beautiful and elegent as Chinese culture could be towards the end of the Qing dynasty, I found the practice of binding womens' feet to be unconscionable and barbaric. But I have learned that while a true understanding of another's culture can breed respect for it, it can, when truly studied, breed a further respect for your own and a desire to make your own culture great. Let me give you the example of Tsar Peter the Great, in his travels of Europe he returned to Russia to seek to modernize it, while of course this meant the visible destruction of some ancient Rus traditions, he sought to use his understanding not to Change Russia into something it was not meant to be, but to change Russia into something it could be, the great Empire it was when he left it. Shining, terrifying, powerful and yet distinctly Russian, despite the innovations and influence of Europe. It is for this reason I would call Tsar Peter a culturalist.

I think its safe for you to assume where I am going with this, even if my words are not the best at articulating this concept. Compare this understanding of the inter-relationships of culture in the past to the modern socio-philosophical heresy of Multi-culturalism, where all cultures are equal and should be expected to co-exist side by side, whether they like it or not, and whether one culture is in the majority or not. This barbaric understanding of culture devalues all cultures, they are treated as commodities, a curio in the numbers book as the political class ticks off its checklist as to which bloc they can manipulate into class warfare so they can win the next election. Is it any wonder why this understanding has led to an insane paradox, where in places like Britain and France where minorities, whose youths feel entitled by their protected class status as minorities, abuse their fellow countrymen, usually natives or smaller minorities, while simultaneously losing sense of their old national identity and replacing it with one that porports a vapid "us vrs them" mentality. One in which they no longer care what their differences are and couldn't articulate it if they did they just know they hate eachother? This is the twisted genius of multi-culturalism and it is why it will always lead to national suicide, by forcing cultures to be treated equally socially, (nevermind legally), it has inadvertedly made the cultural differences mean less while at the same time emphasising the differences to further propagate the multi-cultural ideals, leaving a population divided by racial and ethnic hatred with nobody truly understanding why they hate the man down the street. This is not counting religious clashes of course, but here in the west religion isn't controlled or forcibly restricted by the state (yet).

Getting two groups of people in a city with differing cultures to co-operate at the least has, throughout the history of humanity, always been difficult, and multi-culturalism has utterly failed in this respect, and has justified things like nationalism in their assertion of national identities. Multi-culturalist point to examples such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the past as examples of functional mullti-cultural societies, or even the Ottoman Empire, pointing to things such as tolerance of other cultures within the city of Constantinople, or the Roman Empires of the Past. This is a failed interpretation of history, all of these examples have been examples of culturalist societies, not multi-cultural ones. In all of these examples, there is a clear dominant culture represented in the state and often a clear dominant national religion, and often all of the minorities take on characteristics of the dominant culture along with the remnants of their own minority identities. Nowhere in the past is there seen the destruction of national culture in the favour of a constructed non-culture that has resulted in the social confusion and chaos seen in the social democracies of Modern Europe.

Monarchists, especially European ones, will most likely identify with the culturalist model, especially after studying history of monarchies in Europe (which has never been perfect and there have been examples of social persecution of minority cultures), but it has always been hard to articulate this understanding without sounding like a proponent of secular multi-culturalism, or perhaps that may just be me.

So how does this relate to Ireland?

Throughout Ireland's own history we have been an example of a culturalist society, and a remarkably strong one at that, to the point where even those who conquered us were assimilated into our native culture, as was the case with the Normans who were so thoroughly assimilated into Irish culture that Surnames such as Fitzgerald are now indistinguishable in terms of Irishness to surnames such as O'Brien. They only thing that has ever proven effective at halting our ability of assimilating minority cultures peacefully has been religious differences. In modern Day Ireland, in true Irish Fashion, we have arrived late to the local meta-cultural storm that is Multi-culturalism, (This is actually something of a historical Anomaly, Ireland has always seemed to 'arrive late' to the dinner table of whatever fashion happens to be on offer, we 'arrived late' to the 60s to the point where the full force of the cultural upheaval was not as pronounced in Ireland as it was elsewhere), and despite trying its damnedest, the Irish state could not engender anything more then mild apathy to Irish national Identity when trying to promote multi-culturalism. Indeed I remember during my college days my geography teacher, while we were discussing a poster on the wall depicting Ireland as an amalgamation of hundreds of differing foreign flags representing the 'spoken languages in Ireland' (and before you ask, no, the Irish tricolour was not present), my teacher was trying to impress upon me Ireland was a multicultural society, at which point I recall myself posing the question; "How can we be a multicultural society if nearly all of those languages are being spoken by less then 8% of the Island?" Certainly I was not impressed at the time by the notion that Ireland was 'multicultural' and I didn't meet anyone who really was, except for later when the Lisbon treaty made the European Union an issue among students. However this remains a concern, Ireland still hasn't technically put a stop to its multicultural policies even after public announcements by the leaders of our neighbours about how such policies have failed their nations. And, in my rage against secularism and multi-culturalism I try to engender a deep abiding love of Irishness and a sense of national Identity I often have to stop myself.

Am I reacting in a fashion of a culturalist? Am I promoting Irishness and the need for public recognition of Irishness (Gaelige being spoken in the Dail, Gealige promotion in schools and Irish Media, an appreciation for ancestry and history and masculine patriotism, etc, etc) for the good it will bring? Or am I simply reacting in blind anger and engendering in my readers a fear or loathing of minorities in Ireland and potentially putting the blame of the destruction of Irish culture partially on them? I live in Northern Ireland, and people here know the dangers of tribal mentalities of two cultures that have existed for centuries in the same area, let alone foreigners.

Certainly I am in favour of a robust and assertive native culture and I'll break the jaw of the first man who claims I do not. But I do not want to create an oppressive Ireland where our minorities will live in fear of an assertive majority, instead I want to create an Ireland whose distinct Irishness is attractive enough to allow assimilation. That when people emigrate to Ireland, they do not tribalise but seek to integrate into Irish society and Irish culture, whatever their origins, not simply out of sheer economic attractiveness which many people seem to think is the only thing that matters these days. Even on top of all the other needs of Irish society these days, like being able to have University students honestly put forward 10 things they associate with Irishness, (our politics tutor gave us that challenge to prove a point in a seminar one day, sadly he proved his point well), and I feel we will need to articulate this difference better if we are to defeat the prevailing cultural attitudes.

Slan go Phoile

Friday: Operation Unthinkable

I hate blathering on about the eurozone criss precisely because it is an incredibly depressing mess and it is literally only getting worse day to day. And nothing represents that more so then the panicked course of Action Nicholas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are taking their countries: Into a new reform treaty that gives more direct control and stricter regulation of Eurozone nations' economic policies.

With, I might add, a stated goal of denying possible referendums against the new treaty, (and we all know they are talking about Ireland when they say this). They are openly flouting countless rules of the Union in order to save what is clearly a failed project in the single currency, and they're so desperate to do it that they do not care if this means they will effectively create a 'two-tiered' Europe. With stark differences between those in the Eurozone and those outside of it.

Also it should be noted that this panicked week leading up to the summit on friday was kick started by an American company warning that many countries in the Eurozone will lose their Triple A credit status if they do not take drastic measures to restore confidence in European Markets. Ireland wasn't in the list I believe, but then again Ireland's problem was its banks not its spending policies, we're the most stable of the 'danger countries' in the Eurozone and can't really be compared to Italy or Greece, or Spain for that matter but that wont stop German politicians from deciding our budget now will it?

Back to the topic at hand however, it should be stated that should a new treaty come to pass and in the 'best case scenario' as far as saving the eurozone goes, it'll mean a substantial submission of national sovereignty, again, to the EU with regards to econemy and finance. I have no doubt something like this would occur had things continued on honky-dory for a good while, with the obvious preference of europhiles being all the countries of the EU becoming Eurozone nations to make centralization much more effective. (It always got on my nerves how they railed against 'right-whingers' and 'cave dwelling nationalist throwback reactionaries' about complaining about sovereignty being lost and how this was a stupid concern and how they celebrate when the sovereignty is actually lost)

The wild card, now more than ever, is Britain, with Cameron facing a very real, and very threatening Tory rebellion in Parliament, who want a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU and demanding clawing back national sovereingty. Forcing the Premier to reiterate Britain's interest to Germany and France meaning that one of the most powerful econemies in Europe that is not in the Eurozone effectively won't 'play ball' according to the Franco-German rulebook. And of course there is of course the chance that Germany itself will rebel against its Chancellor and vote against her wishes at the summit. The German people long since becoming sick to death of being Europe's Paymaster, and God only knows what the other nations will pull.

The problem of course is the threat of a very real economic apocalypse. And the best case scenario, effective vassalization of the Eurozone, at most postpones this armeggedon. Lets put this in context, should the summit fail, the markets will panic, confidence will be shot, investments pulling out, companies winding up en masse, countries losing their Triple A status, Greece and Italy become unsalvageable messes, the Eurozone will literally fall apart and and the Eurobond becomes utterly utterly worthless, a collapse in the Eurozone will spread crisis and panic in the non-eurozone nations who may not be as economically devastated, but who will no longer seek to remain in the Eurozone to protect their own market interests and we will likely see the vigorous, and dangerous re-establishment of armed borders regardless of the schenglen agreement to prevent 'economic refugees' and God knows how that will spiral from there.

But wait there's more! America trades heavily with Europe and Obama made the mistake of reaffirming that 'If the eurozone fails, it will affect America' and because he said that, thanks to how markets actually work, it means it more then likely will and not in a small way. With the economic armeggedon in Europe potentially spreading to America and reaping a mighty toll upon the belagured superpower, we could see America falling to its own knees struglling to cope and should it collapse, so too will the north and potentially south American Markets, meaning China will be essentially left alone holding 'the happy fun ball' of an economic super-apocalypse. And we don't want to know what happens should China hit a speedbump while holding that thing.

Happy Christmas.

This bespeaks crippling arrogance

When the Irish Public voted in Micheal D Higgens as our President, I did not make a post speculating on what this could mean for the country, I opted to stay silent and see what would happen. I had not expected the poet would win it, nor did I expect his party to do well in the By-Elections. (my money was on Gallagher winning it, but it just goes to show you the Irish can be strange voters, opting instead to vote for the quiet man).

However, of course, I did not have to wait long for something to happen that betrays the second largest party in government's true intentions.

The last government, Fianna Fail, and today's Government, Fianna Gael-Labour, have very little difference between them in terms of how they act in government, and I already moaned about what I saw as a betrayal of its electorate that Fianna Gael handed over 'desireable' ministries to Labour as part of the co-alition even if it had been something of a campaign promise to cut back on, (public sector anyone?), their casual breaking of campaign promises and, of Course, Eamon Gilmore and Shatter's treatment of people opposing the Referenda which would have given the Oireachtas much more power then it should rightfully have betrays a hellish sense of statist elitism which goes beyond the usual political class' disdain for virtually everyone in the country.

But oh of course they're not done yet, feeling foolishly secure after their candidate had won the presidential Election, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore goes right ahead and announces the Closure of the Irish Embassy at the Holy See, and that the Irish Ambassador, well there and Tehran, Eamon Gilmore is giving a not too subtle hint as to what he thinks about the Holy See by this move.

I could go into a list of the reasons why closing the embassy is a politically foolish thing to do, and a historical insult given how the Holy See was the first to establish full diplomatic relations with Ireland back when we were still a dominion of the Empire. But we all know that this move is not motivated by political expedience, as hateful a cause as that can be, but rather by the utterly worse cause of symbolism. Eamon Gilmore is trying to further foment hostility in the Irish government, and the Irish public if it can get away with it, against the Holy See, and I don't think I have to explain why, they are Socialists, they answer should come easily enough.

This bespeaks crippling arrogance, Labour's position is not so secure it can try to pull diplomatic coups like this, nor can it tirade against the public when they dont get their way all the time on referenda, and expect not to have consequences for it. Higgins didn't win the election so much as Gallagher lost it, and they didn't gain seats in the previous Dail elections so much as Fianna Fail lost them, Labour's position is not so secure that it can continue acting this way without facing nasty surprises in the future, I do not expect the publicity stunt of closing the Holy See embassy to be what ticks the Irish Public off, but it will certainly help compound the overall effect. The Socialists will be facing a nasty surprise come the next elections if they carry on this way, hopefully one that obliterates their party's political foothold.

Irish Voters need to Vote with their morality

I am well aware of the hypocracy of a Monarchist such as myself endorsing one or more potential candidates for the Aras, so this post will not contain such an endorsement, and I am well aware of the liberal infestation that is crippling the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in this Nation, so we cannot expect the Bishops to be too stringent on matters of faith and morals with regards to how their flock views Politics, even though they bloody well should be doing such. It is up to the Magisterium and His Holiness to decide what to do with the Irish Church.

Instead this post is an Appeal to any Clergy and Religious who happen across my blog, as well as Faithful Irish Catholics to encourage the one thing that will put the fear of God into our blighted political class, and no it is not fomenting an angry mob, it is encouraging the people to realise however ineffectual they may see their votes, those votes count as actions and God will view them as such.

I do not mean to preach to you, for that is arrogance, merely point out that encouraging Catholics in America to vote with their conscience caused a storm of controversy over the pond, but it also meant that it was not a total landslide of the Catholic vote that elected Obama into Office (even though it was still a shamefully high percentage), Ireland is full of Lapsed Catholics, many of whom may or may not be angry at the Church, but most of whom see faith as inconsequential to their societal actions. And as long as the Church does not stress how civic actions such as voting can affect their souls, why would they?

I know this is but one problem amongst MANY the Church is dealing with right now in terms to a weakening of the faith by sabotuers, both intentional and unintentional. But if we do not start campagining for conscience based voting now, someone like David Norris may very well be able to get into the Aras next year, or some much worse then him, and the entire political class of Ireland may increase in liberalization, further damaging the country and the Church. So as that I urge my fellow Irish Catholics to encourage the concept of conscience voting here. Before the next abortion referendum rolls around.

Don't pretend that you don't know about its inevitability.

National Shame

No no, not going to talk about Irish being ashamed of themselves in general, today its about contemporary politics.

It is no surprise that the shamed Senator David Norris is going to take a second shot at the Aras, it is shameful however, that Fine Fail is going to be supporting him. For those not in the know David Norris is potentially the most socially liberal candidate for the Presidency and was involved in a scandal where he gave legal aid to a friend convicted of peadophilia in Israel, something that destroyed his chances and seemed to have doomed him to the political wilderness, and I had previously commented that it was indictitive of a poor pocket of political acumen to not have seen the reaction coming.

However something extraordinary has occured since then. All manner of people not of the Political class have been approached (either by the parties or public speculation) with the interest of running for the presidency. This ranges from Uncle Gaybo (the affectionate nickname of the fatherfigure of Irish Radio, not someone I agree with but I can see the affection everyone else has for him) to the Tyrone County Football Club Manager. Most of these sorts have declined, either through lack of interest in obtaining power, or in the case of Gaybo, wishing to avoid the ludicrous media attention to his private life. In other words they were somewhat decent men, and probably would've made halfway decent presidents (even if I didn't particularly like a few of them). This searching of non-conventional candidates shouldn't come as a surprise, but it does, it displays a certain level of distrust in the political class and the 'old families' of Irish Politics. (I did touch upon the renaissance family structures of Irish politics didn't I? I am sure I have)

Now however, without strong contention for the Aras from outside sources (friends and enemies openly admitted that if Gaybo had of went for the presidency, he would have got it in a landslide), David Norris seeks to worm his way back into political favour and run for the Aras again. And people are taking him seriously.

Please, someone, anyone, run for the Aras, if only to deny this man the representative power it wields... Oh God... I sound like a Republican. Pretty soon I'll probably be rooting for some other candidate because he's 'the lesser evil' to boot. Thus is the corruption of Democracy I suppose.

Neutrality part 2: The Eager young men of Eire

(normally I'd be wont to comment on the English Riots and speculate at their causes, but presently I am content to watch the liberal scum there blame the cuts, the right wingers talking up a game of clamping down, the tension in English society and the future of that nation be put to death by ignoring the deeper causes of these riots. Some of which are obvious. The political football match is in its second half and it is fascinating to watch. Like a speeding train hurtling towards a sharp corner near a cliff side.)

Earlier this year, one week in spring I was on a late night train to Belfast, heading to my student accommodations for the university week ahead. I was tired and had half dozed off on the train, putting down the gothic fantasy novel I had been reading for my amusement, (I am always one for a good blood and thunder story), and my head up against the vibrating window for comfort. Some lads from the Republic where in the same train compartment and a few seats ahead of me and they were discussing life and its miscellaneous shenanigans, joking and fooling around as young men do. It wasn't until one of the girls with them had been asking them where they were heading that I brought myself back to consciousness in fascination and had overheard what they were going to do once they got to Belfast.

And it was when I had heard their designs I took proper notice of the kit bags they had with them and the nature of the accutriments adorning them.

The young men where heading north to try their fortune in the British Army regiments. With jobs scarce and many of them, judging by their earlier inconsequential chatter, had an innate fascination with the military and military life and history, often throughout their conversation exchanging knowledge on weapons and historic generals and battles. Things I myself enjoy. They had no real love of Britain, but they weren't joining the British Army because they did, as the girl had suggested, and they protested to the girl, that many other young Irish lads before them didnt join the British army for their love of it either. They wanted adventure and the chance to were uniforms, to serve, to protect and if neccessary fight. They had possessed within them a warrior calling.

When questioned as to why they didn't just join the Irish Defense Forces, I was dismayed and had assumed prematurely that they did not do so because of poor pay or perhaps 'it wasnt exciting enough' or maybe they liked the idea of being in the military and didn't feel patriotic or didn't love their country enough and decided to go to the British Army because 'that's where the action is'. I was very cynical at the time. And to my delight and surprise, i found out that each of the young men and many of their friends had already tried ''but the defence forces didn't have enough room for that many applicants'' Scoffing the girl had joked ''What? not enough room for all 7 of you?" to which one of the young men replied "not enough room for all 4,000 of us"

Then I had really perked up. The defence forces needed forty new recruits for positions in the army had an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response for the positions, but because of some quota or some other bueracratic shenanigans, they could accept no more then forty.

Over 4,000 young men, eager and ready to join the Military at such a scant excuse, and here I was, on a train with 7 such fine young men, finding themselves frustrated at not being able to fulfil their callings and being forced to look elsewhere, even to Britain, for military employment.

And that, my friends, is a scandal.

I had in my previous post bemoaned the negative effects neutrality had on us as an economic power and now I present another effect. Here we are, crippling ourselves with our cowardly fear of brandishing a stick at our sides like all our brother nations do, even the other neutral ones, preferring to whimper and cower in a small corner and hope to God none of the bigger dogs in the pack take too much notice of us.

We have a rather large pool of eager young men wanting desperately to serve their country and here we are content to waste their callings on other nations, denounce them as bloodthirsty for even wanting to be part of a stronger national army for the good of the country, and cradle our precious, useless, false idol of neutrality as if it is doing us any favours. It failed during the second world war, it is failing us now by crippling our economic growth by making us to be dependent on other nations for security and it will damn sure fail us whent he next great global conflageration rolls around.

Or do you really think 5 patrol boats for a navy and desperate pleas of recognizing some by then useless neutrality proclamation will spare us the wrath of whatever new hitlerite monster the future will throw at us?

Odd rumblings

Enda Kenny denounced the Vatican directly after the Cloyne report and I already covered how this was little more then political scapegoating both to draw attention away from the Hospital scandal and the state's failures also mentioned in the report.

The Confessional Seal legislation which would be the most ineffectual law in Irish History in the pursuit of protecting children.

And of course, FG Cait Keane urging that the Eucharistic congress would be inappropriate to be held in phoenix park....despite the fact it is not planned for Phoenix Park but for the RDS and Croke Park.

And in all three cases the Association of Catholic Priests, a liberal group of clerics opposed to Orthodoxy and Sensible religion and moral character in general, has been cheering Fine Gael on.

Excuse me but what the hell is this utter horse dung?

While I am awaiting what is rumoured to be a strong Papal Nuncio response to the Cloyne Report and the fractious relationship between Dublin and Rome, can someone please give me one good reason why we haven't tossed this filth out of the sacristies?

I know I am for a proper Inquisition into the Affairs of the Irish Church for some time now and the results of an initial Apostolic Investigation, although the full report hasnt been disclosed, is that the Irish Church is ten years away from an irreversible disaster. And had been hoping with the Eucharistic Congress and the Pope's own schedualed visit to Ireland next year, something would at least be done. I had even mentioned my dismay at the emergence of religious rebellion earlier this year with regards to this same organization and I am only increasingly vindicated. And on top of this a leading Theologian has called for all Bishops of Ireland appointed before 2003 to be removed and replaced with a reshuffling of diocese. A move I fully support because Rome has neglected Ireland for the past century and the Bishops have grown lazy and indolent at best, and outright heretical at worst. And I see the worst elements of this heretical malaise at the heart of Irish Spirituality in the Association and its persistent political opportunism. I would bet money that if at all possible they would have Dublin break from Rome and create an established State Church. Remind you of Anyone?

I have never been one for anti-clericalism, a respect for the divine and a respect for the clergy is as old as the Irish character itself, stretching back even into our pagan days. But be that as it may I wish for more public denounciation of the Association from prominent Catholics and for the Bishops to submit to Rome. I have made it quite clear any lasting Irish Restoration cannot be built on a secular foundation, the wolves of revolution will just tear at it till it is nought but bone. I just wish for something drastic to be done. Very badly.

Slan go Phoile.

The Uselessness of Enda Kenny's Posturing

The Bishops of Ireland need to be rounded up, given the boot and Rome needs to appoint new bishops within the next ten years or this entire country will become a spiritual nightmare. Let me just get that out of the way before any of you think I am going to defend the Bishops guilty of this seemingly unending travesty.

Now with that said, can someone please go and shut Enda Kenny up before he embarrasses himself?

I am of course talking about his recent speech solidly aiming at 'the Vatican' and 'deploring' the lack of, or too much Vatican interference in Irish Affairs regarding the child abuse scandals (someone get a tick list this is the first embarassment) So which is it? Is the Vatican to blame for telling the Bishops to ignore and hide the scandals, thereby interloping in Irish affairs in this 'Republic of Laws' Enda Kenny seems proud about? Why how very peculier, is the Vatican also to blame for not doing enough to stop the abuses? One is claiming the Vatican, (read: The Pope, because honestly thats what everyone really is referring to when they say The Vatican) is deliberately misleading and ordering Bishops to cover up the abuses, note, these are the same Bishops who flaunt their disobedience to Rome to begin with, one even going so far as to claim proudly he dismissed documents from Rome, unread, into the wastebasket next to his desk. While the other claim is lamblasting the Church for not doing ENOUGH to keep an oversight on these very same Bishops which would require the Vatican to... Interfere in this Republic of Laws in order to do so. Enda, please speak sense.

I will currently ignore cries from media and other sources that Enda Kenny's criticisms weren't hostile Enough. Because frankly it is not An Taoiseach's fault that they want the Church to suffer more.

It is obvious this is political posturing and any number of rationalisations can be claimed to be the cause of An Taoiseach getting uppity like this. Deflection from the current economic crisis, trying to secure future votes by 'standing tough' in the face of 'The Roman Bully', (that'll definitely sway the votes of some atheists but I don't honestly think it'll guarantee a second term) probably use it as an excuse to ignore his party's promise to be pro life and side with their Labour bedfellows to legalize abortion in Ireland. I would not put it past them and I dare any man among you to challenge my cynicism in this regard.

I also find it mildly amusing that these criticisms are being lauded by the Association of Catholic Priests and their ilk here in Ireland,many of whom share much in common with the Bishops whose fault it is we are in such a state.

The next embarrassment is the proposed legislation to break the Confessional Seal. Now this scandal is covered extensively in any number of catholic Blogs, and the possibility it will actually pass is debatable but there is one solid, sincere and very logical reason why it should not pass and put into Law: It would be the most ineffectual law in Irish History. How many Catholics are there in Ireland? What percentage of them go to Mass every week in today's secular world? What percentage of that percentage actually goes to confession at least twice a year? Now that we've limited that number down to an embarrassingly small amount I ask you this. How many of those who do confess, would confess to knowledge of child abuse? Now to even further dwindle that number, how many of this paltry sum would actually even remotely consider confessing such crimes once this law comes into effect and the confessional is not safe for the confession of any crimes? None. At all. The State can arrest as many priests as they want but no results in the safety of Children will ever improve and will only result in anticlerical actions not seen in a Catholic Country since perhaps the cristero war in Mexico. Further wasting state resources and oh of course, would only target the Catholic Church, why, it would be UNTHINKABLE that lawyers would also be required to come forward under this law, POLITICIANS MAY BE IMPLICATED. And that would just be sacrilege.

But the biggest, possibly most damning embarrassment of this recent hostility towards Rome is thus: In the Cloyne report the failure of civil authorities on the child abuse scandal is also damned. In fact, the failure of secular institutions and their own abuses, here in Ireland and elsewhere is actually almost as bad if not worse then the abuses under Catholic oversight. I understand why the Church is picked on from an objective standpoint, it is a religious and moral authority where such failures and failure to expunge the corruption is beyond inexcusable and hence, its dirty laundry is hung from a higher line as it where. But even so the speech and, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny;

In this Republic of Laws where such attrocities have taken place, dear An Taoiseach, pray tell, where was the State when the people needed them?

A successful visit

Her Majesty the Queen of England's visit to Ireland has concluded and deemed a diplomatic triumph.

And so far I am inclined to agree, but at the same time breath a sigh of relief that she is gone back to England.

I will not focus too much on the particulars of her visit, but I will comment that small touches such as wearing green upon leaving the plane as well as starting off her key speech with a greeting spoken in Gaelige went a LONG way to endearing the Irish population to her. Her visits were cordial, projected disturbances and protests minimal and non violent (mostly), and hopefully Sinn Fein's misjudging of the public mood over this will upset any progress they make down south.

Now with that said, lets get the elephant out of the room. That elephant being the painfully obvious west-briton sentiment in the Irish media, to which Her Majesty was the darling of the hour.

Do not misunderstand me, I am greatful the visit went so well AND that the media tried pushing the positive effects of the visit (the resulting boom in tourism that this will likely cause plus finally having good stories about Ireland being told in foreign media outlets, confirmed by reports from irish Embassies worldwide. Thank God, nothing good about Ireland being said by foreign newsgroups for near 3 years now), but what disgusted me was their attitude towards their urging, and how aggressive it was. They kept pushing the angle that this was a historic visit (it was), but their slavish devotion to this as well as pushing the 'cultural links with Great Britain' (of which there are innumerable, but not something you want to remind the public about if you plan to make us keen on the British monarchy as the same historical poison taints our view of it and pushing the link of monarchy with Britain wont make the modern Irishman more keen on it) reeked of west-britonism, and it did nothing to convince Irishmen that royalism and monarchism really isn't a 'British' thing. Which does not help the Irish Monarchist cause in any light.

Good relations with Britain is necessary economically and perhaps socially (a great many Irish families have members working across the Irish sea) but the west britonism in the media would have us stop speaking Irish for economic integration and 'cultural exchange' by destroying whats left of Irish culture to improve those relations. Which I will never stand for.

One historian brought before the newscaster at the beginning of the visit commentated on how 'there has always been an undercurrent of royalism in Ireland' of which that is 100% true, but then went on to immediately associate that royalism with britain by using the last visit of a British Monarch to Ireland as her one and only example. Really!? Then what of the jacobites? the war of the three kingdoms? the flight of the earls? The blatant monarchism in Irish Catholicism, the actions of Irish Monarchists on the continent both before and after the flight, THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN IRELAND BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS DOMINATED BY IRISH DUAL MONARCHISTS AND NOT BY BLOODY REPUBLICANS!?

Oh and never mind the brief reinstatement of the Council of the Chiefs of the Name officially recognised by the Republican Government before a Scandal forced their dissolution, or how every Irishman is descended from ancient Kings, why those crest must be mere decoration, right? No, sure, it only is relevant if we link royalism with the British Royal family and nothing else.

Its not as if any other royal family has links to Ire-oh wait, there was that one Sovereign Prince fellow wasn't there?

To hell with it, I will do it if they would not. I will start digging up resources and Focus on Irish men, both Nationalists and before the rise of Irish nationalism, who were monarchist, royalists or otherwise disassociated with Britain and associated with Monarchism. If only to, if futilely, dispel the myth of Monarchism being a 'British' thing.

Open Letter to my fellow Irishmen

My fellow Gaels, be you Republican, Nationalist or otherwise count yourself as an Irish Patriot, I feel the need to address this letter to you with regards to upcoming events involving the British Royal Family. It is a plea, rather then a demand, for civility and good character.

As you all know, I am no advocate for the rejoining of Ireland into Great Britain. Far from it, my Monarchist sentiments are separatist and nativist as should be clear to all who read my blog. So I am not going to talk about such an issue.

Rather this is a plea, with regards to agitation amongst Irish Republicans in the Republic of Ireland, towards the Queen of England's state visit, and an encouragement of Irish Nationalists and Patriots to not fall into the pitfall of old hatreds.

To this I will seek to convince you how Her Majesty's visit to Ireland, benefits Ireland as its status as a Sovereign nation rather then a subject one. And to do that I must point out the difference between a visit by the British Monarch to Ireland 100 years ago, and the visit this year.

The difference is simple yet incredibly important. 100 years ago, the British Sovereign visited Ireland as its King and Head of State. Its ruler. At such a time we were very much subject nation. The visit was, in that sense, a personal one of a ruler to his subjects. This Year's visit is one of a stately nature.

By engaging in a State visit, Her Majesty the Queen does not wipe away or invalidate the grievances of the past and that we should all forget the bad stuff ever happened on either side, such as the rather rude telling off those West Britons in the Irish Media has been keen to pile on the already miffed Irish Republican community, rather, the State visit does something much more important for the Republic and one Irish Patriots should be more then happy with.

It is official, symbolic recognition by Britain of the status of Ireland as a Separate entity and Sovereign State. It is, while not written and certainly unspoken, the admittance by the British Government of the loss of Ireland as a territorial claim in any event, which coincides nicely with the past admission of the 'no selfish or strategic interest' we have heard with regards to the Northern Territory.

The visit of a reigning sovereign to Ireland is not an infraction upon the nation's sovereignty or a bold claim by said sovereign to Ireland. This is foolish thinking, one need not only look at the recent visit by the Sovereign prince of Monaco and his fiancée to Ireland, or the visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Llama. Both of whom are in fact Sovereigns, one Ruling and one in Exile. Instead, I would advise my fellow Irishmen to capitalize on this visit to show to the World the worth of Ireland. I beg of you to not engage in any plans by organisations to disrupt the visit, cause damage of a physical or proprietary nature to your fellow Irishmen wherever the Queen visits with her Husband, as this will hurt our nation's prestige by engaging in selfish activities that will no sooner help you reclaim the North of Ireland then help Cain finish his wanderings.

As an added plea, to Irish Republicans in particular, with regards to the upcoming Royal wedding. I will not argue you should care for the Joy of England, because that would be inane and irrelevant to you, in fact, I fully believe the wedding should not matter to you by principle. What instead I am asking you to do, is to refuse to attend the rival street parties being organised by British Republicans to protest the Royal Wedding celebrations, they have invited republicans from across Europe to join them.

I will not speak much about them, or their plans for they also have little to do with you or your goals with regards to Ireland. So you may wonder, what then, was the reason why I beg of you to refuse to join these Republicans in their activities? Surely they are as republican as you are? And this is where I am going to have to say no. They are not the same as you, at the very least, not the same as you from where you consider yourselves. For while Irish Republicans consider themselves the spiritual successors of Wolfe tones and the Irish Volunteers of the Easter Rising, the British Republicans are descendants of a much darker, deadlier beast. A shadow daemon who's name is still anathema to any sensible Irishman.

The British Republicans are the spiritual successors of the Arch Heretic, Oliver Cromwell and his Despoiler New Model Army which ravaged Ireland during the Jacobite Wars, banished our nobility and started the centuries of woe we romanticize in earnest.

If you care nothing of the British Monarchy, you certainly care for Ireland at the least. And I beg of you, not as a monarchist, but as an Irishman, for civility and principle. Do not lend credence to the British Republican movement, for by extension you put your lot in with Cromwell. And truly believe the ends of Revolution justify the means of Revolution. Which in this context I truly, in my heart, do not hold that most of you really believe such.

Happy Good Friday,

Servant of the Chief

Dia agus a choimeádann tú, slan go phoile

Princely Visit to Ireland

(Apologies for my absence, University work is piling on and I had some personal issues to get over before I returned to regular blog updates. I have several pieces I wish to discuss backlogged on top of my already backlogged issues that I probably won't get to discuss in detail before the next interruption to regular blog business. I beg your forgiveness and thank you for your patience) I was of course, more then a little delighted when I was made aware of the Princely House of Grimaldi's visit to Ireland. However, sadly mostly to do with issues I have already mentioned, I could not indulge my innate monarchist urge to glue myself to the news of the event and follow it as enthusiastically as I would have loved to do. The Visit had the usual formalities one would expect of state visits, guards of honour, exchanges of gifts, meeting the public, etc. And frankly most news reports I've seen over the matter have been resounding positive... if somewhat muted. This of course bothers me because it is nowhere nearly as big an issue as I would have liked it to be. ''Oh its just an official state visit by a reigning crowned Head of Europe, its not as if we need to publicise this all that much, why its not as if the Irish public are deeply unhappy and depressed during this recession, our economic enslavement to Europe and the slovening cynicism of our crapsack of a political governing system and desperately need something positive to keep their minds off of it all.'' You can see why I am displeased by the lack of exposure in practical terms. Britain has the Royal wedding to look forward to, we had a Royal visit, why couldn't that have been a scene of goodwill and wholesomeness in the Irish view? Because the media didn't want it to be too exposed.

Actually, I'd like to take this time to mention how much I actually like the design of the Irish Defence Forces Officer Uniforms. Reserved but dignified, if a little utilitarian. Makes for a nice contrast with the uniform of the Monegasque officer as the Sovereign prince is welcomed at McKee Barracks to a 21 gun salute and inspects the Irish Guard of Honour respectively. Although in my humble opinion things could've been better if the Republic hadn't of disbanded the Blue Hussars.

However, catching up, I am delighted to report the state visit was a resounding success, and the Irish public were introduced to reigning monarchism that could not be simply be campaigned against or capitalised by Irish Republicans. After all as I often point out in Ireland, however erroneously, monarchism is associated with Britishness, Britishness is un-Irish, therefore monarchism is un-Irish, or stupid, or just evil to those who don't care about patritoism enough to worry about their own damn culture. This cannot be done against His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, nor the Princess-to-be.

Pictured left-to-right: Mr. McAleese, Mrs. McAleese President of Ireland, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and Charlene

Afterall, the House of Grimaldi is Roman Catholic isn't it? Suddenly the religious issue the more sectarian of Irish Nationalists have against the House of Windsor and their perception of Monarchism is thrown aschew. For most Nationalist this doesn't prove that monarchism isn't un-Irish, but it goes a long way to shake a rather ugly, unspoken, underlying belief that being a monarchist is 'un-catholic'. (This is an ugly disease of a belief that isn't pushed too strongly by the Republican movement in Ireland but it is pushed nonetheless, however covertly), Now there was the real kicker, the Sovereign Prince is, afterall, the son of an American woman of Irish and German descent, Princess Grace. Now the republicans are presented with a real problem when it comes to His Seren Highness, they cannot say he is un-Catholic, and given the Irish Attitude to welcoming even the most distant of Irish descendents, could they really say that the Prince is not Irish?

Not after attending a traditional music session in County Mayo, his ancestral home through his mother they can't.

Now, the more machievelian side of me plans to exploit this wholesale in my dealings with Irish Nationalists not convinced of the Monarchist Cause, the sort who equate monarchism with Britishness. And yes, I am sad to say, no matter how unjust people think it is, it is a given fact, there is a resounding unbelievable resentment towards 'west britonism' in Ireland, and this is the result of History, and while I'm pretty sure most Irishmen don't resent the English or Britain in general nearly as much as past chuvanism would imply. They still absolutely resent being even remotely considered 'British', which is highly ironic given the current prevalent Anglo-American culture in Ireland that is slowly poisoning us. Also you may think it unseemly of me to use the nature of the Sovereign Prince's ancestry via the good Princess Grace as political ammunition against republican nationalists here, and you'd be right, but I have to do it anyway. Irishmen respect family a tremendous deal even if it isnt overtly admitted in public *cough*political-families*cough*, and sometimes the only way you can get through to them is with a living example of how its possible to be a good catholic, of Irish descent AND a Monarchist to break through the revolutionary twattle that has brainwashed the majority of the world as well as the Irish. Sides, I need something to counter the blather over the American President's Irish Descent which the news machine in Ireland is already warming up for his potential visit.

In my next few posts I plan to deal with a few nagging issues, firstly the Issue of Jacobitism in Irish Monarchism, which I have recieved interest from a number of readers for my views on the Irish Jacobite Cause. As well as that a study on the origins of Irish Nationalism, and how my study of it has actually help foster my dissent from the 'traditional' republican view of Irish Nationalism. (Ironically enough this was also the subject of my more academic concerns in University recently) As well as my other project studies such as my Restoration series, which looking back on, needs some re-working.

Slan Go Phoile

The State of the Republic and is St.Patrick's Day worth it?

This has been a long time coming, but it doesn't matter now, for I should've seen it coming. But count me for a fool for believing Fine Gael would keep some of its integrity and not coalition with Labour for the Dail.

Now before I go off on a tangent, let me make a few points clear:

- No. I fully expected Fine Gael to break most of its promises when it got into power. I expect

all parties to do this by default, its up to them to prove me wrong. We are in a Republic afterall, why do we lie to ourselves when we think our parties will be truthful with us? Or honest with themselves?

-Yes. I am well aware that Fine Gael went into coalition with Labour many times in the past, but thats why its so outrageous now.

Want to know why? Because in all of those time Fine Gael went into coalition with Labour, they were not the second largest single unified party in the Republic.

When you look at it that way, suddenly Labour being in coalition doesn't seem so samey now does it?

It was obvious from the start they were going to have to toe the EU/IMF line economically, but the biggest betrayal of this coalition is giving Labour control fo the Public Sector.

Thanks for standing up to the bullying Public Unions and unrealistic expectations in a time of global economic downturn.

I am no fool, I know politics involves a shameful amount of compromise, but when compromise is the expected rather evil rather then the necessary evil, your system is dead. I am fully prepared as to right now, declare that the Republic of Ireland is dead on its feet as a Sovereign power and as a viable model of government for anyone with a conscience, for within twenty years we will be little more then a back water province full of dependent unless something miraculous, or disastrous, occurs.

While we're on the Republic, good news is Her Majesty the Queen will make

a State visit to Ireland soon. No I am not an advocate of Ireland rejoining the commonwealth, that is ABUNDENTLY clear to anyone. What I am in favour of is treating our closest neighbour's Sovereign with the respect a foreign Head of State deserves, despite the grovelling of traitorous knaves who consider themselves 'west Britons' and moaning of Republicans who could not give a damn about the North of Ireland most days but suddenly do when the Queen shows up.

As Well as this, joyously, His Holiness Pope Benedict

XVI is expected to visit Ireland in June, it is not sure if this visit will be Formal or ecclesiastical, either way by that point, Motu Proprio, (and whatever document he is currently writing, according to Roman whispers, that reinforces Motu Proprio and forbids Bishops from interfering with

traditional Latin masses and their practice), will have been in effect since Advent 2011, and will be a delightful display of traditionalism. As you know I have been concerned over the loyalty of Irish Bishops to his Holiness and the rebellion of Liberal clergy against Motu Proprio, I am of the opinion this

visit will be an attempt by His Holiness to not only repair the damage done to the Church of Ireland and the Irish people by clerical abuse scandals, but also to reinforce His Authority in the Church to quash rebellion by his Holiness' presence.

The News of His Holiness, the Dali Llama's abdication is, to this Monarchist's ears, unwelcome and saddening and unexpected, you can read more here at the Mad One's Blog. Equally unexpected, but definitely welcome, is the announcement of a visit visit by His Holiness planned for April Next year. The small Buddhist community in Ireland will doubtlessly be overjoyed.

Speaking of Joy, now onto my distinct lack of it this day.

St.Patrick's Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is a first class Feast day allowing people to abstain from their, er, abstaining or fasting during the Lenten Period.

Nobody knows this. Most do not even care.

Nothing gets my goat more then my countrymen actively promoting the horrible stereotypes about themselves as something positive (and most of them do this) and reveling in the mediocrity that defines this island with its pre-industrial level population (a meagre 8 million if you include the North, most CITIES have more people then us. I do not care what anyone's arguments are, Ireland is not a modern first world nation by objective standards) There are scoundrels decrying the Irish Language as a dead thing and wishing for its removal fromt he curriculum, all the while certain backtrackers int he Irish times openly argue for Ireland's rejoining of the Commonwealth.

Doubtless some of you think thats a good idea, but most of you arent an Irishman, this is symbolic suicide for us and our culture, given the anglo-american culture Ireland has been suffering under in the modern age, how would rejoining the commonwealth benefit us beyond materialism? We'd only become slightly less indebted servants then we are to Europe.

But this is getting off track, this St.Patrick's day, I will not go out to the parades, for there is nothing Irish about them any more, nor will become a drunken wreck, for not only do I not drink but it would be adverse to the spirit of the celebration to begin with. St.Patrick's day is now an 'International' celebration where everyone is 'a little Irish'.

Oh alright then, so Thanksgiving is an International holiday, where we all gourge ourselves on food and are all 'a little American' and giving thanks to... God only knows who. Ironically enough some scoundrels in the Irish Times actively suggest we take on a thanksgiving-esque holiday as a 'meaningless' holiday as if it was a good thing.

I am not adverse to St.Patrick's day being celebrated outside Ireland, there are MILLIONS of people with Irish Descent, with full right to feel Irish on this day. What I am adverse to is the downplaying of Irishness to being little more then plastic bloody shamrocks blue-tacked everywhere and nothing else while the carnival dancers go about their merry way. Why the hell do we have to borrow cultural staples from Latin American countries? Are we that bankrupt? Yes or no doesn't matter, we just can't be Irish.

I am not about to Argue against Drinking, for I see nothing intrinsically wrong with it, or the practise of drinking during celebrations, its a practice older then recorded history, nor will I deny drinking is not part of our Culture, because for better or for worse it definitely is. But By God in Heaven and all of the Saints and Angels! If the Bavarians can control themselves during Octoberfest and still keep it recognisably Bavarian and German why can we not!?

Also it doesn't help that Raidió Teilifís Éireann has gone out of its way to cartoonise this Holiday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDSEqlw5sw&feature=featured

Is St.Patrick's Day even worth it anymore? I am so utterly disheartened that this day has been so actively maligned and parodied and cartoonised by the culture often associated with, that my very blood boils every time I turn on the news and see the intensely pathetic false patriotism and pride on display around this country, all the while the ignorent go about in their alcohol induced, vomit ridden hangovers and the evil who know exactly what they are doing, deconstructing the very meaning of being Irish with this holiday, smiling from behind their keyboards.

For what its worth, I am of course your very unhappy Servant of the Chief, and I wish you all a Happy and Holy St.Patrick's Day. Slan go Phoile

Rebellion in the Irish Church

Just when you think you've hit rock bottom...

The New translation of the Roman Missal is set to hit Ireland From Advent onwards, this missal, to sum it up simply if somewhat inaccurately, would enforce a stricter interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, slight reforms in the procedures and layouts in Novus Ordo Mass, and a greater liberalization of the Latin Extraordinary form (or so I'm led to believe, I welcome people to correct me in the comments if they feel I am in err).

This new Missal has got alot of liberal Catholics everywhere worried, which is what originally made me so interested in it, and I am rather shocked to learn that organizations of priests in America are advocating outright rebellion against Rome should this be implemented. The sad thing is there is an element of this rebellious spirit in the Irish Church too but I am ignorant as to its full extent, as I am fairly certain my own parish priests would submit to Rome is push comes to shove. But this element of rebellion is troublesome.

Outside of the obvious religious and social concerns I have over these developments, regular readers will recall I have previously stressed a renewal and strengthening of the Catholic Church in Ireland is needed to institute traditional conservative mentalities among the Irish from which any movement to re-establish a Gaelic monarchy can possibly be facilitated, and my own support of what I viewed as an Inquisition into the Irish clergy in the Apostolic Visitation, (again inaccurate but I liked viewing it as such), from which we have learned one of the Bishops say the Irish Church has less then ten years to avert disaster. Which when you think about it is a generous portion of time compared to the rest of Europe. Without a Strong degree of Religious Unity Ireland will sink that much faster into the pit of secularism and I do not need to point out the intrepid dangers of such a path.

Keep in mind, it was Ireland's conversion to Christianity that gave Gaelic civilization a desperate revival it needed when the rest of Europe was in its dark age, it didn't fix the problem of Irish Society being so stagnantly conservative that we were using armour and weapons designs in the 1400s that dated back to La Tene Celtic culture. If the Church can revitalize and consolidate itself, we will have a real chance to start the counter revolution properly in Ireland. Otherwise Apathy and death await the country.

I am under no illusion about these schismatics, should they as a group split from communion with Rome and go full liberal backwater, they will die out incredibly faster then the Protestant movements are. I honestly believe these to be hollow threats to scare Rome from putting its foot down as it inevitably will, sooner or later.

SOTR: Fine Gael Victory seemingly imminent

In the Wake of David Quinn's slamming of the Labour Party over its Pro-Abortion policies, the Pro Life campaign in Ireland has stepped up its opposition to the Labour Party's callous canvessing at Parish Chapels after Mass. According to some blogs active in the Irish Pro Life movement, they have cited that the recent drop in poll votes for the Labour Party Is likely down to their involvement in influencing the Public over Moral Issues. David Quinn is the Director of the Iona Institute, a Conservative Roman Catholic Think Tank in Ireland who promote Religion and Family values within the country. This comes as Significent break with past relations as it was only in 2007 when the Labour TD John Burton had launched the Iona Institute's first Policy document with regards to Taxation. http://www.ionainstitute.com/

Also on the News is Enda Kenny attempted to defuse a row with Irish Trade Unions over Party Line comments over 'vested' interests on the Fine Gael website in regards to Trade Unions. David Begg, general secetary of the Congress of Irish Trade Unions is meeting with Enda to settle the Row. The Congress had asked the Line be removed over fears that a Fine Gael Government would enter prolonged confrontation with the Organisation over trade unions despite good relations in the Past.

Now with those headlines said, Recent Election polls, as reliable as they ever are heh, have shown and increase of 5 percent support for Fine Gael and a drop of 4% for Labour, with the Independents gaining as well. In all Likelihood previous predictions of a Fine Gael Majority Government with a coallition of Independents is still quite possible and Labour's chances for power is dwindling rapidly, thank God.

Now its only fair that as Enda Kenny is very likely to become An Taoiseach i should do a breif review of the Fine Gael policies and what they could potentially mean for Ireland's future. Now it goes without saying that as bad as the 'Conservative' Irish Party is to any good and Sound Catholic Irish man, nevermind a Monarchist, they are nowhere near the dirty revolutionaries that Labour is, but it still remains to be seen if they will be the lazy Traitors Fine Fail turned out to be.

The Fine Gael Policy for Reform is delightfully Called 'The Five Point plan to get Ireland working', what else is new? The Five points focus on five major Areas of concern the Party seeks to focus on, Jobs, Budget, Health, Public Sector and Politics. Yeah, a wide range huh? There is no way any government, no matter how competent could hope to fix all these issues in one or two terms, but this depends on how long the Gaels stay in Power for int he South. Lets have a breif overview of each section based on a skim reading of the PDFs they have supplied for public viewing.

• JOBS: The usual hub-bub with regards to acknowledging the effects of the recession on Jobs, reducing costs, red tape regulations blah blah ''down with the beurocracy!'' Bull we expect. The meat of the issue is to support investment and support 'competitive taxes' as well as supporting Irish Businness to escape Bankruptcy and a Cabinet Office pertaining to Jobs. They do however support a shift to Export-driven-Growth which could have knock on effects to issues I have raised previously with Ireland's econemy. As well as a 'New Asia Strategy. Another promising er...promise is to encourage working age Irishmen and women to get off benefits and other such debilitating nonsense. http://finegael2011.com/pdf/WorkingforOurFuture.pdf
• BUDGET: Call me a cynic, but this is the one area I do not expect any potential government to do well with in the next half a dozen terms, let alone a single term. Their policies are wide ranging and rather intelligible to a certain extent in a wide range of Taxation issues, including water charges. They've also dedicated and entire document outlining how they intend to reform Irish Banking to restore international trust in our competency. Yeah I laughed too. But give them Credit for trying. http://www.finegael2011.com/pdf/LessWasteLowerTaxesStrongerGrowth.pdf http://www.finegael2011.com/pdf/Credit_Where_Credit_is_Due.pdf
• HEALTHCARE: Short and to the point, Fine Gael believes the current Healthcare system in the South is broken, and propose the Fine Gael FairCare Universal system eliminating the current public-private two tier system in the South. To this I honestly tell Fine Gael to wise the bollucs up if you'll excuse my language. The current system costs 20 Billion a year, but compare that to the Bloated monster of the NHS right across the water, or the State-crushing French Healthcare system. You want us to emulate these systems? I am not without compassion and I recognise the horrid flaws in the current Healthcare system, but total Nationalisation is not the answer, especially since it will most definitely be a more expensive failure then our current system. I'd link their Policy PDF but they do not have one on their website.
• PUBLIC SECTOR: Fine Gael offers to create Smaller, better Government by cutting back room waste, destroying Quangos and shrinking the Public sector to make it more efficient (compare this policy attitude to the Healthcare suggestions if you will). Promising to reduce red tape, and increase accountability of managers and other 'middle men' as well as securing front line public services such as teachers, Gardai, as well as streamlining services etc, etc. Most of this I have no qualms with. The also hark back to budget reform and other such, but it really is a wait and see situation to how successful their policies will be. Assuming the 'like minded' independents they'll invite into Government with them agree. http://www.finegael2011.com/pdf/ReinventingGovernment.pdf
• POLITICS: And this is where I flush with Embarassment. Previously I had lamblasted Labour party for 'promising' to abolish the Seanad Eireann, however it seems that Fine Gael is not entirely against this Idea either. However, Fine Gael has promised to make the issue a referendum decision, rather then a policy decision. Not the Best but at least this allows room for the more moderate minded reformists take stage in the public sphere instead of the revolutionaries. Other promises include reducing the number of politicans by 35%, (they did promise smaller government afterall), as well as Constitution Day, which the Government will put forward various suggestions for reform of the Presidency, the Dail, Ombudsmen, and the Judiciary, all of which will be put to Referendum. However I strongly disagree with the abolition of the Second House, it is not effective for Ireland that The Dail should Rule alone and other small countries with only a single house governing well are few and far between. We do not need to take the risk of following their example by abolishing a potential check on the power of Government. http://www.finegael2011.com/pdf/NewPolitics.pdf

And there we have it. Fine Gael is most certainly not the Best possible choice for Ireland's future and I have breifly outlined some of the reasons why. Unfortuneately Ireland really does not have any other choice in the matter, the next Government must be Fine Gael with Independents, we cannot afford to allow the Socialists into power. Whatever Damage Fine Gael does to Ireland it will not be as bad Labour or Sinn Fein.

Or God help us, Fine Fail.

State of the Republic

If I seem to be harping on about this topic, it is only because it needs to be hammered home again and again. The Irish Republic is in serious, serious trouble, as I have spent ample time discussing in post after post after post. Why are you so worried, you may ask me? Well, I can understand that as an avowed Absolute Monarchist, Nationalist and proponent of a radical change of the political structure of Ireland that I am, it may seem strange to some why I would not be celebrating a possible downfall of the corrupted, weak-kneed and constitutionally bank-rupt nation state the Irish Republic has become. But then that should just scare you all the more, because I am most certainly not celebrating the crisis in the Republic, and anyone with a brain should know why.

Even though it is still a long shot by most speculators opinion, there is still a sizeable chance that the party known as Irish Labour, (if you havent heard of them, let it's implications sink in first before you hit up wikipedia or google, then prepare to have your fears released), could either form a ruling party in the South in the coming elections or failing that, a co-allition party as the likely second largest party in the coming elections. Paradigm shifts aside, this is incredibly dangerous for the Irish Nation. Why? Not because of its social, political or economic goals, as debateable as those are they arent Irish Labour's real threat. Its real threat is the downright revolutionary attitude it is taking to the Irish Republic's Governmental structure and Constitution.

http://www.labour.ie/ Here's the link to their party site, knock yourselves out.

Now, rather innocently, their policies are listed under policies for reform. Looking over some of their policies, there are sweeping areas of concern that of course warrant further evaluation and consideration for a concerned voter (That priceless and mythical commodity) to mull over. Until you get to the policies for Government reform. Which while extensively detailed in the free PDF for download, (I reccommend a quick read if you have time), the policies they have decided to use as eye grabbing high-lights for Governmental Change are Alarming.

Establishing Independent Electoral commission and fiscal advisory board sound like good ideas at first, but when taken in light of some of the other proposals, such as Abolishing the Seanad Eireann (Irish Senate and Upper House of the Parliament) is an utterly radical move which would transform the Oireactas and Ireland into a Unicameral Legislature, dominated by the most popular Party. Introducing Spending Limits for local and Presidential Elections, while at first seemingly a step in fighting corruption in the office of President by preventing richer parties from dominating. However the Independent Electoral Boards puts the power in compiling electoral Registers and running elections under the authority of a single organisation, who's iunception was sponsored by the Ruling party.

Argueably the only proposal I suppose I could meet Labour halfway on is forcing TDs into longer Sitting days. But even that is thrown into doubt with the suspect motivations behind its other reform policies.

I'd feel safer if Sinn Fein got into office, at least they proved they have no idea what they're doing.

Protectionism, and how it is neccessary

Onto something that has always bugged me. Ireland's economy.

Now I will step of my high horse long enough to say this: I am well aware that this is a vast and complex issue this is, and how divisive it can be for both intelligensia and laymen to discuss, that such talks of economics can not in the traditional sense be grasped by so called 'basic understanding' for to understand economics fully is to have enough liberty to be free from its effects, and thus impossible. I confess that economics naturally lends itself to politics, ideology, bias, and culture. My American readers, (and there are a goodly number of you) are well aware of this. I know that it will be impossible for my view and my arguments to be persuasive enough to convince even a small minority of you, and those of you of a socialist bent on Market theory are likely already aware that nothing I say could convince you.

Now with that said I'll just get back onto my high horse here and say this.

There is no such thing as Monarchist Economics and such talk undermines the Principles of Monarchism. I say this firstly because, of course, everything in this blog relates to Monarchism and the Irish situation, so it needed to stated before I am mistaking for speaking for all Monarchists of my stripes, which I am not. And I say it secondly, because it is true. Monarchism, as an ideology, is an ideology of realism, one of enduring traditionalism that absorbs new ideas that strengthens it and one on which it can rely upon good thinking and sound decision making of ages to guide its judgement and hence cannot be restricted y economic theories when said theories only emerge with the times. Monarchism allows for the Sovereign, (one should note I am speaking as an Absolutist here wherein the Kingdom has the Monarch retain a certain amount of active and decision making powers as either a check on Parliament or in communion with it), allows for the sovereign to choose economic policies free from party restrictions, petty election time restraints and concerns, and for the short term popularity or unpopularity of said decisions. After all, in any monarchy the principle about what is always popular is not always right reigns, (or at least it should).

Now how does this relate to Ireland? Well you may recall my previous blog posts lamenting Ireland's shattered harp, the celtic tiger and the threat of Irish Labour, and it got me to thinking of Ireland's economic situation as a whole. And when you get down to the nitty gritty of supply and demand, it is impossible for Ireland to survive without trade, we cannot possibly be a self-sufficient country, in any sense, (I can hear the Greens cry already).

Ireland has few natural resources. We have few precious minerals we can exploit and those resources we can exploit are dwindling and were small to begin with. We have, and likely always will rely heavily on agriculture, farming and fishing, as well as tertiary goods, high end products such as electronics. One thing Ireland has always been good at is producing very high quality products in high enough quantity to warrant the interest of investors, creating jobs, stimulating the economy and other such nonsense we we rent worried about when the country was getting drunk on the celtic tiger.

Yes thats right I am seriously claiming the celtic tiger stunted the Irish Economy, much like how coffee gives you an energy boost yet stunts your overall growth. Yes it gave Ireland the money it needed to build up its infrastructure and help 'the poor man of europe' to catch up but that was not the point of it. Not at all.

In truth, while the EU was subscribing to flawed notions of unending boom, (something that'll take more then a few blog posts to go over, I assure you), it was still relying on the economic make up of Europe during the beginning of that boom, one in which France and Britain controlled the trade in western Europe. Now dont get me wrong, I am not going to berate the French and British for looking after their own interests, its what any of us would do in their place. It was this set up that the EU relied on for their overall market. For the sake of argument, Ireland had a much stronger industry, its beef and grain increased in price due to its high quality and highly sought after worldwide would bring trade to Ireland (this is an isolated example), more trade would flow Ireland's way then it normally has done, Ireland's economy would grow at a slower, but steady rate, it'd pull itself out of the depths of poverty and become a respectible power. At the same time, this would decrease the level of trade that currently goes through France and Britain, American trade, which is still highly sought after, would increasingly invest in the Irish market, to the detriment of the British, this would change the economic make up of Europe.

Solution? Outside of Embargo, the easiest is to make the poor country (Ireland) economically rely on you. The celtic tiger was just that, investment from the EU had the same effect on Ireland as handing a man who had been poor all his life $1000, he will live like he has $1,000,000. And predictably he will get drunk, squander his money and be surprised to find himself sleeping in the same gutter he was in not 20 nights before.

Now, even while this was going on, Irish Industries where hamstrung by EU and UN restrictions on fishing and farming, in fact several times farmers and fishing communities in Ireland where near up in arms over these restrictions, and in other affected areas. These stifled growth, and were further harmed by other, less then above the counter effects. International chains in Ireland, markets famed for the quality of their goods weren't using Irish made products that they were advertising. This is old news for some but in Ireland when this comes to meat sales its quite serious. When most people go to the markets and buy beef, or lamb, or fish, 98% of the times they are buying goods imported cheaply from places such as New Zealand and masqueraded as Irish meat to attract consumers. I've spet a year working in a meat packing plant for such chains to know this is a cold truth. This means that Irish products, despite high quality have to undersell both in local markets and international markets all the time. The downsides should be obvious, after all, isnt this the same thing that happened to the linen industry in Ireland 200 years ago?

The only way a truly responsible government, republican or monarchical can rectify this is through a certain degree or economic protectionism. We have to protect what industries we have in order to justify investments and improve exports and the flow of trade in Ireland and, well, to hell with Europe if such is the case, I mean why not? They say to hell with us. This will no doubt offend those who espouse laise faire policies, but my only response is complete hands off approach to the economy is the same as riding a horse without any gear. And to those Libertarians who think I am a devil for approving some interference with markets, well, I'm flattered. Since I never liked you anyway.

And really my good Gentlemen and Ladies of court, what self respecting Nation hasn't broken a few UN regulations and restrictions in self interest? Come now, lets be sensible here.