Mary-Lou "United Ireland is within touching distance"

arbitron said:
Surely the UK and EU would contribute significantly toward the costs?
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Why?
We're one of the richest countries in the world and most of our EU partners resent our Corporation Tax policies. The UK is, on a per capita basis, significantly poorer than us.
 
If reunification happens then it's in the interests of all neighbours and trading partners that the new Ireland is both politically and economically stable and successful. In the same way that a hard Brexit would have been bad for Ireland and much of the EU.

The annual UK subvention to NI is estimated at between £3bn and £10bn depending on how it's calculated. A future UK government may well consider paying a portion of that for a defined period to get NI off the books long term.

Or maybe they would make it as difficult as possible to deter Scotland from breaking free...
 
arbitron said:
If reunification happens then it's in the interests of all neighbours and trading partners that the new Ireland is both politically and economically stable and successful.
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It'll be unification rather than reunification since Ireland was never a single country prior to being colonised by the Anglo-Normans.
Prior to that we were quite culturally united and used the same legal system which is more than can be said for almost any other place which is now a country.
 
Purple said:
Do people still want a united Ireland
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It is heading for the marching season, time of year when a young Loyalist thoughts turn to rioting and mayham.

They probably have withdrawal symptoms after the last few years have been quiet
 
What is 'touching distance?'...it's just more political soundbites to distance from the extremists who will point to SF administering British rule in Ireland.
On the otherhand, it is good that the largest Republican party on the island is now wedded to the democratic path as per the GFA.

I think a UI is closer now in my lifetime than it has ever been. But a UI in the perceived sense of plebiscite on both sides of the invisible border is still a long, way away.
By a UI, I mean the breaking down of traditional stereotypes. Protestant Northerners looking South to do business, travel, ditto Southern nationalists.
I was in Portrush, Giants causeway for the first time in my life two years ago. The amount of southern reg cars was telling.
My niece's boyfriend in college is a Protestant from Portadown with a family with a staunch Unionist standing in his home community.

The times-they-are-changin'
 
Sister Sara said:
The times-they-are-changin'
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They've been changing for a long time. That's why young middle class Protestant kids, who look to secular liberal multi-ethnic England for their cultural identity, have rejected the racism and bigotry of their parents and grandparents and are voting for the Alliance Party.
 
UI is a million miles away.

No one has worked out the tax implications North and South. Whats the VAT rate going to be, will there be Water Charges, Poll Tax, USC, higher/lower PAYE rates? That's before removing the UK govt subsidies. Cold hard money is going to clarify a lot of things for people

NI means absolutely nothing to the New Irish down South and when they realise the cost of it, why would they vote for it?. I think a plebiscite in the South would be passed but tighter then a lot of people think

As for the North, a plebiscite will bring out all of the history and emotions and right now, no matter what Mary Lou says to keep her minions happy, the numbers don't stack up
 
We missed a glorious opportunity with the new public holiday a few years back. Should have been 12th July which would have tested a lot of people both sides.
 
JoeRoberts said:
We missed a glorious opportunity with the new public holiday a few years back. Should have been 12th July which would have tested a lot of people both sides.
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We could have called it The Hauge Day or Holland Day, after the place the guy who it commemorates was born.
Then we could move the August Bank Holiday to the 11th and call it Sarsfield Day or Wild Geese Day (see below) after Patrick Sarsfield and commemorate the date he destroyed King Billy's Siege Train and caused him to bugger off back to England and leave Baron de Ginkel in charge, leading to the Treaty of Limerick and the Flight of the Wild Geese.
That way we could get all of the sectarian fighting over and done with in a one month period during which time the normal people could go on holidays.
 
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gxyxv8kllo

Founding member of DUP, Wallace Thompson, agrees that a UI is inevitable.

The political and economic trajectory of Dublin/Belfast relations is becoming more entwined are more and more relevant to the affairs of NI than the London/Belfast relations.
NI to GB trade remains 2.5 times greater than NI to IE trade, but that gap has reduced significantly over the last decade or so. I think it was previously 5 times greater. And with access to rest of EU through the South that gap reduces more.

The biggest growth opportunities for NI businesses are to IE and rest of EU. And where capital flows, politicial, economic and demographic trends tend to follow.
 
I'm in Belfast at the moment and actually think things are ramping up again, it's still end of June and already they doing orange marches and building pallet Pires, also way more flags and everything than would have seen 2 years ago. I actually think the situation in Israel and the diametrically opposing positions with kneecap and all that has really riled everything up again. Also because Belfast has much cheaper housing than UK it has attracted slot of minorities here and that has caused huge resentment. I think prospects of a united Ireland has retreated again, it probably peaked during covid
 
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