Bono and the baubles of empire

HISTORICALLY, one of the options open to a major power wishing to absorb or annex a smaller country over a prolonged period of time would have been gradually to integrate the elite and notables of the smaller country into the social and political establishment of the major imperial power.

Could this be what the British are trying to do, among other things, to the Irish State by awarding titles of nobility to selected Irish citizens and leading notables?

The latest Irish notable to receive a British state honour is Bono. He is to be awarded the title Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. There are some on this island who will share with Bono his “flattery” at the award.

But there are many others, myself included, who will be saddened by Bono’s acceptance of such an award, as it should be seen as an attack on the republican and egalitarian ethos of Bunreacht na hÉireann.

Sooner, rather than later, the Irish State must make fundamental decisions regarding its political identity, ethos and future policy directions. Will we continue along the path of nation-building, slowly and painfully trying to assert a distinct post-colonial Irish identity in alliance with the nations of Europe, or do we now instead see ourselves as part of the so-called Anglosphere, realigning ourselves ever more closely towards Great Britain. This is a serious question, and it is being posed because recent Government actions and trends suggest the State is involved in a significant shift away from the type of political identity that has been projected since the establishment of the Republic in 1949.

Until recently, the ethos of the State was nationalist, republican and separatist in terms of putting a distance between ourselves and the British polity. This distance was expressed through symbols and ceremony, as well as through legislation. The 1937 constitution provided the ideological underpinning of this order.

This is an attempt incrementally to deconstruct the State and restore a British dimension. The Government has remained silent on this issue for too long.

Tom Cooper

23 Delaford Lawn

Knocklyon

Dublin 16