I am Pro-union

[Lady GAA GAA]

I've given this some serious thought over the past few months after having a heated discussion with a friend a month or two back. On that particular day I told him I didn't really see much point in the end of partition apart from for romantic reasons. He wasn't able to put forward many pragmatic reasons for the sake of his argument.

Now at the time I didn't give the issue much though,for I've a shocking habit of being contrary for the sake of it. But as I read more about the plight if our southern friends, I question more and more what exactly a fella like me would gain for it? Nationalism in the north is a quaint notion; I shudder and cringe on st patricks day when for some reason young 'nationalists' choose to celebrate our patron saint by donning their Celtic or Ireland jersey and carrying a tri-colour around with them. What's that all about? I'd say very few of them could provide compelling reasons why Ireland should be one again.  On a similar note the promotion of the Irish language in the north is is a complete farce and is only used for petty tribal political reasons. The whole idea of nationalism held by those of us in Northern Ireland is a sham, 99% ate nationalist in name only.

The whole thing has started to sicken me. I've more in common with British people than those cowards down south that sold us down the river and largely continue their ambivalence towards the plight of their so called countrymen above the border.

The thing that finally made the whole thing click for me was the approach of this world cup. I don't mind the fact that the republic didn't qualify and I'm looking forward to throwing my weight behind the English. This is in stark contrast to say 2002 when I found englands failure hilarious and couldn't get enough of Duffer and his merry band. It brought the whole thing home to roost: I no longer wish to consider myself Irish. It makes no sense anyway,being governed by the British and opting to carry around a Irish passport.

So no longer will I be one to cry when any Irish team suffers yet another glorious defeat in any code, no longer will I take an interest in the ramshackle Republic,no longer will I ignore the blatently obvious fact that I am a Brit.

So when 'Ireland' and England meet again in the Six (should tthat be seven?) Nations,I'll be getting behind Martin Johnsons boysand turning my back on decades of decades of cowardice shown by the Irish.

It's been nice enough but today I say goodbye Ireland,hello Britain.

[muppet]

You do know that Britain's economy is in even worse shape than the Irish one?







Welcome back.

[The Real Laoislad]

You'll be a tremendous loss.....

[Nally Stand]

I've given this some serious thought over the past few months after having a heated discussion with a friend a month or two back. On that particular day I told him I didn't really see much point in the end of partition apart from for romantic reasons. He wasn't able to put forward many pragmatic reasons for the sake of his argument.

Now at the time I didn't give the issue much though,for I've a shocking habit of being contrary for the sake of it. But as I read more about the plight if our southern friends, I question more and more what exactly a fella like me would gain for it? Nationalism in the north is a quaint notion; I shudder and cringe on st patricks day when for some reason young 'nationalists' choose to celebrate our patron saint by donning their Celtic or Ireland jersey and carrying a tri-colour around with them. What's that all about? I'd say very few of them could provide compelling reasons why Ireland should be one again.  On a similar note the promotion of the Irish language in the north is is a complete farce and is only used for petty tribal political reasons. The whole idea of nationalism held by those of us in Northern Ireland is a sham, 99% ate nationalist in name only.

The whole thing has started to sicken me. I've more in common with British people than those cowards down south that sold us down the river and largely continue their ambivalence towards the plight of their so called countrymen above the border.

The thing that finally made the whole thing click for me was the approach of this world cup. I don't mind the fact that the republic didn't qualify and I'm looking forward to throwing my weight behind the English. This is in stark contrast to say 2002 when I found englands failure hilarious and couldn't get enough of Duffer and his merry band. It brought the whole thing home to roost: I no longer wish to consider myself Irish. It makes no sense anyway,being governed by the British and opting to carry around a Irish passport.

So no longer will I be one to cry when any Irish team suffers yet another glorious defeat in any code, no longer will I take an interest in the ramshackle Republic,no longer will I ignore the blatently obvious fact that I am a Brit.

So when 'Ireland' and England meet again in the Six (should tthat be seven?) Nations,I'll be getting behind Martin Johnsons boysand turning my back on decades of decades of cowardice shown by the Irish.

It's been nice enough but today I say goodbye Ireland,hello Britain.

[Lady GAA GAA]

You'll be a tremendous loss.....

says the man who is always at pains to refute his plastic support of Liverpool fc, and stress his close links to he city. Stop living your lie. If you were lucky enough to be born on my side of the border you'd be British too.

Also meant to say in the OP that it's time people started recognising Northern Irish as a distinct nationality. I'd like to see a Northern Ireland free of the petty politics that currently dictate. More focus should be paid to advancing the interests of our country,rather than half focusing almost solely on ending partition and the other half stopping them. Time we started looking out for ourselves.

I'm pro-Union but even more pro-Northern Ireland.

[Nally Stand]

[The Subbie]

I've given this some serious thought over the past few months after having a heated discussion with a friend a month or two back. On that particular day I told him I didn't really see much point in the end of partition apart from for romantic reasons. He wasn't able to put forward many pragmatic reasons for the sake of his argument.

Now at the time I didn't give the issue much though,for I've a shocking habit of being contrary for the sake of it. But as I read more about the plight if our southern friends, I question more and more what exactly a fella like me would gain for it? Nationalism in the north is a quaint notion; I shudder and cringe on st patricks day when for some reason young 'nationalists' choose to celebrate our patron saint by donning their Celtic or Ireland jersey and carrying a tri-colour around with them. What's that all about? I'd say very few of them could provide compelling reasons why Ireland should be one again.  On a similar note the promotion of the Irish language in the north is is a complete farce and is only used for petty tribal political reasons. The whole idea of nationalism held by those of us in Northern Ireland is a sham, 99% ate nationalist in name only.

The whole thing has started to sicken me. I've more in common with British people than those cowards down south that sold us down the river and largely continue their ambivalence towards the plight of their so called countrymen above the border.

The thing that finally made the whole thing click for me was the approach of this world cup. I don't mind the fact that the republic didn't qualify and I'm looking forward to throwing my weight behind the English. This is in stark contrast to say 2002 when I found englands failure hilarious and couldn't get enough of Duffer and his merry band. It brought the whole thing home to roost: I no longer wish to consider myself Irish. It makes no sense anyway,being governed by the British and opting to carry around a Irish passport.

So no longer will I be one to cry when any Irish team suffers yet another glorious defeat in any code, no longer will I take an interest in the ramshackle Republic,no longer will I ignore the blatently obvious fact that I am a Brit.

So when 'Ireland' and England meet again in the Six (should tthat be seven?) Nations,I'll be getting behind Martin Johnsons boysand turning my back on decades of decades of cowardice shown by the Irish.

It's been nice enough but today I say goodbye Ireland,hello Britain.

WUM

[Lady GAA GAA]

You're more coherent than usual Nally Stand,despite the fact you've haven't typed a word.

[A Quinn Martin Production]

I've given this some serious thought over the past few months after having a heated discussion with a friend a month or two back. On that particular day I told him I didn't really see much point in the end of partition apart from for romantic reasons. He wasn't able to put forward many pragmatic reasons for the sake of his argument.

Now at the time I didn't give the issue much though,for I've a shocking habit of being contrary for the sake of it. But as I read more about the plight if our southern friends, I question more and more what exactly a fella like me would gain for it? Nationalism in the north is a quaint notion; I shudder and cringe on st patricks day when for some reason young 'nationalists' choose to celebrate our patron saint by donning their Celtic or Ireland jersey and carrying a tri-colour around with them. What's that all about? I'd say very few of them could provide compelling reasons why Ireland should be one again.  On a similar note the promotion of the Irish language in the north is is a complete farce and is only used for petty tribal political reasons. The whole idea of nationalism held by those of us in Northern Ireland is a sham, 99% ate nationalist in name only.
The whole thing has started to sicken me. I've more in common with British people than those cowards down south that sold us down the river and largely continue their ambivalence towards the plight of their so called countrymen above the border.

The thing that finally made the whole thing click for me was the approach of this world cup. I don't mind the fact that the republic didn't qualify and I'm looking forward to throwing my weight behind the English. This is in stark contrast to say 2002 when I found englands failure hilarious and couldn't get enough of Duffer and his merry band. It brought the whole thing home to roost: I no longer wish to consider myself Irish. It makes no sense anyway,being governed by the British and opting to carry around a Irish passport.

So no longer will I be one to cry when any Irish team suffers yet another glorious defeat in any code, no longer will I take an interest in the ramshackle Republic,no longer will I ignore the blatently obvious fact that I am a Brit.

So when 'Ireland' and England meet again in the Six (should tthat be seven?) Nations,I'll be getting behind Martin Johnsons boysand turning my back on decades of decades of cowardice shown by the Irish.

It's been nice enough but today I say goodbye Ireland,hello Britain.

I've never (knowingly) eaten a nationalist

[ziggysego]

So when 'Ireland' and England meet again in the Six (should tthat be seven?) Nations,I'll be getting behind Martin Johnsons boysand turning my back on decades of decades of cowardice shown by the Irish.

You had me up until this point. Being pro-Union doesn't mean you support England. Ask any Unionists.

Did you watch Spotlight last night? It was about the future of Unionism in the north? Interesting programme.

[Lady GAA GAA]

I feel no allegiance to norn iron in the soccer zig due to the sectarianism. Rugby- can't get behind Ireland at all. On another note- if the all-Ireland was done away with and the 6 counties competed for a title,it could bring an added dimension to GAA imo. Could also go some way to ameliorating Unionist/Protestant attitudes towards GAA.

What was the craic with spotlight,didn't see it

[ziggysego]

What was the craic with spotlight,didn't see it

It was about the fears Unionists have of Sinn Fein topping the polls at the Stormont elections next year. They topped the European and Westminster elections in recent times and current thrends are showing they are on course to be the largest party in the Assembly next year, which would mean that Martin McGuinness would be the First Minister of the north.

With this in mind, it was about realigning Unionism into becoming one single party, like before or creating a formal election pact to ensure that Unionisms is still the top dog at Stormont.

They interviewed the ordinary folks of East Belfast about this and a lot of people said they would find it difficult to stomach a Sinn Fein FM. However, they also said it wouldn't be their biggest current in the new Stormont term. They are fed up with Unionism and their backward message here. It's all about stopping Sinn Fein and securing the Union. They want more now, more bread and butter issuses being fought for. No longer will they vote for someone purely become of the Union Flag on their election campaign. They want a positive message being told about Unionism. Not just to them, but the wider community in the north.

[Shamrock Shore]

those cowards down south that sold us down the river

Please elaborate.

[Billys Boots]

Ah shite, I opened this looking forward to scoring some cheap points at the expense of a SIPTU hack and what do I find - an argument so old, lazy and tired that Tony wouldn't dream of joining in.   

[Nally Stand]

On another note- if the all-Ireland was done away with and the 6 counties competed for a title,it could bring an added dimension to GAA imo. Could also go some way to ameliorating Unionist/Protestant attitudes towards GAA.