They have never put forward a viable blueprint for how a United Ireland would work. Yet they’ve been calling for it for decades.
Polls have shown that support both sides of the border absolutely plummets if we have to pay more taxes to achieve it. And that’s before we learn how many jobs would be lost in the public sector, how public services are impacted, and how we cope with losing access to our biggest trading point in the rest of the UK.
WiseBelt8935 on
How about no? This is an unstable era; we shouldn’t be giving annexationist ideology the time of day
InformationNew66 on
United Ireland is like United Ukraine (current parts + the occupied parts). It’s a nice dream and hope it happens one day.
EmployeeCautious6314 on
The way things are going there won’t be a UK by 2030. Good.
MarcusZXR on
If it’s what the people wants, it’s what the people wants. They should always be allowed to choose.
ExtensionNo9200 on
Just do it, just have the referendum. Resolve the question once and for all, and good luck to you if you decide to leave the union.
There will always be reasons not to do it, and for certain there will be economic shock; that is unavoidable, but you should fully commit to joining the Republic completely, adopting all their laws and customs, etc.
But if the vote is to remain, then commit to remaining. Don’t kick the can down the road.
Make the referendum conditional: this will only happen once and not again for a minimum 100 years, so make up your minds, and either way, commit.
Brewer6066 on
The status quo is close enough to a united Ireland to keep most republicans happy whilst being far enough away to keep most unionists happy. There is no scenario where we get a united ireland without violence.
happybaby00 on
its good now tho, they get access to the UK AND THE EU without any additional restrictions.
No_Quality_6874 on
I really hope this doesnt stir everything up again.
thereforewhat on
The threshold for holding a referendum isn’t there.
The Northern Ireland secretary has to believe it’s likely a majority of people would vote for a United Ireland. There hasn’t been any polling to suggest this would happen. Most still show that more people support staying in the union.
I’m Irish, but just think it’s okay to say we need to leave Northern Ireland and the hard fought for end to the Troubles alone. It’s a place that allows a blurry middle where people can be Irish or British and see the place as they see fit and I think that’s a useful place to be.
Given the numbers even if a border poll passed they would need to ensure the same situation continued on the other side which likely would be unsatisfactory to most republicans anyway.
Nuthetes on
So, what’s the betting Twitter suddenly gets swarmed with pro-reunification with Ireland bots from Russia and Iran in the next few weeks?
Trowsyrs on
This constitutional change doesn’t have to be like Brexit though. There are options like referendums on preparing for a United Ireland in the next 15 years which could enable softer and more gradual change. Whilst polls show a minority on the “leave tomorrow” question they tend to be a majority on “in the medium term” type questions.
Very different than Scottish polls.
SufficientBreakfast1 on
Honest question, why always unity? Why wouldn’t NI want to be its own separate country?
theaveragemillenial on
Completely for the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland to decide.
Drummk on
It would seem to be in the UK’s interest for Northern Ireland to leave but it’s ultimately their choice.
killmetruck on
The truth that no one in Ireland dares say out loud, even if we (a big part of my family is Irish) are in favour of it: the Republic can’t afford to take Northern Ireland.
The UK purposefully put a lot of public funds into NI to make them dependent on the government so they wouldn’t want to leave. That became systemic and now they can’t afford to not be part of the UK. It is so much so that at one point a non profit investment vehicle was discussed in certain circles where people could donate to fund reunification 50-100 years down the line, because it was obvious that the government would not be able to.
Coffmad1 on
So according to Star Trek, WW3 is due in 2032 then? Just a few years off schedule, clearly covid affected this timeline…
andrew0256 on
I’m not Irish so this is my take from across the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland won’t be going anywhere unless the political system is reformed into a recognisable choice offering. As things stand there is no incentive for loyalists to change anything, and the nationalists have enough latitude to be Irish if they choose.
Icy-Weather8719 on
I think the south needs their own vote too on this. There’s a special type of scumbags up there who hate us.
ohmyblahblah on
Ok michelle give us a detailed plan for what happens if people vote for a change
Bartellomio on
Anyone who thinks a vote for Irish unification would be a good idea hasn’t thought about it for more than ten seconds.
Gemini_2261 on
A couple of weeks ago John O’Dowd was talking about multi-year budget plans for the Stormont Executive. Sinn Fein have no genuine strategy for getting the Brits out or a united Ireland.
TribalTommy on
Its pointless now that Data’s prediction can’t come true.
arcadefirenewcastle on
You’ve got to present something concrete to vote for, the problem of a ‘yes’ ‘no’ where on side can mean anything people imagine was shown as mental with brexit. I live in NI, I’m not opposed to a united ireland, but unless I know what I’m actually voting for from a more detailed point of view, I’d vote against it.
24 Comments
They have never put forward a viable blueprint for how a United Ireland would work. Yet they’ve been calling for it for decades.
Polls have shown that support both sides of the border absolutely plummets if we have to pay more taxes to achieve it. And that’s before we learn how many jobs would be lost in the public sector, how public services are impacted, and how we cope with losing access to our biggest trading point in the rest of the UK.
How about no? This is an unstable era; we shouldn’t be giving annexationist ideology the time of day
United Ireland is like United Ukraine (current parts + the occupied parts). It’s a nice dream and hope it happens one day.
The way things are going there won’t be a UK by 2030. Good.
If it’s what the people wants, it’s what the people wants. They should always be allowed to choose.
Just do it, just have the referendum. Resolve the question once and for all, and good luck to you if you decide to leave the union.
There will always be reasons not to do it, and for certain there will be economic shock; that is unavoidable, but you should fully commit to joining the Republic completely, adopting all their laws and customs, etc.
But if the vote is to remain, then commit to remaining. Don’t kick the can down the road.
Make the referendum conditional: this will only happen once and not again for a minimum 100 years, so make up your minds, and either way, commit.
The status quo is close enough to a united Ireland to keep most republicans happy whilst being far enough away to keep most unionists happy. There is no scenario where we get a united ireland without violence.
its good now tho, they get access to the UK AND THE EU without any additional restrictions.
I really hope this doesnt stir everything up again.
The threshold for holding a referendum isn’t there.
The Northern Ireland secretary has to believe it’s likely a majority of people would vote for a United Ireland. There hasn’t been any polling to suggest this would happen. Most still show that more people support staying in the union.
I’m Irish, but just think it’s okay to say we need to leave Northern Ireland and the hard fought for end to the Troubles alone. It’s a place that allows a blurry middle where people can be Irish or British and see the place as they see fit and I think that’s a useful place to be.
Given the numbers even if a border poll passed they would need to ensure the same situation continued on the other side which likely would be unsatisfactory to most republicans anyway.
So, what’s the betting Twitter suddenly gets swarmed with pro-reunification with Ireland bots from Russia and Iran in the next few weeks?
This constitutional change doesn’t have to be like Brexit though. There are options like referendums on preparing for a United Ireland in the next 15 years which could enable softer and more gradual change. Whilst polls show a minority on the “leave tomorrow” question they tend to be a majority on “in the medium term” type questions.
Very different than Scottish polls.
Honest question, why always unity? Why wouldn’t NI want to be its own separate country?
Completely for the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland to decide.
It would seem to be in the UK’s interest for Northern Ireland to leave but it’s ultimately their choice.
The truth that no one in Ireland dares say out loud, even if we (a big part of my family is Irish) are in favour of it: the Republic can’t afford to take Northern Ireland.
The UK purposefully put a lot of public funds into NI to make them dependent on the government so they wouldn’t want to leave. That became systemic and now they can’t afford to not be part of the UK. It is so much so that at one point a non profit investment vehicle was discussed in certain circles where people could donate to fund reunification 50-100 years down the line, because it was obvious that the government would not be able to.
So according to Star Trek, WW3 is due in 2032 then? Just a few years off schedule, clearly covid affected this timeline…
I’m not Irish so this is my take from across the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland won’t be going anywhere unless the political system is reformed into a recognisable choice offering. As things stand there is no incentive for loyalists to change anything, and the nationalists have enough latitude to be Irish if they choose.
I think the south needs their own vote too on this. There’s a special type of scumbags up there who hate us.
Ok michelle give us a detailed plan for what happens if people vote for a change
Anyone who thinks a vote for Irish unification would be a good idea hasn’t thought about it for more than ten seconds.
A couple of weeks ago John O’Dowd was talking about multi-year budget plans for the Stormont Executive. Sinn Fein have no genuine strategy for getting the Brits out or a united Ireland.
Its pointless now that Data’s prediction can’t come true.
You’ve got to present something concrete to vote for, the problem of a ‘yes’ ‘no’ where on side can mean anything people imagine was shown as mental with brexit. I live in NI, I’m not opposed to a united ireland, but unless I know what I’m actually voting for from a more detailed point of view, I’d vote against it.