A United Ireland. Opening up the discussion.

[armaghniac]

If you phoned PaddyPower and asked for the odds that NI would have more charges for health in 2030 than the 26 counties, I wouldn't have thought that you would get great odds.

Your average punter in the 6 counties thinks that I might be €2000 better off in a UI, but I am going to reject that because I might have to pay the doctor €200.

Is the doctor giving you a happy ending?

That shows how done people's minds work. I was thínking of 3 visits in the year.

[imtommygunn]

The NHS here is couped. It is in england though moreso here. I read some more stats today. Apparently we are the highest cost per head however england and scotland don't include social care in their stats.

It is hard to know how long it can go on. I was reading a thread on twitter there from a person in the ambulance service talking about people dying waiting etc. It is completely broken and anyone who thinks that they'll have a better health care service in the UK is kidding themselves. It is honestly moving towards third world kind of service for first world money.

[seafoid]

The NHS here is couped. It is in england though moreso here. I read some more stats today. Apparently we are the highest cost per head however england and scotland don't include social care in their stats.

It is hard to know how long it can go on. I was reading a thread on twitter there from a person in the ambulance service talking about people dying waiting etc. It is completely broken and anyone who thinks that they'll have a better health care service in the UK is kidding themselves. It is honestly moving towards third world kind of service for first world money.

https://philipstephens.substack.com/p/the-state-britain-is-in
The spike in energy prices provided the spark for the present wave of strikes across public services, but the breakdown is structural. It mirrors wilful neglect and underfunding.

[seafoid]

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/107-hours-longest-wait-to-be-admitted-as-hundreds-attend-northern-irelands-emergency-departments-42236287.html
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/health-bosses-introduce-new-rules-to-help-deeply-distressing-pressures-on-northern-ireland-hospitals-42230491.html

Meanwhile the UK economy is slowly  dying which is bad news for Unionism

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/1222/1343279-uk-economy-figures/
"Even if the UK economy avoids a recession - and today's revisions make that harder - it is likely that at least consumer spending and incomes will be falling in Q4 and into 2023," said Elizabeth Martins, senior economist at HSBC.

[seafoid]

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/0115/1346769-united-ireland-is-going-to-look-different-kielty/

[seafoid]

On the 12th of July loyalists burn tricolours and re-enact the Battle of the Boyne in places such as Scarva. The poor craythurs.
In a United Ireland could these rituals be moved to County Meath, to the real thing? Or would the victory of Protestantism over Catholic absolutism
be rendered pointless by a United Ireland ?

[general_lee]

On the 12th of July loyalists burn tricolours and re-enact the Battle of the Boyne in places such as Scarva. The poor craythurs.
In a United Ireland could these rituals be moved to County Meath, to the real thing? Or would the victory of Protestantism over Catholic absolutism
be rendered pointless by a United Ireland ?

Half of them don't know what they're celebrating so it's already pointless

[seafoid]

Bullshit in the Irish Times

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/01/28/two-thirds-of-people-in-republic-have-no-friends-in-northern-ireland-survey-shows/
"Two-thirds of people in the Republic say they have no friends in Northern Ireland, more than 80 per cent say they have no relations there"

"Northerners are more likely to have connections with the South than vice versa,".
"Still more than half of the people in Northern Ireland say they have no friends in the Republic".

[dec]

Bullshit in the Irish Times

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/01/28/two-thirds-of-people-in-republic-have-no-friends-in-northern-ireland-survey-shows/
"Two-thirds of people in the Republic say they have no friends in Northern Ireland, more than 80 per cent say they have no relations there"

"Northerners are more likely to have connections with the South than vice versa,".
"Still more than half of the people in Northern Ireland say they have no friends in the Republic".

What makes you think it's bullshit?

[seafoid]

Bullshit in the Irish Times

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/01/28/two-thirds-of-people-in-republic-have-no-friends-in-northern-ireland-survey-shows/
"Two-thirds of people in the Republic say they have no friends in Northern Ireland, more than 80 per cent say they have no relations there"

"Northerners are more likely to have connections with the South than vice versa,".
"Still more than half of the people in Northern Ireland say they have no friends in the Republic".

What makes you think it's bullshit?

Because if you have a fixed number of friendships, the jurisdiction with the larger number of people will have a smaller percentage of friendships. This bit is really stupid.
Basing an analysis on relations is stupid. Because it is not a good metric. It doesn't change much over time. It doesn't tell us anything relevant.
A lot of the dynamics are driven by geography. I wouldn't expect a massive percentage of people in Kerry to have relations in Louth or Monaghan either. Relations are local or in Dublin for most people.

And " more than half of the people in Northern Ireland say they have no friends in the Republic" would be what you would expect under partition from Unionists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVMgtv9oIM4&t=58s

[Rossfan]

Unionists still hankering after "the good old days 1922-67"

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/a-majority-of-unionists-would-vote-against-1998-good-friday-agreement-today/43633102.html

[seafoid]

In a UI how many teams from the North would make it into an all Ireland soccer  Premier Division of say 12?

[Wildweasel74]

Maybe 2, 3 at the most, they way behind the Republic in a financial setting with only Linfield at a low level semi professional.

[An Watcher]

The standard in the IFA is nowhere near as good as the FAI.  I think this has been highlighted in European progression recently

[armaghniac]

Perhaps the whole IFA could enter one team, called our wee country, and preserve the memory of the good old days.