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

[Son_of_Sam]

I was just wondering what each of the major groups in a United Ireland would feel they where giving up & what they would & would not be willing to give up, for the few Unionist Northerners that seem to pass through here I would ask them to pretend that a legitimate vote of the people had brought this about (its only hypothetical).

I reckon the major groups would be Southerners, Northern Nationalists, Northern Unionists, and Immigrants (to either region)

This is something people need to think about if we want to ever re-unify this Island. I thought of this because of the very different views on life being expressed by people North & South of the border re the Hunger Strikers thread. Note this is NOT intended as another Hunger Striker Thread. Even for people born a few miles south of the border they seem to be expressing views closer to Cork men than Tyrone men, has the border created two very different types of Irish nationalist with a different moral map.

I personally would hate to give up institutions such as the Gardai, the Southern Education system, the Euro currency, the general abhorrence to terrorism & the close unity between Catholic, Protestant & Dissenter South of the border. I would hate to give up Dail Eireann & the Seanad (but might be willing to give up as few of its current members) I would despise the thought of Mayo losing yet another seat in the Dail. I would hate to see Connacht even further marginalised & ignored by the re-introduction of the 6 counties. I would hate to see Irish taken off the compulsory curriculum. I would hate to see infrastructure projects in the West being put back to 40 years rather than the 20-25 year promises we now get.

A Northern Irish/UK style NHS is the only thing I would welcome, but we cannot afford it.

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.

[Zapatista]

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

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

[Son_of_Sam]

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.

[The Watcher Pat]

Its not the way you think it would be.....Imagine the payoff's from the UK if they handed over the same way as Hong Kong a few yrs ago...Yes the HS is better up here but theres the people who run it that would be great to run a all ireland HS....Believe me I work in the Civil service up North and i would love to see our country united even if it ultimately cost me my job!!!  I can get another one but i may not live long enuf to see my country united....You just have to ask yourself How Irish r u?

[Zapatista]

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.

[The Watcher Pat]

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!

[Zapatista]

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

Ok sorry. I'd give up smoking then.

[Son_of_Sam]

Its not the way you think it would be.....Imagine the payoff's from the UK if they handed over the same way as Hong Kong a few yrs ago...Yes the HS is better up here but theres the people who run it that would be great to run a all ireland HS....Believe me I work in the Civil service up North and i would love to see our country united even if it ultimately cost me my job!!!  I can get another one but i may not live long enuf to see my country united....You just have to ask yourself How Irish r u?

I am Irish. I have no problems or questions about that. Well at least you are showing something that you could contribute to an expanded Irish State. I look to the way East Germany crippled the West. Two years ago this was a concern to me, now it is a major concern with the Irish state already in trouble even without the economic burnden of re-unification. Good luck to you if you will find a new job in a new State that needs less people to do the same jobs, some of us had to emmigrate.

[Son_of_Sam]

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

Ok sorry. I'd give up smoking then.

Sorry, that was a red rag to a bull reaction of me.

[Zulu]

I want to see a United Ireland and I'd be willing to take on whatever financial scarifices are necessary to make this a reality. In fact there is nothing I wouldn't give up to see it become a reality.

[Son_of_Sam]

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!

On the question of you being Irish, of course you are, you are only British if you think you are, which I doubht you do. On the second question about voting on a United Ireland I would like to say yes, but I would need to know what it would cost us economicaly, political & socially. Actually as an acceptable alternative to the Irish State expanding to make everything up there like down here, would only like to see it if we could have each province to have a type of statehood within an Irish Federation. Let Connacht run Connachts affairs and the other Provinces theirs, I would have that Gas & Oil straight onshore and straight into the Connacht economy. Use the gas money to help beneift places like North West Mayo, Leitrim, North Roscommon, East Mayo etc. Yes now I sound like a certain faction of another branch of Republicans but sometimes good ideas come from the strangest places.

[The Watcher Pat]

Its not the way you think it would be.....Imagine the payoff's from the UK if they handed over the same way as Hong Kong a few yrs ago...Yes the HS is better up here but theres the people who run it that would be great to run a all ireland HS....Believe me I work in the Civil service up North and i would love to see our country united even if it ultimately cost me my job!!!  I can get another one but i may not live long enuf to see my country united....You just have to ask yourself How Irish r u?

I am Irish. I have no problems or questions about that. Well at least you are showing something that you could contribute to an expanded Irish State. I look to the way East Germany crippled the West. Two years ago this was a concern to me, now it is a major concern with the Irish state already in trouble even without the economic burnden of re-unification. Good luck to you if you will find a new job in a new State that needs less people to do the same jobs, some of us had to emmigrate.

Some of my friends had to emigrate as well.....I have mates all over the world...

In fact I lived in NY myself for a while myself but got homesick.....

You really wanna live up here for a while and then you would really appreciate the freedom you have..... When I was 18 i worked in a country bar that was a "easy target" so to speak.....Have been shot at, blast bomb threw at tha bar door and a man murdered about 400 yrds down the road......Its great now there's peace. My sisters just had a wee child to a protestant fella( Great guy BTW) and our family and his get on great......Would never have happened 10-15 yrs ago...so looks llike its getting better!

[Son_of_Sam]

I want to see a United Ireland and I'd be willing to take on whatever financial scarifices are necessary to make this a reality. In fact there is nothing I wouldn't give up to see it become a reality.

Things I would not give up, but would you?

I would not give up our status as a Republic free of the Commonwealth, would you rejoin it? I would hate that to happen.
I would not have the South join the United Kingdom to see iit happend, would you?
I would not put any Royal symbol or Union Jack on the Irish flag to see reunification (Yes I know what the Orange stands for)
I would not like to see further Anglisation to see this happen.

[The Watcher Pat]

Thats all the things your trying to get away from....Why would you give that up?

People from the North here wouldn't even compromise that much!

[SLIGONIAN]

I want to see a United Ireland and I'd be willing to take on whatever financial scarifices are necessary to make this a reality. In fact there is nothing I wouldn't give up to see it become a reality.

Seconded, we would financially recover eventually from re unification. Look at the peace down South 3 generations on from the early 1900s.

Would the unionists stick around and cause trouble or would they be peaceful with regards a United Ireland? I suppose if they didnt like it they could go back where they came from . I wonder would a United Ireland mean no more oo marches...