To think the so called Uinionist party are the most devisive of them all!

[abstractplantpot]

Conservatives and the DUP! both parties who claim to believe in the "Union" Yet both doing a great job at convincing the rest of us we would be better off out of the mess that is Westminster! AIBU for wanting a Border poll in NI?

Yes, I believe this is EXACTLY the point Malachi O'Doherty makes in his latest book "Can Ireland Be One?".

Anyone who thinks a border poll is going to solve the problems is living in fantasy land, to be honest.

This.

How back in the archives did you go back to find that? Martin mcguinness and Gerry adams look at least 30 years younger! And Martin mcguinness is listed as a current mp despite being dead!

This makes little sense. The DUP have not had a Kingmaker role since May's Premiership and the I/NIP came well after it. And the issue continues to affect the sovereign UK Government, so they want it renegotiated or they'll unilaterally replace parts of the I/NIP.

No UK Government wants to preside over pr enable the dissolution of the Union, so the government is doing this off their own back. The DUP doesn't have the power you think they do.

Seconds. They ARE Provisional Sinn Féin which is contrary to your claim. If I recall correctly, no ballot paper carried their full name in the 1980s and neither did their election posters.

Ergo, it's certainly not inflammatory to use their full name. PSF is literally the mirror image of DUP.

Oh, and right at the top of the page containing their Provisional Sinn Féin full name we can see Mary Lou too. It's certainly not a page that's 30 years old! 🤔🤦‍♂️

The screenshot I provided does NOT mention McGuinness. 🤦‍♂️

@DownNative Do you agree with the DUP and their continuing stalemate with Stormont? What happens next Friday when we reach the time limit and no government is sitting in Stormont?

What do NI unionists really believe about this situation?

(again not being inflammatory or judgy im genuinely interested )

I think England, Wales and Scotland should all go for independence and leave N. Ireland in a union of 1.

@FlorettaB why do you think that?

I think that if you asked the people of Scotland, Wales and England most of them don’t give a damn about Northern Ireland. The most sympathy would be in Scotland but it wants out of the Union.

The reality is that apart from a relatively small proportion of people, most think NI is actually part of the Republic anyway.

People in the South (ROI) are not ready for a UI either, and many -while aspirationally in favour, just want it as a distant option sometime way into the future.

@FlorettaB Thank you. That beautifully illustrates what I thought.

@greenhousegal I agree. Over half of my family live in ROI. They don't want anything to do with us.

People in the South (ROI) are not ready for a UI either, and many -while aspirationally in favour, just want it as a distant option sometime way into the future.

Absolutely. I'm from Dublin and have lived in NI a long time now. I don't see any enthusiasm for a UI among my friends and family and I don't blame them either tbh. The implications for ROI would be in my mind when I cast my vote even though NI is home, that's for sure.

Frankly, we have a constitutional dictatorship under the Tories, they change their rules at their own convenience. The only reason I am not campaigning for a split from the Union is because, living in England… I can’t.

I'm in Ireland and agree. Why rock the boat? There is no benefit to us really to have a UI but there is potential for a lot of trouble. It just isn't something that anyone I know I'd interested in in any real way. There are some die hards of course but they are in the minority.

I i've just seen Boris is 2nd in the leadership race! I think it's time I just moved away!

Feeling a bit that way myself.

Is it a good read?

YANBU to put a lot of blame for the current situation on the DUP and Conservatives. Conservatives couldn't care less about the lives of the majority of the population, let alone NI. DUP are self important and have absolutely zero consideration for the people of NI, they literally prioritize the 'union' over their own voters. They are holding the country ransom because they didn't get their way, despite their position being entirely their own fault.

NI is too rooted in tribal politics rather than everyday issues that affect people. The fixation with a UI means a lot of people lose sight of improving the everyday lives of NI citizens. With the current cost of living crisis, it is disgusting that the DUP are putting their own agendas before the good of the citizens they are meant to represent. It's exasperated by the fact Westminster could not give a shit about NI and sorting out the stalemate is clearly the least of their worries right now.

There won't be a border poll anytime soon and the country is not in a position for it. Depressingly, it will continue to dominate people's voting patterns, people will continue to vote tribally and the country will continue to end up in stalemates were no one is winning.

@DownNative their current official website does not call themselves anything other than Sinn Fein.

Well said @MatronicO6

The fixation with a UI means a lot of people lose sight of improving the everyday lives of NI citizens. With the current cost of living crisis, it is disgusting that the DUP are putting their own agendas before the good of the citizens they are meant to represent.

We say this about the SNP in Scotland. Been in power for 15 years now and have done nothing to improve health, poverty and education outcomes. Because they are basically a single agenda party and put that above the people they represent

OP I'm totally with you. I can't wait to get out of the UK. Partition was a massive injustice...established to make NI a gerrymandered, sectarian hole with a supremacist, Protestant, unionist majority forever. And boy, did they ever abuse it. My parents were beaten in Burntollet by loyalist thugs and the British State simply for peacefully marking for the civil rights denied them just for being Irish Catholics. We had NOTHING growing up. At least the unionist majority is over and never, ever to return. Thank God for it.

How anyone can ever support the unjust partition is beyond me. You have to be a pretty awful person. And as for the DUP...wiser eating grass as they say. Useless, selfish bigots, and that goes for their voters, too.

Marching. And my mum was pregnant at the time. Not the union's finest hour, really. Even the S African apartheid regime was shocked at how unionists and the British State treated Irish people in the six. That tells you everything.