COULD Varadker play a blinder?

[Miljah]

First, I have no personal skin in the game. Apart from the bomb scares of the 70s in British towns. And the nightly news.

Secondly, I have tried to keep abreast of the political landscape in NI, while understanding that there are complexities way beyond my ken at play.

And thirdly, a MN suspension, maybe six months ago, as an outsider musing whether it was deeply patronising to the people of NI to assume, as a matter of course, that the only way to broker differences was bombs and guns, there surely had to be other ways?- I was told in no uncertain terms that these were the only tools available, and that I should butt out as a non NI person....

SO. What if Varadker, highly unlikely, I know, were to offer reunification with an undertaking to respect Protestant rights? I recognise the economics, here- 70% of NI jobs are financed UK public sector. Could the republic pick up that slack? Would NI people earning that public sector cash want to jeopardise that?

But might that represent the first inkling of a way forward for NI? EU membership (and I'd bet ££ (I don't have 'euro, euro' on my keyboard! 😊) in order to sweeten that seismic shift; especially now NI must recognise that much of GB didn't even know, or care, about the GFA?

How soon before I am reported, in outrage?....

Exactly mathanxiety and blubbery boo

It was toe curling to watch Dominic Raab try to weasel his way out of being questioned by Lady Hermon about the GFA.
Obvious that he had never read it....so embarrassing that he had not, given his position.

But, perhaps I am more prone to embarrassment that he. [Hmm]

Hindsight is always wonderful, but wonder if UK mainland had been given the chance to have a say in the GFA referendums, the GFA might be better understood and supported?

the British Government - you know the one that runs the UK mainland as you call it - were instrumental in the GFA and a signatory to it. What other say did you want? A referendum of the British who hardly know NI is part of their country? That would have been a barrel of laughs - Scotland, Wales and England voting on what would happen to NI - that would have gone so well because as Brexit teaches us, English voters are completely well-educated on NI history and politics.

Turnout in UK mainland would likely have been low, but at least they could not say 20 years later they knew nothing about GFA and did not have the chance to comment. Can't think of any reason why UK mainland would not have supported the GFA as many of those old enough to vote will have seen the troubles on UK TV and press?

Anger and aggression towards Ireland/NI is growing in the mainland as the 17.4 million who voted leave think they are being denied in preference to something they never had a say in even though there are other factors too as to why Brexit has stalled.

Suggestions such as NI only backstop or NI being a special economic zone seem to be dismissed by DUP and ERG. Scotland seems to object too on the basis that they voted to remain in EU by a big majority.

honestly I can't begin to decipher your post Mystery. People in GB should have voted in a referendum on the fate of the NI peace process because that would have helped a future brexit deal? When it is entirely clear that most of GB have no clue that NI is part of the UK and less clue how it came to be that way. But they would have turned out in droves to vote on the GFA and should have had a right of veto on it Is that what you are seriously saying?

I do hope the DUP read MN and see how little the people of GB think, know or care about them.

And anger and agression toward IRELAND??? Ireland is a completely separate soverign country who have had nothing to do with the brexit implementation. This is the UK's problem. No one elses. Do you even get that?

*What the vast majority in NI want is for the status quo to continue. We didn't want Brexit fucking everything up. We don't want a hard border with ROI, destroying our way of life and our economy. We don't want a border between NI and the rest of the UK. We don't want to be reminded that GB in general and the prime minister in particular don't actually give a shit about us. We don't want reunification, we're just not ready for it, the wounds need more time to heal.

We want to be left the fuck alone.*

I feel like this too. I think we are hurtling towards No Deal and I kind of want to hide in the hotpress when it happens (very carefully without disturbing the towel stack- my mum was like everyone else's).

I suppose we're going to have go get on with it. I hope everyone stays calm, and talks, and our MLAs get back to Stormont and work together to maintain peace and such economic stability as we can salvage. Watching the House of Commons yesterday, I do think that there would be similar politicians and others here who would be happy to stoke up any fires that might break out, if rage and division suited their own pursuit of money and power.

But they would have turned out in droves to vote on the GFA and should have had a right of veto on it Is that what you are seriously saying?

No. Turnout likely to be low. Can't think of a reason why anyone on mainland would vote against GFA?

This is the UK's problem. No one elses. Do you even get that?

Not completely correct as border affects both Ireland and NI at same time.

You clearly know nothing about NI. You live outside the EU. Aren't you getting embarrassed yet?

You live outside the EU

Only for part of the year. Have family and assets in UK. Have assets in other EU country too.

So like the ordinary Leave voter with your assets across different countries and your home outside the EU. 😂

Is Mystery the rich bloke in Hong Kong or the one in Perth? I thought both of those got banned.

@MysteryTripAgain - Hindsight is always wonderful, but wonder if UK mainland had been given the chance to have a say in the GFA referendums, the GFA might be better understood and supported?

Referendums? Are you really suggesting the British people should have had a say in the referendums relating to the GFA? Are you really so ignorant that you are suggesting the British people should have had a say in an Irish referendum?

Quite aside from that, the British had ample opportunity to familiarise themselves with the situation in NI and the GFA. You don't need a vote to make yourself aware of current affairs. Many chose not to.

@Mistigri , we've finally managed to get a bit out of mystery about where they are from. Surprise surprise they don't live in the UK or EU although they have "assets " here. Presumably they've learned lessons from their others' previous experiences about what shit they post.

Surprise surprise they don't live in the UK or EU although they have "assets " here

And family and I am UK passport holder (two actually) and not a citizen of any other country.

If it's so great here, why don't you come back. Brexit sorted for you.

If it's so great here, why don't you come back. Brexit sorted for you

I am in UK several months per year.

The republic doesn't want a united Ireland any more. It would drown our economy, and we don't want to deal with the fallout from the likes of the DUP.

Paying taxes here? @MysteryTripAgain

Ah guys, you're engaging with MysteryTrip still?
This guy doesn't (or didn't, on a recent thread) know who Coveney is.... so I don't think he's a good faith commenter.

This guy doesn't (or didn't, on a recent thread) know who Coveney is.... so I don't think he's a good faith commenter.

Or that the Irish and NI attorney generals are not one and the same.

Paying taxes here? @MysteryTripAgain**

On UK source income yes.

I do hope the DUP read MN and see how little the people of GB think, know or care about them

Sadly, Pallisers, they like it that way. They are under no illusions.

They can quietly operate well under the radar within NI (which may or may not be part of the UK according to many voters), send MPs to Westminster to vote for right of centre causes, show up when there's a hung parliament and scuttle back to Belfast with the bribes they wrest from the Conservative and Unionist Party, and thanks to limited attention span and confusion about how much exactly £One Billion is, they get away with it.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Mystery do you realise the population of NI is so small ...only a quarter the size of London.
So had English voters been allowed to vote on the GFA in 1998 they only would have voted for a way that suited them and would have outvoted every single vote inside NI several times over....and they wouldn’t have had a clue what they were voting for. Beside the fact that nationalists would have been sold on an agreement that allowed decisions to be made by English voters on northern Irish affairs.

We saw this in the Brexit referendum where voters wanted to take back borders and didn’t actually think about where the borders would actually be..or worse they realised it was over here and therefore wouldn’t affect them. And the English welsh vote was so large that it really was pointless Northern Ireland voting at all as our population of voters couldn’t possibly have swung the vote the other way.

Thank goodness Tony Blair had the foresight to NOT allow GB to vote in 1998.

nationalists WOULD NOT have been sold on an agreement that allowed decisions to be made by English voters on northern Irish affairs.

typo