By Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw

Mr. Frank Sheridan, an information officer at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, D.C., was interviewed by Monsignor Noel Burtenshaw for this St. Patrick’s Day issue of The Georgia Bulletin, on the political and economic state of Ireland today. Mr. Sheridan was born in Co. Longford in Ireland. He is married and the father of two children.

Msgr. B.: This is the 60^th year of Irish Independence. What kind of economic progress has been made since 1921?

Mr. Sheridan: The Ireland of 1921 and the Ireland of 1981 are two completely different pictures. When the nation began, the economy was in shambles. We are an agricultural nation and at the same time in need of foreign investment for our industrial projects. Good programs of foreign investment really did not begin until the sixties. Sean Lemass, then Prime Minister, set up his program of industrial incentives. In the last five years U.S. companies have brought $3.6 billion into Irish industrial projects.

Then, of course, a huge change took place in Ireland in 1973. We entered the European Common Market. This was a key boost for our agriculture and for industries, and also for expanding programs, like our fisheries. We have had to modernize, become more efficient to properly compete and also to be prepared for the future as this European Community grows.

B: What is the population of Ireland?

S: In the Republic (26 counties) it is 3.4 million. Northern Ireland (6 counties) has about another 1.6 million. In total then about 5 million today.

However it should be noted that Ireland has the fastest growing population in Europe today and most encouraging of all, one half of Ireland’s population is under 25 years old.

B: What percentage of the working force is unemployed?

S: Eleven percent, that is over 100,000. Ireland, like most of Europe, like most of the world, is suffering from the awful struggle with inflation. Oil prices are the problem, they are simply causing a world recession. But our present unemployment figures are previously unprecedented. Very high indeed.

B: What is the status of emigration?

S: Happily we can say it is zero. There is almost no emigration. In fact many who had left have returned. The statistics are as follows, 100,00 men and women who had gone to other nations since 1940, have now returned to live in Ireland. The reasons are a better economy at home, more opportunity and a real desire by Irishmen and women to be a part of our new nation. We are “home-birds” you know. Despite the rain, we love to be at home!

B: Has Ireland today a good educational system?

S: It compares well to the system in the U.S. The standard is high. Secondary education is now free. And over 10 per cent of those graduating from high school go to the University or the equivalent – for example teachers’ colleges. What is most impressive is the fact that we have a literacy rate that is 98 per cent.

B: Has Ireland got a system of socialized medicine, education and welfare equivalent to that of Great Britain?

S: The Irish system is unique. It is somewhere between the British and the U.S. systems. It offers a piece of both to our people. All workers and employers must pay into the system – then social services are provided, if there is need. We have good senior-citizen programs and pensions and good hospitalization and medical care for the low income. But those who are not in need of the service do not benefit.

B: Is Ireland a nation at war?

S: No. We are not at war. There is an “intercommunal conflict.” In three quarters of the country, life goes on as normal. But most Irish people of every faith would like to see this conflict solved. The trouble, for the most part, is confined to the tiny northeast section called Ulster. Ireland by the way, north and south, is an island only 300 miles long by one hundred wide. (The whole nation is smaller than the State of Georgia.)

B: The position of Britain on the problem of Northern Ireland is this. When the population of Northern Ireland votes to be united with the rest of the island, it will take place. Is that your position?

S: We want unity of the entire nation. But we want it to take place peacefully. There has to be a consensus among all of the people of Northern Ireland before that unity can take place. Partition did take place. But there are one million Protestants in Northern Ireland who give loyalty to Britain and we must be realistic about that. If a united Ireland is to take place then it must take place by consent.

B: What is the position of the Irish Government on the IRA (Irish Republican Army)?

S: The official position is this. The IRA has done more to bankrupt the notion of Irish unity than any other force in our recent history. Most of the victims of their campaign of violence have been their fellow citizens. They have a mandate from no one. It can be demonstrated that whenever a member of the IRA has stood for an elective office in Ireland, he or she has received two percent or less of the vote. The IRA is an organization that has no support with the Irish people.

For the most part, the IRA receives the financial support it needs for arms here in the U.S. The Irish Northern Aid Committee is the front in the U.S. that supplies funds for arms to this violent group. Nor-Aid, as it is called, pretends to help victims of violence; it, in fact, helps men of violence. No later than July 1980, the Prime Minister Mr. Charles Haughey issued a statement requesting that no American give support to Nor-Aid, financial or moral.

The Republic of Ireland is spending vast amounts on security in an attempt to clamp down on terrorism. We also have invoked an Offenses Against the State Act. Terrorists arrested under these laws do receive a trial, but without a jury. About 300 terrorists are imprisoned in the Republic. Approximately 2500 are imprisoned in Northern Ireland.

B: Is the Irish Government continuing to dialogue with the British Government on solutions to the conflict?

S: There is constant official dialogue. There has even been a Summit Meeting. In fact both nations have agreed to raise the exchanges to a “higher plane.” They agreed, when Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, and Charles Haughey, the Irish Prime Minister recently met to deal with British and Irish problem in totality. There would be a veto of absolutely nothing. It would not be just a discussion of Northern Ireland but the relationship of all Ireland and all of Britain. Mr. Haughey made it clear “nothing is above negotiation.”

B: Is the Irish problem one of religion?

S: Religion plays a role. The same role that maybe race or color plays in the problems of the U.S. It must be said that there is a long history of non-toleration of each other’s beliefs. There was community segregation practiced and there is still segregation in the school system – one system for Catholics and another for Protestants. But there is more to it. Economics plays a part and, of course, so does politics. And the continuous violence embitters. Since the Independence of the Republic in 1921, there has been grievous violence in Northern Ireland every 10 years. And those outbursts tend to poison another generation. The vicious circle continues. We need greater dialogue between the two communities.

B: As a member of the European Common Market, where does Ireland’s future lie?

S: The future has been set. We are seeking a strong economic base that will give opportunity and full employment to our people. The Common Market will not exactly be a United States of Europe, but a similar theme is being developed by the 10 participating nations. For example, we speak with one voice on the U.N. and the Middle East. But no surrender of sovereignty or language is seen. A common passport is being negotiated and big changes in European relationship will take place. Ireland will have a part in it all.

B: How would you describe modern Ireland today?

S: We have a pleasant dilemma on our hands. We are trying to move ahead and at the same time retain the traditions of our past. We hope we are still a nation of beautiful scenery to be sought, friendliness to be enjoyed and relaxed banter and conversation to be experienced. Tourism is an essential part of our economy, although the harsh summer last year along with our spiraling inflation rate of 18 percent, did not help us. But we know better days are ahead. The Irish have the will to survive and a will to maintain the strong moral fiber that they pass along to each successive generation.