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2021: a century of Ireland divided
Under the threat of civil war, the British empire created Northern Ireland — but the next 100 years were anything but peaceful. FRA HUGHES argues the best way to mark the centenary is to hold an all-island referendum on reunification, with no Unionist veto
British soldiers move in to disperse stone throwing loyalists, near Drumcree church, 1999

HOW should we remember the creation of the State of Northern Ireland — Jaegerbombs or petrol bombs? No telegram from the Queen, just £3 million from the Secretary of State to promote Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

Whatever way people intend to mark the occasion, one thing is indisputable: it was a creation of the British government born out of the struggle for Irish independence — and instead of being a new beginning for Ireland and its people, it has tragically kept division, intolerance, sectarianism and racism alive on the island of Ireland.

Ireland is arguably Britain’s first colony. Not an uninhabited land ripe for settler-colonisation but a nation with its own people, culture, language, mores and values.

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