With the leader of the main Unionist party applauding speeches calling the GFA 'iniquitous' and 'deceit' are the upcoming elections a test for the seminal agreement?
It's hard to know what will happen if the DUP manage to get their vote out and maintain the majority vote.
Curry my yogurt for that contribution
Who has weaponised it though?
The turning of the Irish language into a bone of contention is a creation of those who loathe the language based on a misplaced perpetuated myth that it is a threat to Loyalism because it blurs the cultural distinction between North and South — and quite simply just makes Northern Ireland more ‘Irish’. The fact that a senior Orange Order master once notoriously described his opposition to the language as being based on the fact that Hitler used German speaking areas as a premise for the annexation of territory is indicative of the daftness that underpins the suspicion of the Irish language by many Unionists.
It is not those who support the preservation and protection of the Irish language who need to de-weaponise the issue, it is those who loathe the language based on nothing more than irrational anachronistic hatred.
On that, this guy IMO very pertinently poses the question "If not now when?"
Dr Peter Shirlow, a social demographer and head of Liverpool University’s Institute of Irish Studies, told The Times the findings from NILT were consistent with other polls showing a majority against a united Ireland....
"All these surveys show majority support for remaining in the UK, a significant share of Catholics who support remaining in the UK and no growth in the very small share of Protestants who want Irish unification....
Shirlow said that the NILT poll was conducted at a time that should have been “an optimum moment” for those “seeking Irish unification”.
“Brexit, the protocol and the massive effort made by civic nationalist groups has to led to a small growth in those who support unification yet this was supposed to be the game changer,” he insisted.
Because it's not harmless and you know it! The issue of Gaeilge has been weaponised, partic up north in order to stick it to the DUP.
Politics is a dirty game and SF are the best exponents of this in the Republic. Complaining people aren’t congratulating them on their success is ridiculous.
A very real threat to our food security, the status of our exports if there is an outbreak of any animal disease on this island.
'Wish and a prayer'?
You have clearly never talked to a farmer never mind a Unionist farmer.
That is just delusional stuff. A wish and a prayer type of expectation.
If there is an outbreak like the UK vets fear maestro Unionist farmers I know will be trying to persuade us to get on with it. And right they would be.
So Francie is going to have to convince them that he is really a nice guy and win them over...
Like tell a guy to fcuk off in such a way he will look forward to the trip...
I don't think iw will suit the politicians North or South... serious reform...
The only people a UI doesn't suit are belligerent Unionists and bitter partitionists.
It suits and benefits everyone else.
Us,
The EU,
The British. All of them benefit from a UI.
As an island the ramifications of this tweet alone shows just one of the benefits of a United island inside the EU, this should be genuinely scary for our food security and for our food industry:
:
Also surveys with the question "would you vote for a UI if it raised taxes" differ again so do questions about flags and anthems. The problem is its always in the abstract and theres not even a hint of plan in place, until we know exactly what it would look like and how it would work any polling is like throwing darts blindfolded.
I do not see the cost as a problem at all... I expect a fund will bwe set up between the signatures of GFA and likely the EU... I also expect that both NI and the Republic will be hansomely rewarded over say a 10 year transition period... It would work for the Brits as they be paying a proportion of what they pay now and the end in sight... I have had this view since the protocol was introduced... Most people here seem to think Boris is an eejit but i do not agree...
Just so you are aware. Surveys with a question "would you vote for a UI tomorrow" differ from "would you vote for a UI in the future".
Survey was completed late 2020. Depends on when you date Brexit as happening, but I suppose you could say that was just before the end of the 'transition period'. Anyway the 2021 iteration of the survey is due out in a couple of weeks so we should have more up to date info.
More broadly extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the claim that substantial numbers of Protestants would vote for a UI to a point where a referendum would stand a good chance of passing in the near future sounds pretty extraordinary to me. Just pointing to pro-EU sentiment among moderate unionists doesn't cut it IMO.
In this one, the most detailed peer-reviewed analysis to date from Dublin City University. The cost of the subvention is 20%-30% what the partitionists mendaciously infer. That argument will be discredited during the referendum campaign.
Nope, it's valid. An abuse of human rights by the leaders of one community that prevented electoral, educational, housing and occupational progress by the other. This was done by means of systematic and institutional gerrymandering, violence, discrimination and repression. This has now greatly changed and will evolve even further into a system of equality for all.
What is greatly in common with the structures is the recognition by the oppressors of their corruption and abuse and their general ability to accept the inevitable change. You Blanch, have little to no grasp on the evolutionary nature of this change on our island. You Blanch have your head stuck in the sand. You Blanch are on the wrong side of history.
Too far out of date, Brexit has happened since then. The Sept 2019 Ashcroft poll of that era showed 51% supported reunification. That is also out of date.
That is an obscene comparison. At no point in time was Northern Ireland ever close to what South Africa was. That is an awful insult to the suffering of the people of South Africa to make such a comparison. Have some decency and withdraw that post.
Did you look at the question?
I wouldn't vote for it tomorrow either because it would collapse into a mess.
There needs to be a plan, then ask people.
You've got them on both sides. Unionist businesspeople or pragmatists who realise the way it's headed and also wish to return to the EU (which would be immediate upon reunification, already agreed with Strasbourg). They're close to balancing each other out
Are they though?
According to the 2020 NILT survey,
That's nearly three times the percentage of Catholics in favour of remaining in the UK as Protestants in favour of a UI.
The alliance vote is a mix of Catholic, Protestant, Unionist, Nationalist, Liberal and Green. Almost all are pro-EU and reunification is a way back in plus an end to uncertainty.
Siege mentality Blanch, your prerogative but you must feel like one of the Afrikaans railing against the end of Apartheid.
In what alternate reality is the subvention only €2-€3m? I think you have been listening to some very inaccurate propaganda to reach that conclusion.
In reality the subvention is only £2m-£3m when you look at the details. Easily covered by EU, US and other investment post-reunification.
The businesses in NI know that. Most will be discreetly pushing for reunification. They're aware of its inevitability and it ends the uncertainty caused by an absurd UK government. Pragmatism will win out.
Well, you can dream and fantasise, but it doesn't work like that. Pro-EU does not make Pro-united Ireland.
The Unionist people and pragmatists don't need a united Ireland to get an EU passport (the GFA gives them that). Neither do they need a united Ireland for access to EU markets (the Protocol gives them that). Neither will a united Ireland make them better off (the South can't afford the €12 billion subsidy or pay for the pensions).
Sure they want to be in the EU, but they as many of the benefits of the EU as they need, without actually having to be in it. They can even work in the EU as border workers, and get all the benefits.
Not that it would even happen, but if you held a renegotiation of the GFA, the two main parties wouldn't be able to come to a mutually-agreeable conclusion. Much less chance than in 1998. For political Unionism, the GFA has meant less power and less say over the direction of NI. For political Nationalism, it's meant pretty much the opposite. The likes of Jeffrey Donaldson would never sign off on anything that meant more of that. He'd go for something that rolled things back more to the DUP's liking, but he knows SF would never sign off on that, preferring instead to hold onto the existing agreement.
The only thing left for the DUP would be to announce their renunciation of the GFA altogether, but my suspicion is that Westminster has given clear warnings that they will roughly arsef*ck the DUP and NI Unionists if they ever attempt it, and they will have to bend over and take it, so married are they to staying in the UK.
Pro-reunification parties on 40.8%, including SF's highest ever vote.
Alliance (Pro-EU) on 13.5%.
You can include many many Protestant pragmatics who want a return to the EU and realise that reunification ensures it.
The vote would be tight if held this year. Less so with every passing year. Reunification is inevitable and the sooner it's donee the better for the NI economy.
You've got them on both sides. Unionist businesspeople or pragmatists who realise the way it's headed and also wish to return to the EU (which would be immediate upon reunification, already agreed with Strasbourg). They're close to balancing each other out so the traditional numbers are a good guide. Don't underestimate the frustration at being forced out of the EU despite a strong vote in favour of remaining so and polls since showing an increase in the pro-EU percentages.
As regards the terms for a poll being met; partitionists/unionists need to understand that a majority in favour of unity is not the same as a nationalist majority in favour of unity because if the latter were the criteria then we already would have met the conditions.
There will be voters in the so-called 'middle ground' (Ireland amongst their fellow Irish, not the Irish Sea) who will vote for a UI for many many reasons including returning to the EU, economic prospects, ending political chaos, dislike of the DUP, neutering unionist bigotry, and whatever you're having yourself.
The waters to trawl for a UI will get larger while unionism shrinks.
If he has congratulated her, nobody seems to know about it.
And I would be more angry about him not marking what it meant for the Irish people she represents.
There is a basic decent protocol being ignored here.
Defend away all you want but you know rightly what it says about them because it’s par for the course.
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