United Ireland, what would you give up or not give up if it where a reality?

[Myles Na G.]

People who think that the 26 counties are simply going to annex the north are living in a fantasy world. Remember that 20% of the new state will be Ulster British. I'm sure that community will have a few opinions about flags, emblems, political links with the UK and so on. If you think that this community will simply pack up and go back to where they came from (as someone on this thread helpfully suggested  ) then you have no clue as to what makes them tick. Nationalists need to get their heads round the fact that Ireland is never going to be 100% Irish in the sense that they understand it. If you're not prepared to give up that notion, then you're not ready for a united Ireland.

[Gnevin]

AS I've often said  I believe in practice the re unification process will be in the form of a Confederation of 2 "whatever you want to call them"s ...26 Cos and 6 Cos.
Stormont and the Dáil will remain in charge of a lot of internal affairs in both areas while major Foreign/Economic/ and other issues will be dealt with by the Confederacy Parliament/Governement/Executive.
The 26 can keep its number plates/bilingual road signs,€, while the 6  can have its own car registrations,tri lingual  road signs and have 2 currencies £/€ if they so wish. Also can retain Brit citizenship if they wish.
Hopefully by then the Orange Order will have become a mainly fundamentalist Protestant sect which can have colourful marches anywhere there is no controversy e.g Rossnowlagh.
One thing I'd def give up is NAMA ( the other being Mayo of course  )

That type of confederacy would never work .

[Gnevin]

I'd no problem giving up the flag ,anthem and dail to be replaced by some sort of workable regional system.

I'd even consider re-entering the commonwealth. What harm would it do? When you consider the impact it has on day to day life in the likes of Canada and  Australia.

[Maguire01]

I would not like to see further Anglisation to see this happen.

Your fighting a loosing battle there Son and it has little to do with partition.

I'd argue that it's globalisation, rather than anglicisation at this stage.

[Zulu]

Nationalists need to get their heads round the fact that Ireland is never going to be 100% Irish in the sense that they understand it. If you're not prepared to give up that notion, then you're not ready for a united Ireland.

I agree and I'd have no problem with the OO or July 12th marches, not because i agree with them necessarily or that I don't find them mildly offensive but if a part of society in a united Ireland valued them well fine, let them have it and I can ignore them. The reality is there is and always will be a unionist element in Irish society and if we want them to live and contribute to a united Ireland then we must respect that.

The battle of the Boyne had far more to do with European politics than Irish and if Unionists want to turn it into something it really wasn't that's fine with me, I'm sure we do the same with parts of our past as well. At the end of the day i just want Ireland to be united because Ulster was always part of Ireland and was never part of Britian. What type of society we have in a united Ireland should reflect the wishes and diversity of the people living here IMO.

[magickingdom]

You don't want your Country to change? Goodluck with that.

Ooh and to answer the title, I'd give up Connacht.

If your from the North its not yours to give up. Its up to us, if we want you.

really? people from the north are as irish as you whether you like it or not and are entitled to be under our constitution and the gfa. i'd give up connacht too

[stew]

I'd even consider living in Down again if it meant a United Ireland.



The unionists would be a large minority and i am sure that far from having to move away back to where they came from as some muppet suggested earlier they would find themselves simply civilians and their background would be part of who they are and would reflect the fact that they are a big part of our history, they could also rest assured that they would be treated a whole pile better than we were treated living unbder british rule, in short we would all be equals.

[Bud Wiser]

I'd no problem giving up the flag ,anthem and dail to be replaced by some sort of workable regional system.

I'd even consider re-entering the commonwealth. What harm would it do? When you consider the impact it has on day to day life in the likes of Canada and  Australia.

Are you gone stark raving mad gnevin ? 

[Gnevin]

I'd no problem giving up the flag ,anthem and dail to be replaced by some sort of workable regional system.

I'd even consider re-entering the commonwealth. What harm would it do? When you consider the impact it has on day to day life in the likes of Canada and  Australia.

Are you gone stark raving mad gnevin ?

It wouldn't be my preferred option of a UI but it is was the only stumbling block left would you say no?

[bennydorano]

In fact I don't want my country to change & I expect it to be a case of the current Irish State expanding to take control of the entire island rather than a unification of two different political entities. I know this is selfish, but this seems to be the view of the majority of my friends, who come predominantly from Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, Laois, and Kildare & Wexford.

Might seem strange but the ROI, in it's current state and even before the crash, wouldn't be accpetable to me any any form.  I've always thought it a brown-envelope loving corrupt state.  Never mind Unionism, subsumation of the North by the ROI would be totally unacceptable to me, I would want totally new structures.  Federalism would have to be essential to begin with IMO.

[brokencrossbar1]

The funny thing about a unification of whatever order is that the Unionsists would actually have more power in Government than they do now.  Imagine the scenario that you have a general election where the 3 largest partis are FF, FG and a Unionist party.  It is not a big jump to see a coalition between the Blueshirts and the Unionists.  What you actually might find is that you would see a proper development of party politics in Ireland as a more conservative, right wing party might develop(more likely FG) with FF holding the centre(or wherever the envelope is dropped) and Labour becoming stronger.  The Unionist swould then be in a position to actually influence national policy as opposed to regional issues.

[J70]

Why would you want federalism in a tiny country where much of the activity and a large minority of the population gravitates towards Dublin? What responsibilities would be taken on by these federal subdivisions? 

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

I'd give up the amount I owe to the Glasgow based student loans company!

As for the 3 largest parties being FF, FG and "Unionists"... which Unionists? I could see why some would envisage a united Unionist party, I would doubt it. The predictable backlash of loyalist violence would stretch the spectrum of opinion within Unionism wide. By the time unification becomes realistically possible, the Nationalist contingent will be similar in size to the Unionist one anyway. Then again, a united Ireland is something every Unionist will be comfortable saying "No" to.

The paradox will be... how comfortable will Sinn Fein giving up their considerable powers in Stormont (by this stage) to play a minor role in Dublin. I just can't see SF making the breakthrough in the south they predict.

[Puckoon]

You just have to ask yourself How Irish r u?

No you don't. The is no definition of being Irish other than being from Ireland.

So if you down there don't accept the 6 counties in to your Irish Republic do you consider me Irish or British? Thats the question.....And would you vote for a United Ireland?

You really dont know how much it would mean to people up here to live in "Ireland"....I hope I'm still alive to see it some day!

Im from Tyrone, I consider that Ireland. Ive an irish passport. As far as Im concerned I already live in "Ireland" (when im there). No amount of changes to HS, currency, government, policy, or borderlines would change that for me.

[mylestheslasher]

In fact I don't want my country to change & I expect it to be a case of the current Irish State expanding to take control of the entire island rather than a unification of two different political entities. I know this is selfish, but this seems to be the view of the majority of my friends, who come predominantly from Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, Laois, and Kildare & Wexford.

Might seem strange but the ROI, in it's current state and even before the crash, wouldn't be accpetable to me any any form.  I've always thought it a brown-envelope loving corrupt state.  Never mind Unionism, subsumation of the North by the ROI would be totally unacceptable to me, I would want totally new structures.  Federalism would have to be essential to begin with IMO.

So if there was a referendum in the morning you'd vote no to reuniting Ireland? In answer to the thread title there is pretty much nothing I wouldn't give to reunite this country. To give a simple answer to why, it is simply a matter of righting wrongs and finishing the work of the thousands that died for this country to be free from the meddling of a foreign country. I will add that I want our unionist/protestant people to be apart of this country and to be happy to be in it. I don't mind their orange marches as long as they are not intentionally confrontational, I would change the national anthem if they wanted (as it is a 26 county anthem), I would consider changing our flag even though it is a perfect flag of peace between two religions. There are some things that transend personal wealth like righting 800 years of being occupied or partially occupied. To be honest, I am disgusted that any irishman would talk about the "cost" of reunification as being a reason to be against it.