Magnificent Micronations: Part III - Forvik

What sort of man would unilaterally declare the small island of Forvik in the Shetlands, far to the north of Scotland,  independent of the United Kingdom, demand British Crown Dependency for his new domain, and then begin trying to create a micro-treasury by inviting oil and gas companies to explore his miniscule territorial waters? A man who comes from Cunningsburgh, that's who (cue Blackadder jokes now)!

In 2008, Stuart Hill, a Shetland resident, declared Forvik independent on the basis that in 1469 the island was pawned by Christian I of Denmark/Norway to King James III of Scotland, as collateral for a loan to help pay Christian's daughter's dowry. As the loan was never repaid (according to Hill) Forvik remains in constitutional limbo - British, but not in the United Kingdom, similar in status to the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

Pretty crazy, eh? Oh, but I haven't told you how Hill, an Englishman, came to be in the Shetlands in the first place...

He was shipwrecked.

While trying to circumnavigate Britain in his converted row-boat "Maximum Exposure".

Earning himself the nickname "Captain Calamity".

Having decided that, possibly, a life on the ocean wave was not for him, Hill settled on the Shetlands. In 2008, Hill claims, he was gifted the island by Shetland native Marc King (who possibly told Hill it was an "unsinkable row-boat"). However, King denies this, claiming he actually agreed to sell the island to Hill, who never paid, meaning King is rightful owner and sovereign of Forvik. That said, I suspect the weight of legal argument is with Hill, who possesses a document granting him the island, signed by King with that most august of imprimaturs - a smiley face.

Having sailed from a far away land to lay claim to his rightful domain, Hill now understandably seeks to make good on his hard work. There is the ubiquitous "buy citizenship in a micronation" offer, now with a recession-busting 90% discount - tell your friends! More intriguing is Hill's efforts to get “interested parties able to enter into serious negotiations” to invest in building an oil rig off Forvik.

As Hill notes "the piece of seabed that I am claiming is certainly large enough to put an oil rig on"; sadly not mentioning whether there is actually any oil under the seabed. That said, this guy survived a shipwreck, managed to have someone gift him an island, and is now thumbing his nose at the UK government. You just know he is going to luck-out! Buy your citizenship now at this low, low price!

A little bit of India in Cahersiveen - it's all about optics, people!

As I discussed below, some very nerdy myths have been aired in relation to Defence and Security on a thread over at Politics.ie. A real beaut has been the claim that, due to an administrative oversight by some bespectacled bureaucrats in Britain, during the 19th century the plans for a Royal Irish Constabulary police barracks were mixed up with those destined for a militia fort in India. The result, according to the myth, stands today in the town of Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry. As you can see above, (h/t to saintinexile on flickr for the image) it is somewhat out of place.

Alas, this myth is probably not true, unless the Brits repeated the same mistake throughout Ireland in towns such as Ballyduff in Co. Waterford (below right), where the station is apparently still in use today by our own boys in blue, the Garda Siochana (isn't it great, lads, how the state invests in your work at least once a century?).

In fact, it is to the eternal shame of Ireland's erstwhile colonisers that these stations were not a product of bureaucratic oversight, but rather a deliberate effort to build defensive structures (in what was, after all, a part of the United Kingdom) throughout the latter half of the 19th century (Cahersiveen was built in 1875, and Ballyduff in 1870). A good summary of the defensive features of these barracks is found at Building of Ireland, and all I can say is that these are not the police stations you build in a country you respect, or among people who you view as equals. True, these buildings were a direct response to the Fenian Rising, but that rebellion was most remarkable for the degree of military inability displayed by the participants. Fortress style stations that would not have seemed out of place on the Khyber Pass were probably overkill, one must admit.

Surprisingly enough, by the dawn of the twentieth century many Irish people did not entirely trust the RIC, and consequently (and somewhat unfairly) it became one of the first targets for attack during the War of Independence. What's more, very quickly the RIC members themselves (the vast bulk of whom were Irish Catholics) were quickly torn between competing loyalties in the increasingly "us vs them" atmosphere of the conflict, leading to low morale and desertions. Perhaps if Britain had put more effort in to developing an effective and fair police service during the 19th century, rather than providing a Constabulary with the tools for an occupation that (let's face it) had already been more or less successfully completed, we might still be in the Union, or at least our exit may have been less bloody.

Obviously, those of you in Iraq/Afghanistan, or with recent experience of those theatres, already know how much optics matter. But if you ever have any doubts, be sure to speak up when your superiors suggest that Operation Evangelical Storm or Mullah's Bewilderment are good names for your upcoming offensive. Otherwise, 100 years from now, a young man in Kabul might be wondering "Why does that madrassah look so much like an American Burger King?".

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming...

...with a lower corporation tax rate for Northern Ireland. That loud banging you can hear is the last nail being hammered into the coffin of the Republic's economy. Currently, the North has the same rate as the rest of the UK, i.e. 28%, versus the Republic's 12.5%. I think it's safe to assume that the Stormont administration will push for a rate as close to the Republic's as possible, and London will give it to them, as hopefully it will get private sector business in Northern Ireland moving and reduce the almighty strain the 6 counties place on the national purse.

So then, let's see, we will have two economies competing with one another, with comparable corporation tax rates, one with a minimum wage of £5.80 per hour , the other with a minimum wage of €8.65 per hour (£7.20). Plus, energy is cheaper in the North.

Hm, I wonder who will win?