Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[armaghniac]

No matter what people may think of her, she at least deserves to be allowed to say goodbye to her sister and attend her funeral.

+1

What record is that?

Probably something from the Wolfe Tones?

[hairierarea]

Excellent post there from stibhan.

On the question of why Sinn Féin are looking this border poll when there seems no hope in hell of winning it, I wonder if there is some strategic thinking behind it. The City Hall flag issue brought (a minority) of working-class loyalists into conflict with the state on an issue which didn't seem rationally to merit the anger. SF might be imagining that a border poll might provoke an even bigger reaction from these elements and throw Unionism into serious disarray when so many of the tectonic plates of the Union and EU are moving so unpredictably. But hopefully, some serious discussion of the realistic merits of new and radical solutions would get a better airing than on the Nolan show fail.

Serious dark age stuff in the treatment of Marion Price.

[muppet]

Ian the Elder has lost it completely: http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0126/364639-border-poll/

He is nice to the 26 counties and urges Northern Politicians to think of the children.

Has he had a rhetoroptamy?

[bennydorano]

Ian's right on this one, Unionism playing with fire calling SF's bluff over a border poll, it has zero chance of success but Pandora's box will be opened & there'll be polls every 7 years until we eventually get there - assuming the first one doesn't end in a humiliating defeat for pro-UI parties & i actually think there'd be a strong chance of that happening.

[armaghniac]

The present initiative is premature, but I'd say that SF are in no hurry, they just want the idea out there. However the DUP don't just have the possibility of ignoring it, in the next decade or so there will be an election (local, Euro, assembly or even Westminster) when the votes for nationalist parties will exceed that for unionist parties (with a large block in the middle). Such an event would have triggered the need for discussion on the matter anyway.

There is a long and windy road ahead.

[trileacman]

The more you think about it, the most successful tactic from Unionism here would be to support the border poll and in the face of the economic fortunes of both regions revel in the likely outcome of a substantial 70-30 victory.

[lawnseed]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like dickhead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out 

[armaghniac]

the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein

More likely the association with SF will discredit the entire UI project.

[Maguire01]

the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like d**khead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

What is your point about Mexico? What has a country in the Western Hemisphere do with anything. You have one grand sense of entitlement. The people of the Irish Republic don't owe you anything. Perhaps it's the good people of the 6 counties who need to ammend their ways than your regular assumptions that it is the fair people of the Independent Irish Republic. I doubht SF will be part of the govrnment of the Republic in the next 15-20 years.

[lawnseed]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like d**khead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

What is your point about Mexico? What has a country in the Western Hemisphere do with anything. You have one grand sense of entitlement. The people of the Irish Republic don't owe you anything. Perhaps it's the good people of the 6 counties who need to ammend their ways than your regular assumptions that it is the fair people of the Independent Irish Republic. I doubht SF will be part of the govrnment of the Republic in the next 15-20 years.

mayo when we take over we will clean the place up. bye bye gombeens, bye bye sliveens, bye bye quangos, bye bye huge pensions. hello fair taxation and sustainable growth and investment in jobs for the ordinary man.

first and foremost bye bye marty whelan what a rotten fukr

[Tubberman]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like d**khead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

What is your point about Mexico? What has a country in the Western Hemisphere do with anything. You have one grand sense of entitlement. The people of the Irish Republic don't owe you anything. Perhaps it's the good people of the 6 counties who need to ammend their ways than your regular assumptions that it is the fair people of the Independent Irish Republic. I doubht SF will be part of the govrnment of the Republic in the next 15-20 years.

mayo when we take over we will clean the place up. bye bye gombeens, bye bye sliveens, bye bye quangos, bye bye huge pensions. hello fair taxation and sustainable growth and investment in jobs for the ordinary man.

first and foremost bye bye marty whelan what a rotten fukr

Your posts are great entertainment, but I still haven't figured out if you actually believe a word of what you type!

[thewobbler]

There is no 'long term' plan with border polls by Sinn Fein. As a party they don't do long term.

As they can't win the poll, there's two main reasons for pursuing it:

One is a nod to the genuinely republican party members who had to be convinced/bullied away from armed struggle, a 'look at least we are trying' kind of thing.

The other is, quite simply, related to a lack of long term plan. Sinn Fein don't have real world policies. There's no grasp on economic realities. In truth I'd be shocked if they could run a sports centre let alone a country. But if they all spend the next few years frantically talking about, campaigning for, then reflecting upon a border poll, they can continue to pay lip service to what they're meant to be doing in government. And with occasional gentle jolt of the company line, their supporters won't even notice that they're not doing what they're meant to do.

[lawnseed]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like d**khead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

What is your point about Mexico? What has a country in the Western Hemisphere do with anything. You have one grand sense of entitlement. The people of the Irish Republic don't owe you anything. Perhaps it's the good people of the 6 counties who need to ammend their ways than your regular assumptions that it is the fair people of the Independent Irish Republic. I doubht SF will be part of the govrnment of the Republic in the next 15-20 years.

mayo when we take over we will clean the place up. bye bye gombeens, bye bye sliveens, bye bye quangos, bye bye huge pensions. hello fair taxation and sustainable growth and investment in jobs for the ordinary man.

first and foremost bye bye marty whelan what a rotten fukr

Your posts are great entertainment, but I still haven't figured out if you actually believe a word of what you type!

did you believe enda when he promised.. roscommon hospital is safe.. we will not raise taxes.. we will not raise our advisors wages.. we will not get our families into cosy gov. jobs.. i'll sort out bank debt.. fine gael have been liars for 80 years
why do you believe him and you dont believe me! maybe if i was from mayo or wore a nice suit or maybe if i was in receipt of a huge wage and going to get a huge pension you'd believe me. sinn fein will sort out the mess lets call it "nordification"

[Hardy]

the proposed border poll is nothing to do with the 6 counties or the dup or britain! the proposal is a trap set to catch out 'mexican' politicians who dive in head first and oppose it. like d**khead gilmore. how does it look for an irish politician to oppose the unification of his own country? 800 years blah blah..  its a slow death for them like tax on childrens shoes. the outcome of any such poll proposed by sinn fein could be some how linked in the mind of would be "yes" voters to sinn fein getting into a future 26 county government and therefore making the south a more attractive place to them. ie dunging the place out

What is your point about Mexico? What has a country in the Western Hemisphere do with anything. You have one grand sense of entitlement. The people of the Irish Republic don't owe you anything. Perhaps it's the good people of the 6 counties who need to ammend their ways than your regular assumptions that it is the fair people of the Independent Irish Republic. I doubht SF will be part of the govrnment of the Republic in the next 15-20 years.

mayo when we take over we will clean the place up. bye bye gombeens, bye bye sliveens, bye bye quangos, bye bye huge pensions. hello fair taxation and sustainable growth and investment in jobs for the ordinary man.

first and foremost bye bye marty whelan what a rotten fukr

I love reading the Willie Frazer of the GAA board.