DUP MP Gregory Campbell spoke at UCD following controversial comments made to President Catherine Connolly on her first official visit to Northern Ireland.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell spoke at University College Dublin yesterday evening, following controversial comments made to President Catherine Connolly on her first official visit to Northern Ireland.
Yesterday evening, January 5th, the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) hosted a debate on the proposition, “This House Believes that a United Ireland is More Than a Dream” at the FitzGerald Chamber in UCD. Speakers for the proposition included SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, and Aontú member Máiréad Tóibín, who unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election. Speakers against the proposition included economist and commentator Cormac Lucey, economist and son of former Táoiseach Garret FitzGerald, Dr. John FitzGerald, alongside Gregory Campbell, an MP for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The debate was chaired by Senator Michael McDowell. Two students also volunteered to debate for and against the proposition, respectively.
Gregory Campbell has been an MP based in East Derry since 2001, making him Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP.
The DUP MP gained controversy yesterday for comments that he exchanged with President Catherine Connolly on her visit to Co. Derry, during her first official trip to Northern Ireland. Referring to his attendance at the L&H debate later that day, Mr Campbell told the President, "You're in our country. Tonight I'm going to your country." He continued, "We're not leaving the United Kingdom, not now or at any time in the future, so I think it's better if we try and ensure no one rewrites the past as we all build for the future."
Speaking to reporters after the conversation with President Connolly, the unionist MP commented, "I was more than disappointed that in her speech there were numerous references to Derry, but not a single reference to Londonderry.” Mr Campbell also stated that he “warmly welcomed her to this part of the UK,” and that he “always welcomes visitors, especially visitors from other countries.”
Northern Ireland Debate
The L&H hosts a debate on the topic of the North each academic year, commonly referred to as ‘The Northern Ireland Debate’. This year’s debate took place on Thursday the 5th of February, kicking off at 6:30pm in the FitzGerald Chamber.
Speaking at the debate, Mr. Campbell stated, “The question before you people tonight in the republic is not ideological, it’s practical.”
Mr Campbell said the proposition was ‘built on a false premise’ which said ‘there’s no Northern Ireland’ and underlined that Northern Ireland’s existence was protected by the principle of consent.
He went on to argue that the proposition (‘that a united Ireland is more than a dream’) would increase tensions and divisions in Northern Ireland and finished his speech saying that in terms of the progress made in Northern Ireland, the motion proposed would, “hinder, harm it, and destabilise it significantly.”
He emphasised that Northern Ireland was changing and that today one could be Irish, British or Northern Irish or all these without the state expecting conformity, “but not so in the republic.”
On the topic of Stormont, Mr Campbell stated, “It’s not great but it sure beats the alternative.”
He also criticised the Republic of Ireland’s lack of investment in its own defence as “effectively a free ride.”
The Chair of the debate, Senator Michael McDowell, gave a finishing address making the point that Mr Campbell's question of ‘is Northern Ireland going to cease to exist?’ was not addressed by his fellow debaters. (It should be noted that Mr Campbell did not phrase his point as a question but rather as a statement.) Senator McDowell went on to ask what the idea of a unitary Irish state says about ‘the British dimension of Northern Ireland’ and argued that a ‘generation worth of reconciliation and realism’ was still required. He finished by saying that the motion, ‘a united Ireland is more than a dream,’ was a dream “that could easily become a nightmare.”
The proposition passed, meaning that the majority of the audience voted in favour of the proposition, “This House Believes that a United Ireland is More Than a Dream.” However, the proposition was passed only by a small measure, which is in contrast to previous debates hosted by the L&H on reunification - its most recent debate on the topic, taking place last semester, was won overwhelmingly by the pro-reunification side.
In conversation with David McCullagh on RTÉ Radio 1 today, Mr. Campbell stated that he believed he had been ‘courteous’ towards President Connolly, and that she had been, “equally courteous in reply.” He further mentioned the L&H debate, commenting that, “The volume of online bile and hate that I’ve received from some republicans is in contrast to the event last night that I had in Dublin, where there was quite a significant audience, and each of us on either side of the debate, which was in their case about the merits of a united Ireland, and me pointing out how that can never happen.”
Mr. Campbell continued on the programme, “We won’t agree on changing the status of Northern Ireland - we have to make progress, and we agree when we do that, and that’s what we’re about. That’s what I said to the President yesterday, and hopefully we can do that from now on.”