[Harbour]

Obviously Scottish Independence is the great talking point in politics now regarding the future of the UK, however this was not always so.
For many decades, the Northern Ireland situation was the main talking point as far as discussions on the internal make-up of the UK were concerned. The bloody conflict which this province has only recently left behind was fought upon this precise point, and at tremendous human cost.
Anyhow as a consequence, it was always taken as a given that NI would be the first 'Home Nation' to depart the UK and re-unify with the rest of the island of Ireland.
How do you feel about Northern Ireland's constitutional position as it stands now? My three suggested options are:
a)I believe the 6 counties of Northern Ireland should unify with the rest of Ireland to form an independent state;
b)I believe Northern Ireland should remain a part of the UK;
c)I don't care either way.
These options are not absolute, just a suggestion to give some structure to the debate. Feel free to answer in your own way and with reasons for your particular viewpoint if you like.

[Psyk]

c.

I don't think countries should be splitting up into lots of smaller countries, but in the case of Northern Ireland that's not really on the table. If it leaves the UK, it will be to join Ireland. So I don't really have an opinion either way.

I don't think support for NI leaving the UK is particularly high at the moment, because most people care more about maintaining the peace than anything else. NI is relatively peaceful right now, so even people who would prefer it to be part of the republic aren't actively seeking that because it would probably cause a lot of civil unrest.

[meenu89]

b).

[L i b]

Obviously I think Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK, but what I find quite remarkable is how the nationalist movement there has really been set back. For all their talk of outbreeding Protestants to come up with a political majority, there are now more Catholics than ever before willing to back the Union.

All we have to do is get rid of some of the more divisive political parties and we're well on our way to a politically cohesive province.

[toddman10]

a) as an Irishman in the north of Ireland I am obviously biassed, Ireland was partitioned in 1921 and it is only right than it should be united again, I cannot see it happening in the next 30 years but I do believe it will happen, the line that was drawn on the map to separate the country was in favour of the British, if the 3 other counties of Ulster were included in Northern Ireland there would be a nationalist majority and since they were not included the state had a unionist majority and so stayed under British rule. I don't think uniting Ireland is that important for the youth nowadays as you are free to call yourself British or Irish and every Irish person in the north since the partition has grown up in Irish culture anyway and will continue to.

[StarsAreFixed]

There's no way it will reunite in this century. For one thing, there may be only sporadic violence now but the hatred is entrenched. There are more walls now seperating the two communities in Belfast than ever. Bitterness runs deep.

Northern Ireland's economy is of course upheld by Britiain. The ROI remains unlikely to be able to cope with it anytime in the next few decades. You also have the huge benefit of free healthcare in NI, which may outweigh the higher social welfare and much lower uni fees in the ROI in people's minds. Then there are the massive differences between the two- education systems, currency, hot topic of flag, economies..everything.

NI should only reunite with the rest of Ireland if it wants to and votes unequivocally in favour of it. This does not look likely any time soon, especially since plenty of Nationalists are happy enough with how things stand.

[Snagprophet]

I believe England should be a sovereign state with it's own parliament/government along with various other officiallised cultural symbols instead of leaving it and claiming 'England has no culture', which is utter nonsense.

[EAM1995]

Although I identify as English, it will be sad for me to see the break up of the United Kingdom. I love our flag, and fully support a federal state between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and ideally with the Republic of Ireland, although of course, this will never happen.

Content to call myself English, but do not support the break up of the United Kingdom.

[Empire08]

C) If the people of NI want to remain in the UK, that's fine I welcome them with open arms. Likewise if they decided to reunify with The ROI, I would be fine with that too. It's their choice at the end of the day.

[ihatepoems]

I echo some of the previous posters. Although I do find it absurd that a small junk of an island isn't part of the larger land mass to which it is connected- at least politically anyway

[ufo2012]

How about another option

d) Dual Citizenship

?


That way everybody would be happy... or would they?

[The_Great_One]

People think its as easy as if the people want to remain in the uk then that's that. In reality they're never going to give it back because if the ports whether the people want it or not. Just like Gibraltar will never be returned.

[Psyk]

(Original post by The_Great_One)
People think its as easy as if the people want to remain in the uk then that's that. In reality they're never going to give it back because if the ports whether the people want it or not. Just like Gibraltar will never be returned.

The UK government has already agreed to let NI leave the UK if the majority vote that way in a referendum. It would cause quite a significant international incident if they went back on that.

[The_Great_One]

(Original post by Psyk)
The UK government has already agreed to let NI leave the UK if the majority vote that way in a referendum. It would cause quite a significant international incident if they went back on that.

Well we had a war about it through the 70s and 80s and they still didnt let it go. The fact that the queen shook mcguinesses hand just goes to show they wont let it go.

[doggyfizzel]

Any break up of the UK is not going to be a good thing. We are tiny as it is, if we hope to have any power on and international scale we need to stay United.

[Yung Mon£y]

a.

It's such a mess we may as well amputate it.

[cid]

Why does the island of Ireland HAVE to one day be united as one country?

Doe's the land mass of Eurasia HAVE to be united as one country?

Doe's Britain HAVE to be one country?

I don't see how Scotland gaining independence effects NI in anyway other than ensuring it remains part of the UK for as long as the majority chooses to do so.

[Dfurness]

If Scotland leaves the UK (which is unlikely but possible) it'll give a boost to the republican groups in Northern Ireland. It might become unfeasible for NI to remain in the UK because of pressure from various groups and a potential for conflict.

I doubt that Wales would seriously consider leaving the UK (or whatever political union remains) as there's more of a mutual dependence and it's probably generally accepted that we're stronger together.

It's a shame, but if Scotland leaves, the territories of the United Kingdom would likely fall apart - we could become the United Kingdom of England and Wales but the union would be vastly different.

[TrevorBrisance]

B)

I live in Scotland and my family have strong links with Northern Ireland. I do not support either Scottish or Northern Irish independence. It is not currently feasible to even consider the issue in regards to Northern Ireland as there still is and hopefully always shall be a very strong unionist voice in Northern Ireland. There is no way the majority of the population (protestant and unionist) would stand by while their country was attempting to leave the Union.

In regards to Scotland, when the referendum eventually comes I believe that there will be a fairly strong "no" vote to independence. Scotland relies far too heavily on the rest of the uk to simply cut the cords and start over again alone. The links between the countries are so deep and many that full independence is not achievable, also I also believe that people in Scotland (the majority) do not want to leave the UK. This also seems evident to the SNP who are desperately trying to postpone the referendum because if they lose then they will lose all credibility as a political party.


Finally a note to the poster who mentioned a "war" in Northern Ireland. This is a view held by some ultra nationalists and to a lesser degree ultra unionists but it should be made clear that the so-called "war" in Northern Ireland was merely extreme criminal activity, it was not a war just plain murder and criminality and it is only called a war in order to excuse or justify the horrific actions of a section of soceity. This point was clearly recognised by the British Government of the time and led to Mrs Thatcher's excellent stance on the issue of political prisoners ie the IRA and similar organisations were not political but were in fact just common criminals who deserved to pay all and more that "ordinary" prisoners did.

[Psyk]

(Original post by The_Great_One)
Well we had a war about it through the 70s and 80s and they still didnt let it go. The fact that the queen shook mcguinesses hand just goes to show they wont let it go.

Yes and the UK and Ireland made the Good Friday Agreement to stop the fighting. If the UK went back on that agreement there would be another war, which I'm pretty sure almost everyone wants to avoid.

Another thing to consider is that it's quite possible that most people in the UK don't have a strong opinion on whether NI should be part of the UK or not. People in NI generally do, but in Great Britain I don't think most people care a great deal. I think most people in GB are happy to let people in NI decide for themselves. I'm not convinced there's a great political will to "hold on" to Northern Ireland. It's more that people in NI are still quite divided, so if the UK gave it to Ireland, it would probably spark lots of violence with the "loyalists" being the aggressors.