How many of us think that unification is no longer a priority and don't really want unification ?

NI is unique in Europe, posited in UK and EU. They'd be nuts to rescind that economic luck. If only those in Stormont banged their heads together, the economy would start to fly. also NHS, good governance, the services for council tax, but importantly consumer goods - means the cost of living would skyrocket in NI

I don't understand what you mean by

why is the ROI always 20 or 30 years behind the rest of the world

What are you implying?

I am very passionate about it and most of my age group are.

It will not ignite violence as it was the british state that ignited it. And who is going to fund loyalism? No one.

If anything things will be quieter. The british state funded the violence and started it with them gone .. there is no issue.

Who is going to kick off in a united ireland? Only hardcore loyalists right? Who will fund them? Iran ? lol libya? No one. No one likes them. The british won't fund them. They will be maybe at best low level drug dealers and it will die out.

The British state ignited the violence. As long as the british state is present on the island of ireland there is ALWAYS a real danger the only way peace is SETTLED in fact is a united ireland. Only people dont know their history are against a united ireland.

People who are well read on the troubles realize we were lied to all along and that the ONLY way to settle and secure the peace is the end to the british state on our island. The british will thank us too.

Here is the thing though.

We should value ourselves enough to be giving this level of healthcare to ourselves.

I want a united Ireland. But I dont want to take away healthcare from people in the North. So why are we not deserving of the same healthcare that british people get?

Self interest is always what's it about in the end.

There is a huge difference between supporting a United Ireland and an actual United Ireland.

Then there is the emergence of a new NI identity which is neighter Irish nor British.

A lot of buyers regret in the UK about Brexit for example.

What main political party is going to stand up and say it's too expensive?

And without a main political party behind the case for it being too expensive you will be left with fringe elements making that case.

And fringe elements are easy to dismiss.

And remember, SF will be pushing very hard from the "it won't cost us a penny,we will be better off" side.

It will be SF with the equivalent of the Brexit bus.

It is a bit like the Irish language debate if you have to persuade people you are already on the loosing foot.

Either it's the right thing to do purley on it's own merits, even if it has a hefty cost or its not the right thing to do.

Yeah can only see it as being unhelpful to a United Ireland vote in the North even in some cases where the voter might not be at any loss, either because they would not pay anyway or better outcomes make it worth paying. With modern campaigning it would be all about finding each voters fear and bombarding them on it.

“Self interest is always what's it about in the end.”

From my perspective, culturally we’re well apart from folk in Northern Ireland for the last 100 years. There are too many people there who don’t want to see a united ireland - and I for one don’t want to see those people forced to be part of a united ireland.

But I do think more interaction between north and south would be helpful to maintain peace and stability and understanding- and that may lead to a wish for a united ireland over many decades- but right now, no- there’s way too much baggage around - it would be a disaster and the UK would be laughing their pants off at us , relieved that they’ve finally unleashed the NI burden

I think everyone so far has overlooked the most basic of facts when it comes to how most people vote / react when change is suggested. The status quo is nearly always the default for the majority of people, unless they can see some definite positive for them personally they will tend to stick with the way things are.

And I think unification is a very, very hard sell on that front. I can't really think of any positives that I could sell to the voters if I was a politician beyond the romantiscm mentioned in another post. My suspicion is even a fair number of "nationalist" voters in the north will have second thoughts about it when it comes to an actual vote and they've had to time to see the arguments and digest them. Polls are misleading in my view on this as they are often not considered arguments but simply a yes or no question in isolation.

People mostly are resistant to change, especially if they're 'ok' as it is. The polls I can find all are suggesting at least a NO vote would win in NI by 8% which is a big number in voting terms. And that's before the politicians against it start pointing out all the negatives (real or imagined) whereas the politicians in favour = what can they point to as positives?

For me anyway personally, until NI is a functioning 'state' with 'normal' levels of civil service employment (currently it has 40% more than England) and doesn't need subventing to the tune of ~£10b (25% of it's GDP) a year, my vote would be a very quick NO.

Then there is the emergence of a new NI identity which is neighter Irish nor British.

In reality there's not.

Look at the census from 2011 and 2021.

In the national identity question the % that said "Northern Irish Only" roughly stayed the same.

20.9% in 2011, 19.8% in 2021.

Meanwhile "British Only" fell from 39.9% to 31.9% and "Irish Only" rose from 25.3% to 29.1%

By 2031 "Irish Only" will be the largest identity.

There is some small movement towards "British and Northern Irish", it went from 6.2% to 8.0%

All things being equal, give it a few more decades and that "Irish Only" number will be a major factor in convincing the UK government that a unification referendum will pass in NI.

No, some people would vote with their hearts, but the vast majority would vote with their heads. If you think the average person in Dublin is going to vote for a UI that makes their lives worse financially or otherwise, then think again.

I honestly believe you are incorrect.

The vast majority on the island will vote to keep things as they are, imperfectly perfect, it works, there is peace, there is no reason to rock that boat and upset the normality we have become accustomed to.