Britain's interest in Ireland?

[RedFlag32]

This is always a bit of a contentious one,even among republicans. I was thinking about it today and said id ask you lot what you think. Obviously the interest the British have in Ireland has changed, is it still imperialism? maybe neo imperialism,but what is this in the Irish context? I understand neo imperialism as globalism and world domination by companies and the capitalist class actually becoming smaller but more powerful,is this what is happening in Ireland?

Maybe the interest lies in the outcome,not the occupation,they are probably dying to get out,there fear may be that it will lead to unrest and possible revolution,its a fact that every revolution in Britain has had a knock on effect in Ireland so the opposite is also true. I think its important to debate this topic because if we can understand their intentions we can go about progressing the struggle to combat them.

[dangeresque]

I think a few different interests intersect here-

Capitalism needs stability to attract investment, and the possibility of a British withdraw is seen as opening a can of worms of unforseen consequences, which would scare off capitalists. I'd see British actions in this regard as not exclusively selfish, ie they're also ensuring stability for Euro and American capital;

Britain wants to retain the six for its security apparatus. Some sections of the Brit ruling class are more honest about this than others. Thatcher for example privately disagreed with the letter stating that Britain had no selfish interests in Ireland and the construction of a new Mi5 building is going ahead;

There are a lot of investments and property owned by the brit ruling class in the six which could be lost if they withdrew;

To be forced out of Ireland, or to even allow that popular perception, would be a blow that the British would have a lot of trouble recovering from and could encourage a revolt intenrally. Converselly, there is little popular demand for a withdraw in Britain;

The "carnivals of reaction" in the six benefit the bosses, both green and orange by dividing workers.