The Case of Ireland

Abstract

If Germany illustrates the lessons of unification, then Ireland illustrates the problems of separation, first from the UK and then of Ulster (Northern Ireland) from the rest of Ireland with its apparently perverse desire to remain part of a unification nation (UK). Moreover, national identity as a concept within the UK is not a well-developed one; hence part of the problem the state has in dealing with Ireland or Ulster. Germany had a clear cultural consciousness going back thousands of years, but so did Ireland. However, as we saw in the case of Germany unification was not necessarily popular, nor did it extend to all German states (Austria was deliberately excluded). In addition, unified Germany included non-German territory (primarily Danish and Polish), who would later demand and achieve separation from Germany (after 1919). German unification was also strongly associated with particular groups and interests and responded largely to industrialising, modernising relations and needs; as Durkheim had noted, science education was advanced, whilst religious tradition threatened disunity, which are factors that will also all emerge in Ireland.