Seeing The Other Side's Point of view

There have been several projects in the last few years which have brought teenagers from the main two communities in N.Ireland together to discuss their differing political beliefs.

One of the more interesting comments made by some of the participants was that ,while they did not agree with, or accept, the political beliefs and aspirations of people from the other community, they now understood them better than they did before.
(The implication of this is that the people in the each of the two main communities in N.Ireland do not really understand the viewpoint of the people in the other community.)


What I will try to do here is to try to convey what an enforced union with Britain means for Nationalists in N.Ireland and what an enforced union with the Republic of Ireland would mean for Unionists in N.Ireland by outlining the present situation and imagining several others.(If anyone feels I am misrepresenting the views of the people in either of the two main communities I would be glad of any feedback.)


The scenarios outlined for Britain and the US are included to try to help people there understand the opposition of Unionists to a United Ireland and the opposition of Nationalists to the Union with Britain .

What people are asked to do is set aside their own political beliefs temporarily and "step into the shoes" of people in the two main communities. (In some cases there are no exact parallels with the situation in N.Ireland)

Imagine the following four scenarios (or consider one and imagine the others):-

A
a)N.Ireland is governed from London;
b)British troops are on the streets;
c)The police are a British police force;
d)The police are 95% protestant;
e)N.Ireland has been maintained or en-forced as part of the British State for the last 75+ years;
f)No constitutional recognition is given to the non-British(Nationalist Irish-) identity of the Nationalist people;
g)The Nationalist people have been seeking constitutional recognition of their identity for the past 75+ years.

B
a)N.Ireland is governed from Dublin;
b)Irish troops are on the streets;
c)The police are a branch of the Garda Siochana;
d)The police are 95% Catholic;
e)N.Ireland has been maintained or enforced as part of a 32-county Republic for the last 75+ years;
f)No constitutional recognition is given to the non-Nationalist Irish(British) identity of the Unionist people;
g)The Unionist people have been seeking constitutional recognition of their identity for the past 75+ years.

C
a)Six counties/shires (or perhaps all of Britain) are ruled from Berlin;
b)German troops are on the streets;
c/d)The police are a branch of the German BundesPolizei and 95% consists of people of German origin who consider themselves German;
e)Britain/six of its counties has been enforced as part of a Greater Germany for the past 75+ years;
f)No constitutional recognition is given to the British identity of the people not of German descent;
g)The British people not of German descent in the region have been seeking constitutional recognition of their identity for the past 75+ years.

D
a)Six States/(or perhaps all of the US) are ruled from Moscow;
b)Russian troops are on the streets;
c/d)The police are a branch of the Russian police and 95% consists of people of Russian origin who consider themselves Russian;
e)These six States(or all of the US) have been enforced as part of a greater Soviet Union for the past 75+ years;
g)The American people not of Russian descent in the region have been seeking constitutional recognition of their identity for the last 75+ years.


It is hoped that the more people understand the experiences and perceptions of the people in the two main communities in N.Ireland the more they will come to see the necessity of finding a just peaceful settlement that recognizes and accepts both traditions.

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Note: All pf these Cothrom pages that relate to Northern Ireland were originally created at the end of the '90's/early 00's.