Catalan leaders jailed: Resolution now more difficult

One of the half-forgotten, or at least half-ignored, truths of our history is that those who took part in the 1916 Rising, especially in Dublin, were excoriated by the majority of their fellow citizens until British authorities decided to execute them, making them martyrs for their cause.

That response was what some of the Rising’s leaders, especially Pádraig Pearse, had anticipated. Those executions were the rock on which British rule in southern Ireland sundered.

Any comparison between the fate of the 1916 rebels and yesterday’s decision by Spain’s supreme court to sentence nine separatist leaders from Catalonia to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition during a failed independence bid seems apt, if slightly disproportionate.

Peaceful protests immediately followed the ruling reinvigorating Catalonia’s separatists. “Nine years in prison won’t end my optimism. Catalonia will... move forward determinedly from non-violence to freedom,” said Jordi Sànchez, who was sentenced to nine years in jail.

As our difficulties over Brexit, hard borders and backstops show, secession always carries unexpected difficulties. In a Spanish context, and especially from a Catalonian perspective, yesterday’s rulings will exacerbate those difficulties.

Despite that, it is hard not to think that Catalonia’s, Spain’s and Europe’s interests are best served by unity, even if huge reforms are needed to make that unity real.