Editing David Norris (politician) (section)

===Irish nationalism===
A 2010 article in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' claimed that Norris had, on more than one occasion, denounced the leaders of the 1916 [[Easter Rising]] as "[[terrorism|terrorists]]".<ref name="sundaytimes">{{Cite news |last=O Neill |first=Sean |last2=Hamilton |first2=Fiona |date=28 February 2010 |title=Profile: David Norris |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/profile-david-norris-7z2hftcznft |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=London |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250428174822/https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/profile-david-norris-7z2hftcznft |archive-date=28 April 2025 |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> In May 2011, Norris denied that article's claim also, saying "That's not true, it's a slur, and it's not fair on me. Terrorists are people who use civilian casualties to advance a political end. The men of 1916 produced the [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|proclamation]], addressed equally – in an age when women didn't have the vote – to 'Irishmen and Irishwomen', that's wonderful!".<ref name="Independent 22 May">{{Cite news |last=Jackson, Joe |date=22 May 2011 |title=All my life, I have fought against being labelled and against stigma |url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/all-my-life-i-have-fought-against-being-labelled-and-against-stigma-2654239.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218002000/http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/all-my-life-i-have-fought-against-being-labelled-and-against-stigma-2654239.html |archive-date=18 February 2013 |access-date=24 May 2011 |work=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]}}</ref> The newspaper printed a retraction.

In 2014, around the centenary of the passing of the [[Government of Ireland Act 1914]], Norris defended [[John Bruton]]'s analysis of the Easter Rising. Norris concurred with Bruton in the belief that the "main" tradition of nationalism in Ireland is non-violence, citing the methods and impact of [[Daniel O'Connell]], [[Charles Stewart Parnell]] and [[John Redmond]].<ref>{{cite news |last=MacGuill |first=Dan |date=9 September 2014 |title=David Norris calls 1916 rebels 'traitors to their own cause' |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/david-norris-1916-rising-traitors-1679082-Sep2014/ |work=[[TheJournal.ie]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> Furthermore, Norris stated that [[WB Yeats]]' impression of the leaders of the Easter Rising was correct; "if one looks at 1916, I believe Yeats was correct in his first impression of some of these people when he said that they were vainglorious. Indeed, they were. They were afraid that history would write them out. They were seen by the British as traitors to the empire but they were traitors to their own cause because [[Eoin MacNeill]], the commander-in-chief, had cancelled the Rising and yet, they ignored that." Norris' use of "traitors to their own cause" caused significant controversy.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Regan |first=Michael |date=18 September 2014 |title=David Norris rebuked for calling 1916 leaders ‘traitors’ |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/david-norris-rebuked-for-calling-1916-leaders-traitors-1.1933909 |work=[[Irish Times]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> 

In 2010, Norris spoke in favour of the Republic of Ireland rejoining the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], which it left when it became a republic in 1949. He dismissed the position of the British monarch as [[Head of the Commonwealth]] as "largely titular".<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 May 2010 |title=Republic of Ireland should rejoin Commonwealth, says senator |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland-should-rejoin-commonwealth-says-senator-28537184.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322203723/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland-should-rejoin-commonwealth-says-senator-28537184.html |archive-date=22 March 2017 |access-date=22 March 2017 |work=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref>