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[The hit job on Sturgeon over the last few weeks demonstrates this, they'd do anything to try and bury Scottish independence]

Little Englanders and Little Englander media do care about the Union

The hit job on Sturgeon over the last few weeks demonstrates this, they'd do anything to try and bury Scottish independence

But they don't care about the people in other parts of the Union

They see the other parts of the Union as England's plaything, as a sort of Greater England, as lebensraum

It's another version of have cake and eat it

I hear you're a Little Englander now, Alex Salmond? 

RTE had to pay out 20k just last week because of what that far right troll I won't name said when he was on PrimeTime recently

They didn't have to. There is no such thing in law as defaming a political party.  RTE freely chose to pay out that money.

Oh I did read beyond the headline

Literally nobody says Ireland is remotely near being perfect or anything like it but we are demonstrably a very successful state and one of the best places in the world to live

You claimed that "The UN ranks Ireland second in the world for quality of life" based on a very limited and flawed study.

Ireland did rank second in the UN Human Development Index

But that doesn't satisfy you because apparently you're the expert in how to run a world Human Development Index

Forget the UN one, yours is the real one to trust, even if it's written in the back of a stamp

Oops looks like I hit a nerve. For all our supposed sophistication, a surprising number of our people get ratty when our "best little country in the world" myth gets punctured. If they got half as ratty about our almost-once-a-decade average of serious recessions, or our poor infrastructure and social services, we'd have a much better country.

Oh I did read beyond the headline

Literally nobody says Ireland is remotely near being perfect or anything like it but we are demonstrably a very successful state and one of the best places in the world to live

You claimed that "The UN ranks Ireland second in the world for quality of life" based on a very limited and flawed study.

[The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita.]

It's a quality of life index - the clue is in the name - "Human Development"

It takes into account the whole population and their quality of life and their ability to have quality of life

Next time, try reading beyond the headline.

http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi

The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth, the education dimension is measured by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age. The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita. The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GNI. The scores for the three HDI dimension indices are then aggregated into a composite index using geometric mean. Refer to Technical notes for more details.

The HDI simplifies and captures only part of what human development entails. It does not reflect on inequalities, poverty, human security, empowerment, etc. The HDRO offers the other composite indices as broader proxy on some of the key issues of human development, inequality, gender disparity and poverty.

Are you claiming Ireland is a failed state?

I didn't make that claim. But it is certainly an underperfomer, lacking a lot of what most other Western European countries take for granted. Most especially the ability to withstand periodic economic downturns without significant social and economic harm.

The UN ranks Ireland second in the world for quality of life

Some "failed state", eh 

https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-un-human-development-index-2019-5303638-Dec2020/#:~:text=Switzerland%2C%20Hong%20Kong%2C%20Iceland%2C,the%20highest%20in%20the%20world.

That index was heavily skewed by gross national income per capita, which is grossly inflated by the multinationals' leprechaun economics.

[he cessation of two failed states on this island to one which is a more fairer and equitable society]

The Free State is what I refer to it as, the island is partitioned into two states. If you are a republican then I'm sure you resent the free state as much as I do and what to bring about the cessation of two failed states on this island to one which is a more fairer and equitable society.

Are you sure you can make a silk purse from a sow's ear? Or more exactly two sows' ears?

This isn't a suitable reason to maintain a loss making service though.

In my experience even the most technically illiterate and unwilling of older people can successfully book flights from anywhere to anywhere, and not fall for the legion of add-on traps the airlines employ. None of same people yearn for a day where they'd spend an hour querying in a travel agency to then find out that the only available flights are twice as expensive as they thought they'd be.

Same will apply to online banking. Unless you run a cash business it's a truly remarkable improvement on traditional banking.

Very true. Whatever about internet banking, most people have been using the internet for one thing or another for the guts of 20 years now. Everyone old enough has been using ATMs and credit cards since at least the 1990s. They all seem to get by OK, and they will get by fine without bank branches too.

Stays open would be a better yardstick

Quite.

Ni Fully vaccinated 31,000

Republic Fully vaccinated 113,291

I know maths don't tend to be a strong point of Unionism or suit the narrative the likes of Paisley are peddling

But it looks like NI is lagging behind in the number of Fully vaccinated in comparison to the Republic

Let's see which of NI or the Republic opens up first.

Up for debate but likely a temporary blip in the grand Economic scheme. The main Economic argument was / is cutting yourself off from the single market and the friction that that will bring, the trade deal is a piss poor replacement.

I know but it also relied upon the assumption that the single market was being run competently. This assumption is now weaker than it was at Christmas.

[the Economic self harm argument remains exactly the same.]

Shows the difference some really poor Politicing makes, the Economic self harm argument remains exactly the same.

Has the EU's vaccination nightmare not punctured a large hole in that argument?

[Recent polls in Scotland indicate that a solid 63% would vote in a referendum to return to the EU.]

So far, everything Johnson has done has boosted the drive in support for independence.  Appointing Cummings, the brains behind the Brexit campaign,  into a  save the union campaign in a country which has voted 62% to remain,  would likely inspire a particular revolting effect. Recent polls in Scotland indicate that a solid 63% would vote in a referendum  to return to the EU.

Before or after the vaccine fiasco?

I presume you're in the north? In the south, the Gardai are everywhere.

I ain't seen them

But it's good to know they're out there

As they should be

You mustn't be getting out much.

Not that much - as a socially conscious individual, I adhere to restrictions

Same here. Work, a few shops and that's it for me. And still the Gardai are everywhere.

I presume you're in the north? In the south, the Gardai are everywhere.

I ain't seen them

But it's good to know they're out there

As they should be

You mustn't be getting out much.