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

And who voted for the DUP I wonder?

You have to understand donkey it's not like normal politics here people don't vote based on policy they vote based on religion.

To many that sounds completely ridiculous but that's how it is. I would say the vast majority of DUP voters don't agree with their policies at all. The fear is that if another party was to hold the majority vote their union with Britain would be at risk.

Toomuch - slight correction - people don’t vote based on religion they vote based on national identity which depends on whether their ancestors were native Irish or British settlers. I appreciate that this aligns with religion and you know this, but many people don’t.

Anyway, the polls all show that two-thirds of the people in NI agree with the backstop. It is therefore not NI stopping the agreement, but British MPs who do not represent the wishes of NI. Even without the DUP there are enough MPs in the Commons to support May’s Deal. May’s Deal is IMO the best that can be achieved in the circumstances.

If I'm right they ignored churchills request for help during the war?

Ireland declined to end its officially neutral status in 1941 and enter the war on the allied side, yes. Churchill requested it principally to gain access to the Treaty ports, which only had been returned to Irish control in 1938 (occupied by British troops up to that). Churchill also held out a vague offer of a promise of Irish reunification if the Irish entered the war - shows how much he really cared about NI.

In practice, Irish neutrality was heavily weighted in favour of the Allies. Intelligence and meteorological reports were shared, Allied troops who came down over Ireland were allowed slip back over the border whereas Nazis were interned, and Ireland turned a blind eye to Allied planes passing over Irish airspace (the Foyle corridor). IRA members who were attempting to liaise with Nazi agents were interned by the de Valera government, and some were executed or allowed to die on hunger strike.

All the reality of this was heavily obscured by the outrage caused by de Valera’s sympathy call to the German legation on the death of Hitler. It was a scrupulous observance of neutrality to the end (he had made a similar call to the American embassy after Roosevelt died) but it was undoubtedly a diplomatic and moral misstep.

I dont think it crosses the mind of the average resident of the mainland of the UK. Why would it? They are too busy getting on with their own lives. It would be interesting to know how many people in NI have applied for Irish passports. It is crystal clear to me that the island of ireland as a whole is a single entity and a single country .

Well done, LadyGregory . I was assuming that the poster to whom you are responding very fairly was being deliberately goady.

I am currently on another thread featuring DonkeyAteMyHomework in which s/he claims to be psychic, and to be able to 'read' people using 'an energy', so I would contextualise the under-informed and tendentious nonsense s/he posted on this thread with that, and try to understand that not everyone is gifted with the same critical faculties. Some people revel in underthinking, in fact.

That Donkey character has a terribly similar tone to the only other poster on this thread to have posts deleted.

It is crystal clear to me that the island of ireland as a whole is a single entity and a single country

It is crystal clear to me that you are a moron. A single country? Really? on your behalf Arnold

I was planning a long and articulate post in response to this thread but to be honest I'm too angry and disgusted by a lot of posts on here. There's plenty of posts slabbering about NI and our people, calling us backward, bigoted, a country to be got rid of and yet all the posts dripping in bigotry are from posters outside NI, how ironic!!

NI is a fantastic country and I wouldn't want to live or bring up my children anywhere else. The vast majority of people don't care about religion and live side by side, typically we're ignored though! It actually took living in England for 4 years to make me fully realise what a great wee country it is. Reasons that the DUP and SF are in power have been explained by other posters and we could go further into that but to be honest I don't think too many of you actually care and just enjoy using it as a stick to beat us with, never mind the fact that we haven't actually been able to vote for our government for 2+ years and the apathy for both parties has grown in that time.

The British Government (and those who voted for Brexit) created this issue with their total disregard for NI, we're not even a second thought to most. You can't just "get rid" of us now and pass the buck to ROI, it's not their problem to sort and that suggestion is so arrogant. There were plenty of bad bits and concessions with the GFA, the open border is one of good bits and now you want to destroy it, you can f*ck off!

⬆️ 👏👏👏

I’m absolutely fucking sick of the DUP I’ll say that much. Bloody holding all the cards over Brexit while Scotland get ignored.

That aside I don’t generally care any less about NI than I do about England and Wales either. Most people don’t really give a shit about the areas that don’t affect them do they?

Hear hear Fromtheinside

yet all the posts dripping in bigotry are from posters outside NI, how ironic!

Absolutely. 👏🏼

A lot of us in England wish that the needs of Scotland and NI weren't ignored.

Quarepants -yes i insist that the Island of Ireland is a separate entity and one united country.

Fromtheinside80- Totally agree, the Island of Ireland has much to commend it in terms of culture, natural landscapes and seascapes, its people etc and id recommend anyone who hasnt been to go and see for yourself. Even the big towns and cities such as Dublin,Belfast and Derry have much to interest the visitor.

OP, I'm English and I care about NI. My mother was from NI so I don't know how typical my views are here in England but lots of English people I know do care as well. I don't understand how UK politicians and Brexiters can, even for one minute, consider messing with the GFA and risking peace in NI. How can the risks of that be worth any kind of Brexit? It's madness. I don't like the arrogance and selfishness of some elements of our society, it's ugly and given far too much air time. I really hope that common sense and decency will prevail and Brexit abandoned.

i insist that the Island of Ireland is a separate entity and one united country. You can insist all you want but you will still be wrong.

@Arnoldthecat this is so true!! We spent summer holidays as kids in Portstewart, Fermanagh, Donegal and Sligo as we couldn't afford holidays abroad, I absolutely loved those holidays. I've since been lucky enough to go abroad quite a bit and I'd still choose a holiday on this island over most destinations abroad.

To be honest if it weren't for the logistics and the risk of losing my Northern Irish identity (I'm an avid NI football fan for a start) I'd be all for a United Ireland. That's me coming from a Protestant background though I've been an atheist for years and feel we have more in common with the Republic than the mainland. It would be hilarious to see the DUP reaction. I just don't see how it would work, I think I read something like 36% of working people in NI are employed by the civil service. Our police and prison services operate very differently to those in the ROI because of the terrorist threat here, how would they all come together? We'd lose the NHS, which I'd feel aggrieved about having paid into it for so long. That's just the tip of the iceberg really, probably things that those who want to get rid of us wouldn't even consider, again!

But the division of the island of Ireland is only a recent event in its history.

@Arnoldthecat true, but a hell of a lot has happened and changed since partition.

I always think of the Irish rugby team as an example of what a united Ireland would be like. Dublin centred, play under the tricolour, anthem is the Soldier Song (with Ireland's Call as a sort of concession). Even as a liberal I struggle to feel represented by that team, is that what a united Ireland would be like? I just have to give up my identity?

Jane - its not wrong, it's just the viewpoint of almost half the population of NI. The GFA protects their right to identify this way. Just as it also protects your right to your British identity. Both views are respected and neither is wrong.

“I always think of the Irish rugby team as an example of what a united Ireland would be like. Dublin centred, play under the tricolour, anthem is the Soldier Song (with Ireland's Call as a sort of concession). Even as a liberal I struggle to feel represented by that team, is that what a united Ireland would be like? I just have to give up my identity?”

Rugby is crap anyway. Could you not retain an Ulster identity in a United Ireland if not exactly NI? Ulster already extends into the republic anyway I think.

Sakura I'm Irish. I know what the GFA entails but Northern Ireland is part of the UK, not Ireland as Arnold thinks. I respect the right of anyone in NI who identifies as Irish to do so.

Officially yes but that could easily change in the future. And ultimately NI only exists because Britain partitioned the country less than 100 years ago. So its not an unreasonable view to see Ireland as it's own country.

In any case I'm saddened that so many people didn't give a thought to NI before they voted for Brexit. I was watching a documentary on RTE the other week about photographers during the troubles and the thought of returning to that is horrific.