Sovereignty Ireland is a movement for positive social change, which was birthed in 2020. In our Winter 2020/21 issue, our co-editor Alison McEvoy had the chance to interview Enda Donnellan, one of the original voices behind Sovereignty Ireland. Scroll on to read more!
A Sovereign Ireland
Join the dreaming-into-being
by Alison McEvoy
Dream-seeds
Sovereignty Ireland was born in 2020. As the places our footprints are allowed to tread have been reduced, our minds have gone a-wandering. As our world got smaller, some ideas have gotten bigger. Sovereignty Ireland calls us to let the mind roam free amid the ideal of what our lives, our society and our land could look like. It is “a “dream seed: an open invitation for everyone to be heard.”
Bring your belief
Enda Donnellan spoke to me recently about the inspiration behind this movement. Enda is unequivocally devoted, passionate and deeply knowledgeable when it comes to the state of affairs of Ireland. I was shocked at my own lack of knowledge of simple facts about how this country is run. These days I’m in my new-mum bubble, and before that, I was in my peaceful yoga-induced bubble. I had no idea, or even wish to know, what was happening in the political, agricultural, financial etc. spheres of this country. Quite frankly, I found it painful, frustrating and enraging. Instead, to save myself the energy loss, I chose not to hear and not to see. This choosing was based on the belief that I cannot change things. Yes, I can choose to grow my own food, I can choose not to work for big corporations, I can choose organic, home-grown products, I can choose not to take out loans from banks … but can I actually change what’s going on ‘out there’? I thought not.
Speaking with Enda, I was struck by his belief that yes, we can change things. Of course we can. Things were different before. They will be different again in the future. If we reach out, we can be part of that re-moulding. Moreover, Enda suggests, the time is ripe!
“This year is a year of transforming…anything can happen.”
Manifesto
Sovereignty Ireland has created a manifesto, available on their website, detailing how life can look in areas from health and education, to arts and technology. This is “a manifesto for what the world could look like,” says Donnellan, “starting with Ireland … it’s about what a beautiful country would look like, what a healthy society looks like.”
Some of the values which would underpin such a society are: freedom, accountability, loving-kindness, transparency and inclusivity. Individuals, in this world, would be seen as actual human beings with innate gifts and reasons for being here that are much bigger that just propagating the economy by fitting into niches in the workforce. Instead, they are enabled to “find their unique way of serving the world, no matter what that is, and be paid for it. This can involve a period of ‘non-doing’ for someone, in order to let their vision germinate.”
Voice your dreams
Many of us have been time-poor for so long but in 202, that changed. We have time. So much time, it can feel like too much! NOW, then, is the time to ask yourself the question and listen deeply to the answers that emerge: how do I want my country and my life to ‘be’?
Sovereignty Ireland invites all of you: “experts, everyone who has an opinion, to be part of the co-creation and development of this manifesto.”
Let’s do it better
- Only 1% of Irish farms grow vegetables, which is the lowest percentage across all EU member states
- Ireland is now the largest net exporter of pharmaceuticals in the EU
- Total cost of crime per year in Ireland is €7.6 billion
- There are 819,000 people on a waiting list in Ireland
