In recent years, the Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, has been seen as a pivotal moment in the history of Northern Ireland’s troubled past. It brought an end to years of bloodshed and violence, and paved the way for a new era of peace and prosperity. However, not everyone is happy with the agreement, and some believe that it has actually pushed the elusive goal of a united Ireland further away. One vocal critic of the agreement is a veteran Cork republican, who argues that the agreement has failed to deliver on its promises, and has instead created more division and strife in the region. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at this controversial view, and explore some of the reasons why some republicans feel that the Belfast Agreement has been a failure.
Donal Varian, a veteran republican activist, has voiced his belief that the Belfast Agreement, signed in 1998, has offered no progress towards a united Ireland. Varian currently resides in Midleton in east Cork, and recently visited the Republican Plot to view the names of the 14 IRA volunteers who were killed in the Clonmult Ambush by Crown Forces in 1921. Varian has a personal history of involvement with Ireland’s fight for freedom, including family members who took part in the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 and again in the War of Independence.
Varian describes the Good Friday Agreement as a “means of doing away with republicanism”. The agreement, he believes, recognised the northern state and copper-fastened partition, pushing the prospect of a united Ireland further away than ever before. Sinn Féin’s argument for the agreement was, for Varian, a step towards becoming part of the Free State system. Varian went as far as saying that Adams had achieved what nobody had accomplished before, as he stripped the IRA of its weapons, and he stripped the republican movement of the youth coming in when he disbanded Fianna Eireann which would have been a stepping stone for republicans from youth to adulthood. He believes that the Good Friday Agreement has failed republicans, as no one gave up anything other than the republican movement itself, unionists’ power remained intact, and the peace process has failed to bring the prospect of a united Ireland any closer.
When Northern Ireland’s relatively peaceful 20-year period is mentioned, compared to 30 years of violence before the agreement was signed, Varian responds by saying that “Any life that is saved is good but if we had a united Ireland and we didn’t have the British occupation, then we wouldn’t have violence”. Varian believes that violence arose as a consequence of the resurrection of the Irish people searching for their freedom. Varian believes that the British security forces have been operating in the North, albeit not in the same overt way as at the height of the Troubles. He cites the harassment of republicans by the PSNI as proof that nothing has changed for republicans in the North.
Whilst he believes that he will not live to see a united Ireland, Varian believes that ideally everyone within a united Ireland should be treated equally. If British people living in the North wish to remain part of the UK, Varian believes that they can make their choice, but should not be in Ireland and rule the roost. “If he wants to move on, you can help him but other than that, he’s equal to me,” says Varian.
