Northern Ireland: No Dublin Interference

No Dublin Interference ... has been a watchword for Ulster Unionists that rings down the decades since the partition of Ireland in the 1920s.

Brendan Behan spent a summer whitewashing this lighthouse

When the administration of the island was split in two, parallel institutions sprang up on either side of the border.

There would be two seats of government, two systems of justice, two police forces, two electricity boards, even two national soccer teams.

But the picture of two hermetically-sealed states with their backs turned to each other is not entirely true.

Commissioners for Irish Lights

A small number of non-controversial institutions continued to operate quietly on an all-island basis. One of these was the Commissioners for Irish Lights.

Founded under an act of the Irish Parliament sitting in Dublin in 1786, the Commissioners predate the Act of Union. For over 200 years they have operated the network of lighthouses along the Irish coastline, north and south.

The playwright and IRA prisoner Brendan Behan spent a happy summer whitewashing the lighthouse at Donaghadee in County Down while working for the Commissioners.

He even claims to have joined the local Orangemen on their Twelfth of July parade.

All island co-operation

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 revived the idea of all-island co-operation with six north/south bodies, covering areas such as minority languages, food safety and trade and business development.

The bodies come under the direction of the North/South Ministerial Council.

Join Jim Fitzpatrick on BBC One at midday, every Sunday

The role of the Irish government in the monitoring body proposed in the British Irish Joint Declaration has once again aroused accusations of Dublin interference in the affairs of Northern Ireland.

Rebel Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson and his supporters are strongly opposed to the proposals.

The Politics Show

This week on the Politics Show from Northern Ireland, Jim Fitzpatrick looks at ... north southery ... and the latest twists and turns in the continuing crisis within the Ulster Unionist Party.

Join the Politics Show with Jim Fitzpatrick on BBC One at midday, every Sunday.

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