[article]Northern Ireland's Economy and difficulties for future

MrPudding

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Are you saying that anyone in the North who wants a UI has no sense?

What I said was "no one in the North with any sense wants a UI." That is obviously the same as what you say quoted above.

And to be honest woth you I stand by that. It is OK to have the ideal of a UI but in reality it will be pretty meesy and leave a lot of people in the north much worse off than they are now.

Whilst a UI is great from the romantic point of view it will not pay your increased insurance costs, or your doctors bills, or your kids doctors bills, or your kids prescriptions, or your A & E bills, or your bin charges, or your increased road tax, or your increased car costs, or your increased food costs. Actually do you know what, it won't pay for anything.

I know money isn't everything but I don't think people will be will to live on the breadline simply to have a UI. The people in the north know what side their bread is buttered on. Possibly that is an explanation why in the last survey it saw the majority of Northern Catholics would vote against a UI if the asked to vote there and then.

I think if someone explained all the pros and cons to the electorate in the north anyone with any sense would not vote for it.

MrP

Cork

Freelancer wrote:

2) The other pink elephant is the cost. I'm pretty sure that any poll SF can create would say "the majority of the republic of Ireland want a united Ireland". However they'd never bother creating a poll saying "What price would you pay, financialy, for the reunification?". a .5% tax increase? 4.5%? Cause it needs to be considered. And SF don't want to discuss the above because again instead of talking about the romantic idealogy of a unitied ireland they'd be forced to talk about how we'd pay for it.

The republicans don't even bother considering the two above implications (publically). Why? Because they're not the kind of thoughts that please SF et all. They know, that as an concept most Irish people like the ideal of unity they'd just be unwilling to actualy admit the cost.

In the last 10 or 15 years - Those living in the Republic have moved on.

The Irish Republic will not be dragged down like West Germany.

Without massive amounts of British Taxpayers money - NI would be in a far bigger mess than what it is.

Its politicians are pretty poor. John Hume was of course the exception.

A Dub in Glasgo

MrPudding wrote:

What I said was "no one in the North with any sense wants a UI." That is obviously the same as what you say quoted above.

Yep thought as much... insulting people who have a different view

A Dub in Glasgo

Cork wrote:

Without massive amounts of British Taxpayers money - NI would be in a far bigger mess than what it is.

How so?

Its politicians are pretty poor.

Something in common with the Republic?

MrPudding

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Yep thought as much... insulting people who have a different view

Not really. Just pointing out that it does not make sense. Perhaps the people that support it simply don't have all the facts.

Maybe they only have propaganda to base their decisions on. For example, the loyalists will just accept a UI because there would be no point in not accepting it?

Have you ever lived there? Have you ever spoken to anyone who is not a SF head?

MrP

lucernarian

I'll just say this: the original article was excellently written IMO, accurately and without bias for the most part. I do wish that the politicians in the North read it. Northern Ireland as it stands now could not support itself. Direct rule helped create this quandry but I don't see a united Ireland as the solution either, not when a large proportion of the region is against it.

I think, the sooner an effective assembly is running without the threat of violence hanging over all sides, the better.

rsynnott

Benedict XVI wrote:

The North is a sick, sad, sorry place and I for one hope never to see it as part of the Republic of Ireland.

For once, I'm forced to agree with you.

Maskhadov

If the north was like hong kong then I would totally back the U.I idea. But its not, its like north korea

At the end of the day, we just have to remember what the northern protestants are really like. They came over here on the offer of free land.

They then took all the industry in the north when we were going to break away from the UK and once that was all gone then they are starting to look greedly down south.

If the north was like hong kong (or a sucessful british colony) then the northern protestants wouldnt entertain any notion of talking to us or any idea of a United Ireland and would be making jokes at us.

So we just have to remember this and they want someone to bail them out of a hole. We can get all the immigrants we want from Europe and elsewhere. A United Ireland would set this nation back decades.