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

I do remember Pinochet being caught for (cancer?) treatment in the UK. He said "Dipolmatic immunity", I was wondering why the UK when he was within the grasp of the International Court of Human Rights and Interpol, left him off soft. After the Falklands Conflict, the Falklands had the best road and shortest waiting lists on the NHS in the UK. The Falklands outsources its more serious health care for locals to Paraguay/Uraguay. There is an Air Force Radar installation and at least a Company of Marines on rotation there, it used to be a Platoon.

The Roman Catholic Church was an entity unto itself back. If you ever met a member of (*shudders*) Opus Dei, my blood run cold, they are outside the law to this day.

You wrote (post number 232) that "Like anywhere there is a binding international agreement the sitting government will present a White Paper ('formal' proposal detailing their plan. That you don't know this is pretty poor."

What you said is there in black and white. You made two erroneous factual statements about White Papers. You claimed another had poor knowledge because he differed with you.

What you are now saying is completely different, and is also factually incorrect. A Unity referendum has absolutely nothing to do with a formal proposal made by the Irish government, it is the responsibility of the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Irish government, Sinn Fein, you or anyone else can jump up and down, sing and dance, write White Papers, make formal proposals, but nothing happens without a decision from the British. That is a fact, not an opinion or expectation.

There is no guarantee there will ever be a referendum. And certainly no guarantee there will ever be "a white paper".

No guarantees about the sun rising tomorrow but it likely will because it did yesterday. And in every referendum I know of, the Irish government made a formal proposal on what they wanted.

Who believes they won't if a UI referendum is called? And why would you think that?

Where is the White Paper on the 40th Amendment?

On the 39th Amendment?

On divorce?

On blasphemy and the Presidential election?

I can't find any White Paper in relation to any of the last five referendum.

Already clarified this. I think it will be a White Paper because of how much will need to be included in it.

One way or another it will certainly be a 'formal' proposal.

You claimed that a referendum on unity required a formal proposal by the Irish government. 

I didn't.I said, if there is a referendum there will be a formal proposal by the Irish government.
Please stop altering what is said.

How do you know this?

Are you part of a group working on it?

The work/contributory pensions thing is very clear. There are rules over this and pensions are accured benefits, so hard to change. UK public sector pensioners will still be paid from the UK public service pension scheme and UK contributory pensioners will also still be paid by the UK. Same as any UK pensioner who currently lives in Ireland or elsewhere outside the UK.

I was watching a documentary on the Blair / Brown saga that went on during Tony Blair's period in power and was surprised that in it he (Blair) is supposed to have said to his cabinet or officials after the handover of Hong Cong "Lets not loose anymore territory - we can't loose anymore territory". This coming from the man who spearheaded the good friday agreement. If that was his thinking then just imagine what more conservative hardliners were / are thinking now.

Brexit was all about a subconscious desire to bring back the glory days of empire when the UK was a world power in much the same way Mussolini wanted to bring back the glory days of the Roman empire - and we all know where he ended up.

So there is still that mindset in the UK. Scottish independence can now only be voted on again if the London government agree to it - my point being that even if the majority in the north want a united Ireland that is no guarantee that the UK will even allow a vote on it and even if they do and it passes I am sure it will be a very diluted form of independence with the british wanting ports and sovereign military bases Cyprus style before it agrees to it.

I have read the Annexes to the GFA, and they contain a list of things that can be done under the GFA without any referendum.

The GFA and the Annexes are completely silent on what needs to be done for a referendum, other than some looking into his heart by the British Secretary of State. In fact, if I recall correctly, and it may not have been raised on here before, a Court Case in Northern Ireland has already said that the SoS doesn't need to do any preparation or set any criteria, they can just decide.

https://www.judiciaryni.uk/files/judiciaryni/decisions/Raymond%20McCord%E2%80%99s%20Application%20Border%20Poll.pdf

Here it is, the Raymond McCord case.

"The rationality of the decision is clear given what was agreed in the Multi-PartyAgreement and in the British-Irish Agreement. Those agreements did not specifythat a policy was required rather two sovereign governments and the political parties invested the power in the respondent without any constraints."

The courts were absolutely clear, it has nothing to do with British government, it has nothing to do with the Irish government, it is up to the Secretary of State to decide if a Border Poll is justified. All the nonsense that we see from people calling for a Border Poll or for preparations, is just nonsense. It isn't required anywhere.

So you think that in the event of a U.I. the Dublin government should buy assets off the UK government, like railway stations, seaports and airports, hospitals, universities, schools, military bases, government buildings, roads etc. Interesting. I'd say if FrancieBrady and his SF comrades lived to 100 they could not work out a price on that.

During the Scottish referendum it became clear that an independent  Scottish state would  become responsible for a fair and proportionate share of the UK's current liabilities, perhaps 8%.

If N.I. became responsible for just 2% of UK national debt that could be the best part of 80 billion? Who would pay the interest on that per year in a U.I.? At least a few billion per year?

You'd need to rob a good few banks to accumulate that.

I think you are quoting the wrong poster.

Bit difficult when herself has long since departed.