Northern Ireland 2125?

EVERYBODY compromises in an 'agreement'.

Dear me.

1973 Unionists were not ready to 'compromise', it is there in the data and factual events. The IRA and SF were not at the table, it did not matter if they agreed, compromised or stood on their heads.

And the difference (amongst others) was that SF were at the table as equals - negotiating that agreement. The Unionists were weakened by having no veto and no paramilitary apparatus capable of destabiling any outcome. And that is what happened, the agreement held, despite the main Unionist party to be NOT signing up to it ever. Like it or not SF and the vast majority of republicans upheld their side of the agreement while Unionists haven't fully.

To go back to '73 and this question -

What is it about what actually happened after the Border Poll in '73 that convinces you Unionists would have democratically gone along with a UI if the vote had gone the other way?

The abiding problem and the reason for the conflict/war was quite simply - Unionism and for a long tine the British - were ok with the principle of consent but if it was ‘consent’ they didn’t like there was no way it would happen.

That is why ‘73 was a nonsense.

If you look at the events after, you can see Unionists start the process of **** in the motherland bed.

The British introduced a White Paper on power sharing Unionists went ballistic. All there in the factual record of events.

The British, simply put, lost patience and whatever care they had, with them and by the Anglo Irish Agreement were intent on removing their sectarian bigoted hold on power.

Then and only then did solutions that would work start to emerge.

As I said, had the IRA consented, compromised, stood on their heads and sang the Sash, it would not have mattered a jot.

What actually happened when peaceful negotiators tried is evidence of that.

The tragic reality is that Unionism had to be faced down, and their veto ended. The only people responsible for that were the British and they didn't do it until 1000's had died and were injured on all sides by all sides.

We know you blame the IRA.. The IRA and all those who engaged in violence have their share of the blame. In any situation those who create and for a time uphold unequal conditions, who create artificial majorities and stand back while that majority is blatantly abused take the primary blame when things go up in flames.

The facts are, the IRA did not have the ability to fix the core problem (neither did SF the SDLP or any national/republican )caused by a partition that was inevitably going to implode the place. That that partition came back to take away the sovereignty of the UK itself was supremely ironic but it had for 60 years taken away any real opportunity to have an equal share of power for Irish people in NI and it made them 2nd class cotizens. Nobody credible disputes those facts of history.

The IRA didn’t create those conditions the British did.

Artificial majority created and imposed with threat of immediate and terrible war = check

Artificial majority blatantly and openly abused to exclude nationalists/republicans and catholics = check

British government ignored what was happening for 60 yrs = check

"Irish only continues to shrink" absolute lie. Irish only is the fastest growing national identity in the last two census. while british is falling. Irish is probably now the largest national identity as we speak if the trend between the last two census continued.

Why did you tell such a blatant lie?

So you're very happy with the GFA then? Great most people are too. Something we share.