Is it likely Irish unification will happen in years to come?

[cuppateaandabiccie]

I’m in NI and I quite like being a part of the UK so I most certainly am against a United Ireland.

i like our education system and I know the health service is on its knees, but I’d rather not pay every time I need to go to the doctors.

obviously Sinn Fein are now the biggest party meaning they can nominate for First Minister - does this actually pose a risk to the union with the UK?

If the Deputy First Minister and First Minister both hold equal office - then surely they had the same chances of trying to implement a border poll when the they were Deputy First Minister?

if there was to be a border poll, do people think the majority would support Irish unity or go against it?

also, do people think the DUP will refuse to enter government with Sinn Fein as FM?

I think the media are saying that. No one I know cares about the protocol. Health, education, jobs, infrastructure are what they are interested in.

The unification costs pleasant would be a drop in the ocean in comparison to the longer term financial implications for the Republic of Ireland.
Doing a simple cost analysis would be a sobering read over a twenty year period. You could hardly expect the UK to continue to support a reunified Ireland, and it would never happen.

The UK would support either choice of the NI people, and most people feel that way here. We would support a poll and respect the decision it produced, in the same way we did with Brexit and Scotland Independence. It is not for us to stand in the way of the choice and will of the people, however I do think it is in the interests of NI to stay part of the UK certainly from a financial and security point of view. Ireland can not offer much in the way of security with Russia now rampaging and these things have suddenly started to really matter.

I think it will eventually happen. But it's anybody's guess when.

I think what many people outside NI and ROI don't really understand is that a large percentage (about half) of the people of NI are of British heritage and many still consider themselves British only. Most of them don't want reunification with ROI and a minority would object extremely violently. (Some people who are outside Ireland, and who have heard of the IRA, don't seem to realise that there were violent paramilitary organisations on both sides of the conflict.) People in Ireland do know this and don't want violence again. There is trauma in NI and recovery will take a long time. I think it should be years before reunification polls even take place.

And then there are all the financial reasons etc...

For the record, I would like a united Ireland, but I want peace more. Maybe it'll happen one day, but not now.

We really don't. I don't know a single person who wants NI back, or even cares very much.

As for the poster who said there was a "shared identity being Irish"..that's not right either. NI is seen very much as part of the UK, and not Ireland. Everything about it is so very different, there really is no real shared identity. The people in NI with Irish passports who state they are as Irish as anyone else are not argued with, but certainly aren't seen that way by most in the country of Ireland.

Are you on glue?

Yes BessieFinkNottle, they feel British and they have been where they are for generations. I remember trying to explain it to an American who asked why the British in NI couldn't just get sent back where they came from. I was pointing out that they have been in NI roughly as long as Europeans have been in the US, I asked him how easy it would be to send every white American back where they came from.

Maybe let sleeping dogs lie, as they say.

In future generations the children of tomorrow that are not so traumatised by the violence can look through their own prism and make decisions for themselves. The world is changing very quickly, and none of us know what tomorrow will bring. Peace is the most important thing, and enjoying peace, prosperity and commonality at this stage has been a long cherished goal for so many decades.

I was trying to compose an eloquent response, but this works.

I didn't even bother. Who really cares what they think?

I don't think there will be a border poll for some time.

Yes, SF has more seats for the first time than the DUP but significantly fewer than all of the unionist parties combined.

I seriously doubt that there will be a united Ireland in my lifetime. I mean it took 101 years to get to this point. It's going to take a lot longer for a united Ireland to happen.

I actually think Scotland has more chance of leaving the union than Ireland has of being a 32 county island once again. For there to be a united Ireland, I think there will need to be an adjustment to the GFA where the roles of First and Deputy First ministers are not linked so that one can pull down the assembly in the way it can currently if they disagree with what is being said or done. It has to function as an elected assembly of ministers and if one of them decides to resign, it doesn't stop the rest of the assembly from functioning and continuing with the job at hand.

I didn't mean to cause offence, but I was so surprised visiting Ireland that it was not more wealthy, it was very dated and seemed to lack investment. It was a shock, and I realised after a long time, that Ireland are not a mini Switzerland in the making, they have considerable issues with the economy.

It is without a doubt a beautiful country with some outstanding and friendly people. Just seeing the cars reminded me of the early 90s!! :)

I think the difficulty with this is that Ireland is such a small country we are forever shoving our identity down our own necks (ie we love drinking, and are great craic etc), as if we are a homogeneous mass of people. We aren’t.

The same can be said for almost all countries. Their regions identify strongly as being from there but are happy to be classed under the umbrella of their nationality as a whole.

For some reason there is a cohort of people in Ireland, who feel like those Irish people in the North are not completely Irish. I have experienced this, but mostly I just experience people who are happy to accept that I am who I’m telling them I am, and that’s good enough for me.

They call us nordies, we call them Mexicans, we scoff at each other for our peculiarities but rub along ok, you know, the same as almost everywhere else!

@Swayingpalmtrees I have no connection to Ireland whatsoever so there's no defensiveness in my comment at all. But, what? I've been in holiday to Ireland and I have no clue what you are on about. That's not the impression I got at all. If anything, I think most British people would find Ireland in pretty good shape in comparison.

Now I am learning that ROI isn't in a rush to be united either and yet the perception persists that divided Ireland is still the will of the British.

As I said upthread @Horological, many of the people of NI identify as British rather than Irish and a divided Ireland is their will. And as @BlackAmericanoNoSugar pointed out, many of those families have been here for centuries now. NI is their home. That's a huge reason reunification isn't a simple prospect - lots of people in NI don't consider themselves Irish so why would they want to unite with ROI? They're Unionists and want union with the UK (the clue is in the name).
That's before you even think about anything else.

For some reason there is a cohort of people in Ireland, who feel like those Irish people in the North are not completely Irish. I have experienced this, but mostly I just experience people who are happy to accept that I am who I’m telling them I am, and that’s good enough for me

For some reason? The reason being that they are in the UK and not Ireland, maybe?

I don't know how you want me to answer.

I found Ireland to be very very old fashioned, dated shops, dated cars and kind of like the UK but 15 years ago. It was very charming because of this so it is not a bad thing, but clearly there isn't tons of money floating around and everyone spoke of hardship. The taxi driver through to the waiters and shopkeepers. Everyone explained what 2008 had been like, and Ireland has not really recovered wholly and covid had compounded issues. As I said it is a gorgeous country, and I love going there but I don't think they are in a position to cover reunification for a long time yet.

Message for horological

This just popped up on my Facebook. I feel watched.

Right I’m not going to argue with you. I am Irish, I don’t care what you have to say or think about it. The government issued me my passport, my rights are enshrined in law.

my circumstance could easily have been yours, and just over 100 years ago, it was.

I’ll take this with a large tub of salt.
Almost no one south of the border says “wee”

This just popped up on my Facebook. I feel watched

OMG black that is weird!!! Zuckerbeg is at again

@Swayingpalmtrees your posts have given me a good giggle. Where on earth did you actually visit

I thinking @Swayingpalmtrees bases her idea of Ireland on some John Hinde postcards her nan sent when she went on holiday there in 1985.