If I was Sinn Fein I would tweet Live Long and Prosper on Easter Monday.
It is the only logical thing to do really considering that April 5th is Star Trek day known as First Contact Day.
In the film First Contact, the crew of the Enterprise watch and help "Make it so" as the fictional aliens the Vulcans, known for their love of logic, make first contact with Earth on April 5th 2063.
While Star Trek has helped to inspire engineers to give us many new technologies such as mobile phones and tablets, there is a scene where Sir Patrick Steward who played Captain Jean Luc Picard talks about Ireland being unified in the year 2024 that I think could inspire everyone in the Federation to look forward to the future. Well fans of the show and everyone left in the European Union.
There are many advantages to unification which were probably unimaginable when "The High Ground" episode aired in January 1990 and it was a very forward-thinking comment considering that the Berlin Wall had only come down a few weeks earlier in November 1989.
The episode focuses on violent rebellion which was sadly probably seen as the only route to a united Ireland at the start of the 1990s.
By the end of the 90s, peace was possible and borders started to come down just like they had in Berlin, a decade earlier. It has been three decades since Star Trek filmed that episode but as fans focus on First Contact Day on Easter Monday which was set in the year 2063, shouldn't we look to the future, a little closer to home rather than waiting for intelligent life to make first contact.
It is only logical really.
Just like in the movie First Contact, I am sure Enterprise will play a big part in any decisions made about a United Ireland if Brexit negatively affects trade and enterprise.
Personally, I think the financial costs of unification are worth paying even though I am sure many Germans found unification costly when East met West, and there will be many problems to unifying the island but I believe Brexit will have to force the discussion of European reunification with Northern Ireland, sooner or later.
Could actor Colm Meaney ever imagine what the future would hold for Northern Ireland from his time playing Chief Miles OBrien on Star Trek to his time playing Martin McGuinness in the 2016 film The Journey?
It has been quite a journey when you imagine how Sinn Fein was viewed in the early 1990s to Martin McGuinness running for president of Ireland in 2011, power-sharing with Rev Ian Paisley as First Minister, and the political party's success in the last election. I remember the time when Irish television couldnt even broadcast anything to do with that political party in the 1990s.
Celebrating 2063 is as far fetched as talking about a United Ireland in 2024 was in the late 80s as the Berlin Wall was coming down so shouldn't Sinn Fein and others tweet the Vulcan phrase, "Live Long and Prosper" and embrace the future on Easter Monday or would that be completely illogical.
Easter is very significant in Ireland as the Easter Rising of 1916 sowed the seeds for an Irish Free State, and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 signalled peace in Northern Ireland but maybe people should question the future of the Good Friday Agreement, and if it is time to question #Time4Unity
I hope you like the little Easter egg Star Trek clip from an episode that was not aired in Ireland or the UK when The Next Generation was on tv over 30 years ago.
In the words of Star Trek fan, Martin Luther King Junior, "I have a dream" but in the words of Sir Patrick Steward, "Make it so."
Just think of all the Trekkies you would make happy with a single tweet, especially if Star Trek actor Colm Meaney was pictured in the tweet, and more importantly, get everyone thinking about the next generation on #FirstContactDay.
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