A United Ireland

[poppiesallykatie]

Not a goady thread or to stir, but how many are against it or for it? Obviously many in NI want to part of the Republic, many in NI want to part of Great Britain, how do the British people feel about it?

What I do resent in this thread is the assumption of those from RoI who, in their rejection of unification, think only of themselves as Irish citizens, they give absolutely no thought to those of us in the North who live here as an ‘accident of birth’. I am the same as you. I am 100% Irish

Yes I find it shocking when ROI citizens say they don’t want the north. I was under the impression that it’s for NI to decide? Could be way off though, but I find it hard to believe they are othering NI Irish like that.

Of course, this is my opinion as a complete outsider, as I only live here and am not Irish. I don’t find the differences all that significant between north and south, viewed from
a foreigner’s perspective, that is.

North Korea/South Korea .... now that’s a significant culture change!

Of course a comparison can be made, but that’s not what you did you encouraged posters who know no better to imagine Catholics were being treated the same way black South Africans were under apartheid.

Separate schools, separate housing, huge discrimination regarding jobs, "mixed" marriages were legally possible but very difficult in reality.

I fully accept that there was terrible discrimination in housing and employment. And there is no way I would ever try to defend that.

Schools though...I'm not so sure. Haven't Catholic schools in N Ireland, particularly the Catholic grammars, traditionally been the best schools? In terms of academic results at any rate.

Mummyshark2018 You're right. I didn't know you needed an Irish descent.
DP and his family all hold Irish passports. I thought it was a religious thing

Babarian I am really not trying to minimise the discrimination faced by catholics but these comparisons are offensive in the other direction. Faith schools were for most a choice, as they still are today - in Scotland too. I didn’t marry but went out with a Catholic for years cheerfully and was accepted by his family. Universities were mixed. No separate parks no separate transport no separate beaches or cafes or water fountains.

If you're a NI-er, can you get either passport should you want to?

We can have either, or we can have both.

Frankly it's probably the one and only advantage there is to having been born in N Ireland so it's no surprise that so many people have both.

There is a saying that you get your Irish passport for the warm welcome abroad and your British one in case you get taken hostage and need the SAS to rescue you.

That should have had a because obviously when people say that it is firmly tongue in cheek

@Shepherdspieisminging
Yes if you were born in ni you can have British/ Irish or hold both nationalities (passports)
I have an Irish passport with dc born in England with also an Irish passport

Hoho yes lots of families were accepting of mixed relationships but equally others faced harrassment, been driven from their homes and even death for the "crime" of falling in love across the divide.

Yes, everyone in NI qualifies for both British and Irish passports. After Brexit, under the Withdrawal Agreemnt, they will also retain EU rights e.g. freedom of movement. It’s a huge bonus for NI and really would help the NI economy and stability long-term.

@treaclesoda
Yes catholic faith schools generally do very well but in the 60's/70's getting in to university was very hard even if you had the right grades. There was a huge lack of transparency then that is available now.

Babarian that’s of course true but in S Africa it was actually against the law so not a direct comparison.
That’s my last post not meaning to keep going on about it

Thank you Treaclesoda for explaining that ( re voting Alliance)

Pineapplepower it’s not “othering”. Northern Ireland is a separate country. It is not part of Ireland. That’s a basic fact and you should know that if you live in one of them??

At this point in time uniting Northern Ireland and the republic is not much different from trying to unite Ireland with any other country. They are separate countries with separate laws, governments, cultures and attitudes.

Tipple - I agree with all of your points except GP - Green Pastures considers itself non denominational and has both catholics & Protestants within.

Green Pastures might welcome people who were raised as Catholic but it certainly expects them to not be Catholic any more once you become a member. They consider themselves non denominational in that they don't answer to a church hierarchy, they are stand alone. But their beliefs are about as Protestant as you'll get, I'd have thought. Adult Baptism, born again, evangelism and outreach etc.

The pastor is Jeff Wright. He’s very evangelical fundamentalist in his views. Almost cult like in my opinion. www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/8tyrsd/anyone_else_hear_that_spotlight_are_investigating/

And he preached to the congregation that they should vote for Brexit. He said God judges nations and it was a duty to extricate the UK from the EU.

Which was presumably not at all connected to the fact that Wrightbus as a business had also been campaigning for Brexit.

EmeraldShamrock - So by default ppl vote DUP to keep Sinn Fein seats down and vice versa. It is all about the balance, most don't even agree with the party's views.

This is very true.

MondayTuesdayWednesday - At this point in time uniting Northern Ireland and the republic is not much different from trying to unite Ireland with any other country. They are separate countries with separate laws, governments, cultures and attitudes.

Have to disagree. If you drive from Donegal to Derry, you don't even notice the border change; see the same, feel the same as if you were in a small town in Kilkenny or Longford, it's an abstract feeling and then as you drive further along, you see the union jacks and it feels very disconcerting, because all the small towns, villages, clubs are very Irish. What is even more disconcerting is if you drive through England or the Republic, you would note that Northern Ireland has a decrepit feeling compared to both (ignore the potholed back arse end to nowhere lanes in Ireland!). Motorways with untrimmed edges, grass in the middle of one. There is nothing being put into it. The only people losing here are the Northern Irish. It is not a 'different culture' or a 'different country'.

Yip

And he allegedly Assisted some of the boyz a few years ago with a small financial difficulty.

www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/The-Wright-Group/reviews?fcountry=ALL Wrightbus the daddy company of the church.

At one point wrightbus made the news for only having 2 catholic’s working in the place.

www.limerickreformed.com/blog/2012/07/13/the-devil-did-it-the-distressing-message-of-green-pastures-ballymena

Dipple & Treacle - I have friends who go to GP & also attend Mass - I guess they are taking different messages away from each setting.

I’m not a fully fledged member but local and go to a lot of their events ....GP gets a lot of bashing but I personally see a lot of good come from it.....

I keep singing this chorus IN my mind when I read NI is not part of Ireland but a separate country.
This land is your land
this land is my land
from the northen highlands
to the western islands
From the hills of Kerry
to the streets of Derry

Dipple - very interesting article!! Will read it again when I am more awake.