How can we integrate Unionism into a possible United Ireland?

I'm sorry to disappoint the supine partitionists but you're observers in all this. When there is a vote for unification in the north it will be the end of British jurisdiction in Ireland for good. We, in the south, won't be deciding whether we'll be unifying, or not, we'll be deciding how we unify.

That's how this plays out. There is no alternative.

Dragging Franco, Hitler and Stalin into the argument is pretty daft: these guys were in a totally different league.

I visited a German military cemetery in Normandy many years ago. No vandalism and there was a visitors' book in which there were many messages of sympathy for the dead (note, not for their leaders). Most of the messages were from French or British visitors.

It makes your posts look pretty small and vindictive.

I'de say the British Empire killed more innocent civilians than Franco

ah, one of those who dont like the GFA. You may cover up your prejudices a bit better. SF aren't 'facilitating' British rule. They are part of a solution for peace.

Facilitating British rule was part of the process. It was the right thing to do. Don't see the point in participating in the Republican charade that it is anything else.

Remember Francie Brady / Happyman42? He once said the truth shouldn't offend anyone.

the truth is that SF part of a peace process. the lie is that they are 'facilitating british rule'. tells me all I need to know bout your political stance though in that you arent a fan of the peace process or the GFA

you arent recognising it. you are misrepresenting it in a bid to undermine it

You're living in a fantasy world if you believe the Republic are going to reject a United Ireland, all political parties have expressed their aspirations for a United Ireland.

A vote probably wouldn't even be needed in the Republic anyway, there's a good case to be made that we won't even have a vote.

I'd like to see a UI in my lifetime. As a citizen of the Republic, I'll vote for it when I see that there is widespread approval in NI, 80% at least in favour. And I think that the Republic should concurrently be 80% in favour.

Less than that and I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - who wants to import the poisonous nature of NI politics into the Republic anymore than we have to?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - it should be the work of every single nationalist on this island to find ways of integrating both cultures. An that means giving up things on both sides. Until then, you're at nothing other than civil war.

Nonsense, they are members of a token administration in the North that facilitates British rule, sure haven’t you and others told us repeatedly that Sinn Fein can’t be judged on what they do in government in the North, as the British still control things, which is it?

If they are able to determine social welfare rates, why don’t they increase them to the levels of the FF/FG government in the South or are they just facilitating the British setting the rates?

As I said before the majority of people in the Republic in all polls say they would vote for a United Ireland, they ask another question in some of the polls saying would you support a United Ireland if you had to pay more taxes, people are concerned when asked that question on the spot, they have to consider would their livelihoods be at risk and would they be able to keep up with their mortgages etc. I myself would probably have said no if I was asked that question in a poll, the question in no way clarifies if it means an extra few euro in tax or an extravagant amount of tax that would destroy my livelihood, no one except you is seriously suggesting 80% of people in the Republic would vote against unity in a referendum.

And anyway it's more than likely that a referendum would not even need to take place in the Republic anyway, we aspire to a United Ireland in our Constitution and all the political parties are in favour of it, FG and Sinn Fein have both set up plans to facilitate a UI in the future and FF are also very strongly supportive of it.

Northern Ireland doesn’t have a functioning economy and is reliant on a British handout to keep them floating. Any place with that degree of political turmoil will struggle to get significant FDI and changing the colour of the flag over Stormont won’t change that.

To keep the six counties going the bailout will be coming from the 26 counties in a United Ireland. No amount of spin is going to get from the fact we would be providing a bailout to an area in which up to a million don’t see themselves as Irish.

Maybe if we repeat the mistakes of the past often enough, the penny may finally drop.

Your understanding of constitutional law is lacking if you think a referendum is not needed.

Who gets to control an independent state ?……..the people of that state.

It seems to me that as the population spit is close to parity, both sides need to stop looking to others to intervene.

On Friday morning Jeffrey Donaldson was on the radio revelling in all the new problems they were causing and being smug as usual. And towards the end of the interview he made a reference that funding would still continue from the UK. And that’s the problem in a nutshell, cut the funding and politicians on both sides will have more incentive to behave like adults for a change.

British control didn’t work, and I believe Irish Control repeats that mistake.

The two communities in Northern Ireland will have to sort out their differences as any other party is not welcome by one of the communities. It won’t be easy, but United Ireland only becomes a reality when the hatred in the North subsides and they treat each other with respect. Otherwise turmoil and a money pit.