There you are,Nolan /RTE poll tonight

[muppet]

what a complete utter waste of time 

very few people, if any, mentioned one of the main reasons it will never happen.
the simple fact that the UK government is better than ours!
free healthcare, better schools, the pound is way better than the euro. etc things like bins/water etc is all paid in one fairly priced lumpsum, where as here, we pay for all that separately, bins, fire services/ambulances etc all paid separately and we are rode for everything. why would anyone up north want to go away from what they have to something worse??! im sure there are a few up north who would think about a United Ireland if they could keep the conditions they have or get better, but that wont happen!
sure, they have their own issues with government but not to the extent we have it!

i would love to see a United Ireland but it aint gona happen!!

Have you spent much time in the UK?

The bits that I have seen are holes. The average standard of living seems to be a lot lower, just eyeballing the towns I've been in. Some things are better, possibly healthcare, but schools? I work with a lot of English educated lads and I don't see any evidence of a superior education system. Far from it.

As for the pound being better than the euro. How have you come to this conclusion?

Your post is a rant against the government here, fair enough. But it is very easy to find people in the UK who will give the exact same rant. The UK economy is generated mainly by London. Large parts of rest of it are a mess.

+1.
And by the time the current Brit Government leaves office things will be a lot worse for the poorer people and areas.

+1

so let me get this straight, as far as governments go, you all think that Enda Kenny and co, or Fianna FAIL before them, are better than the UK government?!?

and how would you come to the conclusion that the pound is NOT stronger than the euro??

its not necessarily a rant about our government, its highlighting that if i was living in the north, i would not like to join the current quagmire that is Irish politics!
i also have relatives in the UK as most here probably would, one in particular who was pretty much raised over there but is living here now due to family reasons. he can not believe how we pay for things like bins/fire services/ambulances/doctors/prescriptions/water. the mark up price of everything from the UK, school costs, the list goes on.
politicians do nothing except line their own pockets. healthcare here is a disgrace. i could go on. but whats the point!

The Irish economy was the worst in Europe just over 100 years ago. We were the poorest part of Europe in the 1890s. We still had localised famines where people starved. All under British Rule.

Your argument is a rant about bad government.

It has nothing to do with a United Ireland.

As for your proclamation that the pound was stronger than the euro, when I queried that, you come back with this: "and how would you come to the conclusion that the pound is NOT stronger than the euro??"

The Euro is the worlds second reserve currency, after the dollar. but it is closing.

Currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency

Dollar 63.8%
Euro 20.5%
Pound 4.7%

[deiseach]

People in Britain pay for bins. Do you not remember the poll tax riots? That's what they were about, and the council tax that has replaced it is universally loathed. They pay for water pretty much everywhere and fire service call out charges are imposed in a scattergun fashion, just as they are here. The health service is free at the point of use all right, and personally I'd love to see that here. But it sure as hell ain't 'free', unless you think all those Florence Nightingales are doing it as an act of charity. As for sterling being better than the euro, that's an argument for the return of the punt, not for rejoining a currency union with the UK.

[screenexile]

How is the pound stronger than the Euro?
What does £14 buy that €20 doesn't.
People in the € area no more than in Canada, US. Australia, China don't have to change their currency to GB£s before they can buy anything.
Do I detect a colonial mindset hangover? ?

All I know is I was in Blanch and went to buy a set of golf balls out of Sports World and it was going to cost me €17...

Went up to Sportsdirect in Armagh and the same item was £9.99... the rate at the time was 1.41. Someone explain that to me!!!

[johnneycool]

Was a lot of extreme views from both sides - it would work easy, it would never work.

The professor on the RTE panel was the only one talking sense, when he said that before any vote, there would have to be clear and transparent information available for everyone to see exactly what they where voting for.

Under current governments could we ever see a case where they would be agreement on what exactly was the roadmap? Even if there was an agreement do we trust that they could deliver it or even stick to what was agreed?

People would be very fearful of agreeing to anything without knowledge of what they voting for. That's why a poll is all when and good but even the simple matter of paying more tax completely changes things, its clear that if people see the changes affecting their own wee corner its an entirely different matter.

I also thought that what Sinn Finn were saying last night as well?

The small piece of it that I saw, that's exactly what Pierce Doherty said.

Too many unknowns on both sides need to be battered out before anyone could make an informed decision.

[laceer]

How is the pound stronger than the Euro?
What does £14 buy that €20 doesn't.
People in the € area no more than in Canada, US. Australia, China don't have to change their currency to GB£s before they can buy anything.
Do I detect a colonial mindset hangover? ?

All I know is I was in Blanch and went to buy a set of golf balls out of Sports World and it was going to cost me €17...

Went up to Sportsdirect in Armagh and the same item was £9.99... the rate at the time was 1.41. Someone explain that to me!!!

Sports Direct is better value than Sports World when purchasing golf balls

[muppet]

How is the pound stronger than the Euro?
What does £14 buy that €20 doesn't.
People in the € area no more than in Canada, US. Australia, China don't have to change their currency to GB£s before they can buy anything.
Do I detect a colonial mindset hangover? ?

All I know is I was in Blanch and went to buy a set of golf balls out of Sports World and it was going to cost me €17...

Went up to Sportsdirect in Armagh and the same item was £9.99... the rate at the time was 1.41. Someone explain that to me!!!

Sports Direct is better value than Sports World when purchasing golf balls

Bollix. A new world order can extrapolated from important info such as the sticker price on golf balls.

[Hereiam]

The simple point is that a united Ireland should come about without worrying about money. The unfortunate thing is that this is the British government we are dealing with here and by god they know how to run a good PR program to scare people into voting for what they want. The young Catholic in the north will not vote with the heart but with what someone will tell them.

[Rossfan]

How is the pound stronger than the Euro?
What does £14 buy that €20 doesn't.
People in the € area no more than in Canada, US. Australia, China don't have to change their currency to GB£s before they can buy anything.
Do I detect a colonial mindset hangover? ?

All I know is I was in Blanch and went to buy a set of golf balls out of Sports World and it was going to cost me €17...

Went up to Sportsdirect in Armagh and the same item was £9.99... the rate at the time was 1.41. Someone explain that to me!!!

Sports Direct is better value than Sports World when purchasing golf balls

Stop wasting your life and your money playing effn golf. Go for a good walk instead.
My cousin in England pays £1200 pa in Council Tax and £330 pa for water.
That's as near to €2,200 as makes no differ. He was out of work due to an illness and was getting £300 per MONTH.

[T Fearon]

For what it's worth I pay over £1200 per annum in Rates (Property Tax) and my residence is no castle.I even  get a breakdown as to how my money is spent both regionally and local council level.Being a non user of the health service and deriving no direct benefit from things like leisure facilities or economic development (tell that to the Michelin workers in Ballymena), it seems I am paying solely for environmental services,or having my bins emptied,once a fortnight rotationally.

[thebigfella]

For what it's worth I pay over £1200 per annum in Rates (Property Tax) and my residence is no castle.I even  get a breakdown as to how my money is spent both regionally and local council level.Being a non user of the health service and deriving no direct benefit from things like leisure facilities or economic development (tell that to the Michelin workers in Ballymena), it seems I am paying solely for environmental services,or having my bins emptied,once a fortnight rotationally.

Your right about that 

[Applesisapples]

Just watched the show at lunch time there, so I now have indigestion! A couple of points. On a UI, Nolan very unfair to both Doherty and Hanna. The question is very simplistic and can't be answered in a yes or no fashion. Reaching a UI will take time and reconciliation across the divide here and the border. It will also depend on Brexit and the look of the UK going forward. It is no stretch of the imagination to suggest that the ROI might find itself seeking closer ties with the UK as this whole European question moves on and immigration, the euro etc puts on pressure. I for one would aspire to a UI but not if the UVF react as the Provos did in the late '60's. Nor would I want to accept every aspect of the ROI as it stands in terms of taxation and health etc, although our own health service is going in the direction of that in ROI because of Tory cuts and affordability. The North is an economic basket case and that needs to change as well. In short the question did not give us any answers. On Jimmy Deenihan, he was a better footballer than a politician, out of his depth. Nolan also allowed Forster to claim the poll as positive on the border whilst ignore it on same sex marriage and abortion, out of his depth as well and came across as a self promoting bully. Susan McKay and Patricia McBride as well as the Prof from UCD(?) were probably the best contributors. Young Hanna was largely ignored. In short overhyped waste of time.

[general_lee]

Have SF / SDLP set any sort of framework in regards how a UI would take place? SNP had a white paper, have either of these parties produced something similar?

[muppet]

Just watched the show at lunch time there, so I now have indigestion! A couple of points. On a UI, Nolan very unfair to both Doherty and Hanna. The question is very simplistic and can't be answered in a yes or no fashion. Reaching a UI will take time and reconciliation across the divide here and the border. It will also depend on Brexit and the look of the UK going forward. It is no stretch of the imagination to suggest that the ROI might find itself seeking closer ties with the UK as this whole European question moves on and immigration, the euro etc puts on pressure. I for one would aspire to a UI but not if the UVF react as the Provos did in the late '60's. Nor would I want to accept every aspect of the ROI as it stands in terms of taxation and health etc, although our own health service is going in the direction of that in ROI because of Tory cuts and affordability. The North is an economic basket case and that needs to change as well. In short the question did not give us any answers. On Jimmy Deenihan, he was a better footballer than a politician, out of his depth. Nolan also allowed Forster to claim the poll as positive on the border whilst ignore it on same sex marriage and abortion, out of his depth as well and came across as a self promoting bully. Susan McKay and Patricia McBride as well as the Prof from UCD(?) were probably the best contributors. Young Hanna was largely ignored. In short overhyped waste of time.

This would be logical, in the way that the Scandinavian countries align on a lot of mutually beneficial issues, for example SAS Airlines. This wouldn't dilute their own sense of nationalism in any way.

[Keyser soze]

The evident presumption, especially from Nolan and the Northern contributors, but also from Southern panel and audience, that NI will need an ongoing massive subvention is breathtaking. The Southern economy, for all it's woes, pulled itself up by it's bootstraps, and appears to be doing so again, and the North needs to do the same.

The problem here is that NI plc is bust and will continue  walking around with a begging bowl expecting it to be filled as of right instead of getting off their asses and doing something about it as everyone in  a real country and econony does.

The programme last night served to show just how dysfunctional this place is.

[Applesisapples]

Have SF / SDLP set any sort of framework in regards how a UI would take place? SNP had a white paper, have either of these parties produced something similar?

No and its something they need to do together so don't hold your breath.