To think most people in the UK don't really care about NI

[Tooldemont]

Just that really, we don't seem to be a together nation and many people I know would just prefer Ireland to become one country on that landmass.

Maybe it's just my circles, but rings true here

Also sad to me is the fact that Anglo-Irish relations have been excellent over the past few years, a true achievement for countries with such a history. It’s unfortunate that how Brexit is being handled is stirring up animosity between us again, you only need to read some of the comments on this thread for evidence of this.

I must say I'm appalled by Donmesswime's comments. Can I just say to the NI posters that (s)he is not representative of all of us in the 26 counties. I do think NI is culturally different to the Republic in many ways but also culturally similar in many ways. I've always had a great time up north, although I have had a couple of frightening incidents during the troubles. However, I've also had a couple of frightening incidents in other places too.

Personally, I would like to see a united Ireland but not like this. I want to see a peaceful, gradual reunification that has the support of a high majority. Reunification at this point in time would be a disaster.

Spanish are like us. In what way?

please do not think that NI people are all like the DUP or Sinn Fein

but why do more people vote for them rather than the more measured parties? I think outsiders find that very difficult to understand. If you want peace, you support the people who want peace too. It's very clear the DUP don't want peace (goodness knows what they actually do want).

I don't think that this has stirred up animosity between Ireland and the UK, I think it has just rattled the cages of the usual idiots and given them a chance to express their unwanted views in the same way as you get the "we don't want to be told what to do by Germany" as if the EU and Germany were one and the same.

Spanish are like us - Catholic, family-orientated. Also there were some Spanish who ended up in Ireland and married local women - my mother said she thought that her father was descended from them.

This thread has made me feel that NI is isolated. I know donmess comments are harsh, however I have many links to Ireland and I have to say that she is not alone. There is a deep mistrust of NI and I’m not sure Ireland will ever want to broach unification. NI is not going to unite to want unification with the republic, and it’s just like a huge elephant in the room, wanting to be British, but overseas.

Having said that, the place feels a million times better than 20 years ago, the economy and new buildings, the peace, it has got better.

We have more in common with England than with Spain. Catholicism is dying out.

I think the Spanish link is pure romance. Spanish people are nothing like the Irish, but there’s a wistful want to be connected.

They identify so much as British. I'm Scottish and am proud to be Scottish and British. However I've known a few Protestants from NI over the years and was baffled by them seeing themselves as British NOT Irish. I just can't understand that.

I'm Scottish and am proud to be Scottish and British. However I've known a few Protestants from NI over the years and was baffled by them seeing themselves as British NOT Irish. I just can't understand that.

Might I suggest some reading?

you've turned your back on your number one trading partner

Of all the ridiculous bollocks I've heard on here. The UK voted to leave. Did you expect us to follow you off the cliff? That's just about the last thing we'd ever do.

Oh and if you think the EU have your back?
I can't believe this needs to be explained again, but for the hard of understanding, yes of course the EU has our back because we are the EU. If you're suggesting that we shouldn't trust France and Germany, well we've got far more trust in them than the UK thanks very much.

The UK have never had our back. Quite why the brexiteers thought the Irish would back their cause, facilitate them or even join them is utterly baffling. I can only put it down to the most profound ignorance and arrogance.

MissEliza, since partition, (many) Protestants have been brought up to define their Britishness as the opposite of Irish. This is a combination of a historic colonial relic that to be British was to be superior to the natives and to have the right to rule others and a ‘siege’ mentality that if they admit to living in Ireland then they have conceded the land that their forefathers fought for (sort of ‘Papa killed the injuns to take this land’, to quote from the Grapes of Wrath).

It is notable that the ROI protestants, like Graham Norton and Bono, don’t have this issue. If the whole island had just been allowed to be independent 100 years ago, NI would be a decent and normal place now. Under the GFA, it was starting to become more normal, but reinstating the border reopens the wound.

@Parthenope - Might I suggest some reading? hmm

All the reading in the world won't explain it. I agree with @MissEliza. It is quite difficult to understand why some unionists don't identify as Northern Irish (I understand why they don't identify as Irish) as well as British. Northern Irish people are culturally different to other British people. Unionists are culturally different to Irish people, nationalists less so. Why not embrace what makes you unique?

I know many people in Northern Ireland do identify as Northern Irish and British/Irish but not all do.

I think the Spanish link is pure romance.

Agreed. I also see a lot of Irish people talking about how close they feel to France. I don't think the French think there's anything particularly special about the relationship, so that's mostly wishful thinking.

However, Ireland's EU identity is very important to the country's sense of self. The Irish feel respected and consequential within the EU, which has been great for our self esteem.

@Eyewhisker - you have explained it so well. It is a shame though, that some refuse to embrace Northern Ireland as part of who they are.

I don't think maybe GB people do, no. I do because I was brought up to think about NI from the point of view of all of the people, including those who see themselves as Irish. That's rare in England though.

But I don't think the leave campaign gave it any thought at all.

To those saying Scotland should be allowed to remain and not the rest- you have to take London with you too! We voted overwhelmingly to stay.

Laurie they could reasonably feel close to the Bretons who are Celts.

I may be being stupid here. I live in England and I only know the bare minimum about it and have spent only a little time in both the ROI and NI (actually speaking to people who live there, not on boozy weekends).

All those on here saying the ‘solution’ is a “united ireland”, says who? United how? How is that to be achieved? By making all of the people in NI who identify as part of UK culture and have for generations (indeed fought a painful war for it) somehow drop that and agree to adopt a ‘foreign’ identity. A whole different culture? Or vice-versa? Make all those in the ROI somehow adopt UK customs, culture, currency, politics? It isn’t as simple as ‘united ireland’. Surely the last hundred+ years of history have taught us that?

@eyewhisker graham norton had a very lonely childhood as he was shunned as a Protestant family. No one was his friend. No wonder he left.

I am with Macca who wrote a sing in the 70s - give Ireland back to the Irish. Many in the north, like in west of Scotland, are living in 17th century. This group is gery different to us in GB. Brexit might lead to a unification referendum

Anonymised - the issue with your point is that it goes both ways. The current population split in NI is now 50/50 and will soon be majority Catholic/nationalist. Half the population is native Irish and is required to live under British ‘foreign’ rule and the other half feels British and so would be compelled to live under ‘foreign’ rule in a reunification scenario. [I appreciate there’s always nuances but this pretty much encapsulates the situation.]

The GFA was a great solution as it recognised both communities as truly equal, gave birth rights to both passports, and had an invisible border. All could live side-by-side well. Brexit breaks that and so is a
clusterfuck.

Incidentally, to those in the ROI who wonder why there is such a high Sinn Fein vote in NI (equal to DUP at last NI elections), it’s due to the same reason that there is outrage in ROI when British people suggest that Ireland rejoins the UK. (and I say that as an Alliance voter - go figure)

It is quite difficult to understand why some unionists don't identify as Northern Irish (I understand why they don't identify as Irish) as well as British. Northern Irish people are culturally different to other British people. Unionists are culturally different to Irish people, nationalists less so. Why not embrace what makes you unique?

That is a deeply naive comment, hence my suggestion that you do some reading. This might help -- from p 8 there's some discussion of people who identity as 'Northern Irish' (only about 21% of the NI population) and the relationship of that cohort to those who identify as 'Neither' (ie not unionist or nationalist), which is the focus of the paper:

pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/files/162207676/Hayward_McManus_Neither_Nor_paper_accepted_version.pdf

Why not embrace what makes you unique? Exactly.
I remember a Catholic friend telling me they sang God Save the Queen at her graduation from Queens university. I thought that was so odd and showed how hard the Protestant community were trying to be British.

graham norton had a very lonely childhood as he was shunned as a Protestant family. No one was his friend. No wonder he left.

Graham Norton is from the opposite end of the island, from Cork. Nothing to do with NI. I'm his age, straight, and Catholic, and we all left -- there was a hideous recession, no jobs or opportunities.

many in the north, like in west of Scotland, are living in 17th Century

What an ignorant opinion. There are extremists (as in so many things) but there are also thousands of average families and individuals who feel cut adrift and devalued by the UK, a place they feel strongly that they are a part of (BECAUSE THEY ARE).

Historically, the landmass of the island of Ireland belonged to the Irish but the English ruled it for 800 years. That’s a fuckload of very messy history to untangle. I don’t think one cliched Paul McCartney song is going to cut it .