Through feedback and presentations at the various Tangible workshops and leadership seminars around the global Irish world we have collated a Charter for a New Ireland.
A CHARTER FOR A NEW IRELAND
The Irish are a courageously global people. Ireland is both the earth wire for this people and the source of great pride as it took its place among the free nations of the earth, but one small island in the Atlantic can no longer limit our dreams and aspirations. In an era of serial crises, Ireland, beset with institutional and leadership problems, seeks a new way of moving forward. Combining the Irish in Ireland and the Irish Diaspora to create the Global Irish will unleash the power of a people of great art, creativity and energy. Moving beyond one small island frees us from parochialism and allows us to enhance our contribution to the world.
To ignore the Irish outside Ireland is an act of wanton neglect. To view the Diaspora as a source of hand-outs is mutually insulting. To create the structures that guarantee the inclusion and participation of all the Irish in the life of the nation is to create the global Irish Republic. Once created, Irish emigration ceases; from that day, Irish people are always at home and Irish nationalism is replaced by Irish internationalism.
All Irish-born people are entitled to citizenship. The descendants of our emigrants together with immigrants to Ireland and others with a strong affinity to Ireland should be entitled to apply for citizenship of a global Irish Republic. All citizens should have appropriate representation in the houses of Irish government and the opportunity to contribute to developing Ireland’s role in the world. This global Irish Republic should be a non-ethnic, true republic in which we can all participate and take pride; it should not tolerate domination, segregation or sectarianism.
It is now time to find and work with the willing to develop the policies, projects and structures that will breathe life into Global Irish-ness. This will be the development of an active Charter for a New Ireland. Through collaborative leadership we can create a culture of shared excellence throughout the Irish world. We can build a truly dynamic and sustainable economy that benefits all our people and powers the social services necessary for a humane society. No longer content with mediocrity or with the worst of the ways of the past, with passivity, deference and dependence, we will apply the full range of skills, qualities and abilities of all our people to the challenges we face.
Our first tasks are to:
- Describe the appropriate level and form of representation for the Irish abroad
- Clarify our expectations of ourselves as citizens of a global Irish Republic
- Demonstrate an Ireland of Excellence
No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. No man has the right to say to his country thus far thou shalt go and no further. We have never attempted to fix the ne plus ultra to the progress of Ireland’s nationhood, and we never shall.
– Charles Stewart Parnell
(c) Tangible Ireland 2010