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href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/27/since-when-did-the-irish-words-sinn-fein-mean-pro-empire/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/27/since-when-did-the-irish-words-sinn-fein-mean-pro-empire/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Since When Did the Irish Words “Sinn
Féin” Mean Pro-Empire?</h1>
<span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/aidobr9087/"
rel="nofollow">Aidan O'Brien</a></span></div>
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<p>Brexit has exposed Ireland as much as it has exposed
Britain. In the on and off deal between the UK and the
EU, the future of the Irish border, and therefore the
future of Ireland, is being decided by faceless
bureaucrats in Britain and Brussels. This is yet more
proof – if any more proof was needed – of Ireland’s
dependent status. After the Irish banking disaster, this
is the latest ignominy “Independent Ireland” must bear.</p>
<p>While the subjugation of Ireland by its powerful
neighbors is nothing new – the almost cheerful
acceptance of this current state of affairs by “rebel
Ireland” is something new.</p>
<p>For decades now the Sinn Féin party has been the face
of “rebel Ireland”. It fought British rule in the north.
And openly defied the comprador capitalists in the
south. But today it cheers on Brussels as the latter
decides the fate of Ireland. Today Sinn Féin criticizes
anyone who wishes to exit the European Union. Today –
irony of ironies – Sinn Féin is the Unionist Party par
excellence. In the most smug way, it is now loyal to the
prevailing Empire.</p>
<p>The Irish words “sinn féin” mean “ourselves”, or in
political terms, “ourselves alone” – as opposed to
“ourselves following the orders of others”. So in
contemporary terms, the words “sinn féin” best describe
those arguing for Brexit. While those wishing to remain
in the EU are anything but “sinn féin”. Following this
semantic line, Ireland’s Sinn Féin party, by defending
the EU and mocking Brexit, has turned the meaning of
“sinn féin” on its head.</p>
<p>What explains this un-sinn féin like politics within
Sinn Fèin? In a few words: out of date Irish
nationalism. Rebel Ireland has always been blinded by
Britain. It could never see around Britain. For much of
history this blindness was logical. For centuries
Britain was the rising Empire. And up until recently, it
was the greatest Empire the world had ever seen.</p>
<p>Over the centuries, in its struggle against this
British behemoth, rebel Ireland has sought the
assistance of imperial Spain (1601), imperial France
(1798) and imperial Germany (1916). All this was
justifiable back then because the British juggernaut was
mercilessly crushing Ireland. And right up until the
fall of Margaret Thatcher (1990) Britain continued to
crush Ireland.</p>
<p>This crushing narrative, however, changed dramatically
around the year 2000 and caught the rebel Irish off
guard. As imperial Britain faded away and became
“America’s poodle” – imperial Europe started to flex its
muscles. The crush then was originating in the EU rather
than in the UK. Regardless, the Irish rebels continued
to focus their ire on Britain. They completely ignored
the sinister nature of imperial Europe. The rebel Irish
love of Europe was about to become a love of pain – a
pain they embrace today.</p>
<p>If the Sinn Féin party could’ve taken its eyes off
Britain around 2000 – if it looked at the big European
picture – it would’ve seen the writing on the EU Wall.
The Single European Act (1987), the Maastricht Treaty
(1992), the European Central Bank (1998), the Euro
(1999) and the Lisbon Treaty (2007) all pointed to a
Europe hostile towards social and international justice.</p>
<p>Considering the fact that the “EU” was, from the get
go, a right wing unification of Germany and France – the
imperialist nature of contemporary Europe should not be
news to anyone. But unfortunately it is – even to left
wing Irish rebels. The thought that the EU represents a
more menacing threat to Ireland than the UK, seems to be
a thought too far for Sinn Féin.</p>
<p>Facts, such as the following, don’t seem to register in
the Sinn Féin view of Europe: the EU is a neoliberal
nightmare (the primacy of the market is written into the
EU constitution), the EU is a bank robber (the bailout
of Germany), the EU is a wage robber (the austerity),
the EU hates Africa (fortress Europe), the EU is
anti-Venezuela, anti-Palestine, and anti-Russia (pro
CIA/Zionist/Latin fascism), the EU’s military industrial
complex is determined by EUCOM, etc..</p>
<p>But does Sinn Féin know the meaning of EUCOM? Does
anyone in Europe know the meaning of EUCOM? The United
States European Command and its attack dogs -NATO and
AFRICOM – are embedded deep within the EU.</p>
<p>Its time Irish nationalism updated its understanding of
Europe. Ireland is no longer living in the 17th, 18th or
19th centuries: Europe isn’t automatically the gateway
to freedom. Although the EU is trying to turn the clock
back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Radical
inequality is bolstering Europe’s monarchies,
aristocracies and crusading armies. Does 21st century
Sinn Féin really think that this retrograde monster is
reformable?</p>
<p>Just when Britain is redefining itself for the better,
“rebel” Ireland has the gall to lecture the British on
the goodness of EU backwardness. It is blind to the fact
that Brexit plus Jeremy Corbyn equals the best chance
for “socialism” right now in Europe. Corbyn will thrive
in an independent Britain, whereas in the EU he will be
in a free market straitjacket. All of which begs the
question: does Ireland’s “rebels” really want anything
to do with socialism?</p>
<p>Brexit is exposing the poverty of the rebel Irish
vision. Knee jerk worship of Europe, and knee jerk
hatred of Britain, has today turned the great Irish
rebellion on its head. The Empire has changed its
position. A more sophisticated vision would see that the
imperialism south of today’s Irish border is more
virulent than the traditional kind north of the border.</p>
<p>The Irish border must go. First and foremost, however,
the Irish fight is against foreign rule. And that comes
in many guises. If Brussels gets its way, Ireland is
facing another century or two of foreign rule or just
simply foreign annihilation. On the other hand, if
Brexit gets its way, there’s a real chance that foreign
rule in Ireland may unravel. A weaker EU and a more
inward looking Britain (not forgetting the real
possibility of a more socialist Britain) would give most
meaning to the Irish words “sinn féin”.</p>
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<p> <em><strong>Aidan O’Brien</strong> lives in Dublin,
Ireland.</em> </p>
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