Dismal Eurovision Song Contest result shows the UK’s standing in the world

Trust is at the root of successful and harmonious relationships, including those between nations. It is quite obvious to me, and I am sure many like-minded people, that the Eurovision Song Contest result, however trivial it might appear to an uninformed bystander, is a significant marker in where trust for the UK Government currently stands within the European nations and I’m sure in the rest of the world.

It is depressing that – despite these implications, and Scotland wanting no part of it – all the indicators are that this distrusted UK Government, driven by a resurgent English nationalism (the Tories riding high in current opinion polls), is hell-bent on pursuing its extreme policies in overriding the devolved Scottish Government and denying the Scottish people their sovereign right to a second independence referendum.

READ MORE: Stephen Paton: A Scottish entry to Eurovision would be a powerful symbol of independence

An argument often made by the Unionists and indyref2 opponents is that we don’t want to open up the wounds and divisions of the past and create acrimony and angst amongst family and friends, and that we should concentrate only on recovering from the Covid pandemic and all that entails. Despite reassurances from indyref2 proponents, the Unionist iterations remain. The irony surely is that the Unionists refuse to accept that they themselves created the “divisions of the past”, and continue to create them through Brexit and a failure to accept that the United Kingdom is doomed!

This generation – and perpetuation of “division, acrimony and angst” claimed by the Unionists – reminds me of a personal family anecdote I can recall relating to a previous Eurovision Song Contest back in 1970 that exemplifies the nuanced threads of our divided UK society for which the English (British) Establishment are ultimately responsible.

It was back in 1970. In those days in Belfast it was a big event, so traditionally the family would ceremoniously huddle around the telly; my mother, a fervent Unionist, in charge as cheerleader for the UK entry. That year’s song was sung by Mary Hopkin, an English girl riding high in the charts (it was a must if you were a “Prod” in those days to support the British entry). I myself thought it strange we should not be shouting for the Irish entry, All Kinds of Everything sung by Dana, a pretty 18-year-old unknown schoolgirl! After all, we were all Irish.

READ MORE: Scotland's Eurovision entries couldn’t do any worse than nil points

Dana won the contest and I felt elated; I had secretly wanted her to win, and in my rebellious way savoured my mother’s disgruntlement at the result. I could understand her stance on supporting the UK entry, but having for a long time wrestled with this British/Irish/Northern Irish identity issue myself since early schooldays, I felt uneasy. Because at 20 years of age and now studying at Edinburgh University surrounded by “Jocks”, I felt distinctly and proudly Irish, and that’s how my new friends saw me, a “Paddy”! My mother and I were obviously divided and her sense of British identity overrode her true logical identity: she rejected her natural Irish identity whereas I passionately embraced it.

Identity politics is undoubtedly at the heart of the division in our society in the UK, and current polls show clearly that the swing has been away from “Britishness” towards a distinct Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English identity. Moreover with the upsurge in an overt English nationalism dominating the direction of Westminster policy and a conflation of Britain (UK) with England, it is hard to see these divisions closing. Over-lordship of the minorities is England’s apparent goal.

A proper understanding of the true facts of history must be exposed and addressed in the Scottish independence campaign rather than being swept under the carpet. The reality is that the bonds that tied the four nations together such as fighting wars, the opportunism of the British Empire, free trade, exceptionalism and above all trust, have gradually but definitively gone and the “One Nation” UK that the Unionists are trying to resuscitate is dead!

In all of this I am reminded of the famous quote from Henri Bergson, the philosopher, when he said: “Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory world view grafted upon them from birth through social conditioning. They sense that something is amiss and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a sense of reality others are oblivious to. And so begins their journey of awakening. Each step of the way is taken by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance”.

This quotation, which I discovered very recently, has resonated with me ever since; I can relate to it closely for it serves to draw meaning to my journey in life with the experiences of a family division created by an English (later British) Establishment which from its inception deliberately practised a divide-and-rule policy in Northern Ireland to maintain a vestige of the Protestant Colonial British Empire in Ireland.

Fortunately 1970 was a crossroads making me finally assert my identity. Perhaps for me, being prepared to stand alone in supporting the Irish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970, contrary to the accepted protocol my mother expected, was my “something is amiss” moment; my move from outside my cosy Northern Irish bubble to Scotland the spur that drove me to pursue “choosing knowledge” and a more proactive approach to politics, and seek to “remove the veils of ignorance” my mother was shrouded by.

Perhaps Mr Bergin has a lesson for all of us!

Dave Finlay
Falkirk