How can we integrate Unionism into a possible United Ireland?

Some slight bigotry by a former DUP leader who was removed after just a few weeks in no way means the majority of Unionists feel the same way, the majority of Unionists are decent people who want to get on with their lives and don't worry about all that crap, they are far more concerned about more important matters than sectarian bigotry.

If the majority of Unionists 50 years after Unification still refer to themselves as British rather than Irish even though Britain doesn't even rule any part of Ireland anymore then we have done an absolutely awful job at integrating the Unionists.

It would be very illogical for people born into the Irish state 50 years after Unification to still refer to themselves as British, they might still identity with their Ulster Scot heritage which is completely different to refusing to identify as Irish and calling yourself British, there might be a very small die hard cohort of loyalists who still do but most people will move on fairly quickly like they did in the 26 counties and people did in former British colonies all over the world, very few of which today still refer to themselves as British.

Until integration of schools happens, they will never integrate fully.

If 50 years after United Ireland they still identify as British who cares ?

As long as they are not causing trouble they can identify as Klingon for all I care.

Our forefathers emigrated many decades ago and six generations later they still identify as Irish. Have you noticed that they put the Irish first when they call themselves Irish Americans and they haven’t lived here since the Famine. Has America failed to integrate them or perhaps they accept multi-cultureism.

Tbh I find your insistence about them calling themselves Irish a bit disturbing.

You want a 32 county state, all peaceful of course, but you still want to judge them on how they label themselves.

Ulimately it is their choice not

That's a completely nonsensical comparison, people referring to themselves as American Irish or African American or English people referring to themselves based on heritage is completely different to refusing to call yourself part of Ireland and instead pledging allegiance to the Queen. They may still refer to themselves as Ulster Scots based on their heritage but they will not still call themselves British for very long, the same as the Unionists in the ROI and the Unionists in the former British colonies around the world didn't.

A good example is South Africa of which white South Africans have a very strong connection to Britain and only ceased being a British colony in the 60s, hardly any white South Africans today still refer to themselves as British, it's not really logical to continue to call yourself British when you are no longer part of it, especially for the newer generations who were never part of Britain at all, as I said the British identity will quickly die out after Unification as it has in the ROI and around the world.

I have no problem with Unionists keeping their British passports, what I think is a problem that we should try to prevent in a United Ireland is a large segment of our population refusing to identify as Irish and instead identity with a foreign country, we need to integrate the Unionists into our society.

Of course I would accept it if the majority of people didn't feel the time was right and voted against it after a long debate leading up to the referendum. That opinion and the circumstances around Unification might change again a few years later so we could then hold another referendum and have yet another debate to decide if we wanted it or not.

This is why a United Ireland is inevitable, we only have to win one referendum while the Unionists have to win them all for the rest of eternity.

Blanch it's not going to happen, there might be a tiny minority of diehard unionists 50 years after Unification who still refuse to call themselves Irish and would rather identity with a foreign country but they will be very much a minority.

The vast majority of Unionists will move on fairly quickly although many of them will still recognise their heritage while still referring to themselves as Irish.

That is no more than wishful thinking and very similar to the rainbows and unicorns picture of a united Ireland that has been painted here before.

I live in the North and I dread to think of what the outcome would be if unification was ever to occur.

The idealist and romantic in me wants to see it happen - I think of myself as Irish rather than Northern Irish, and in the course of travel and work (I deal with many work colleagues globally) it's very apparent that most people outside of the UK & Ireland don't see any distinction between North and South. It's just all Ireland to them. It's only those of us on these isles who can't see the woods for the trees that are obsessed with the dividing border.

However, I also know a lot of Unionists - some very well - who are deeply entrenched in their beliefs and I have no doubts that there would be a lot of violent protests and bloodshed in the likes of Derry and Belfast were it to push ahead. There would be a steep price to pay if it did happen and for those of us who live peacefully in the North, we'd be stuck in the middle of it.

But then again, great change rarely comes without a cost.

Well Blanch, what would you suggest we should do to make British people fell part of the Irish nation?

Within the next few years, those who identify as British/unionists in Northern Ireland are going to be in a minority. How are they going to deal with that? Some might come to the conclusion that they might be better off as a minority in a UI rather than a minority in NI!

We've made countless British people feel welcome here, Blanch.

I will certainly welcome efforts to integrate Ulster Scots culture into our country, to provide protection to it (as any country should for historically significant minority cultures within their state), but (I'm not sure if it is just clumsy phrasing on your part), we by definition won't be a British and Irish STATE, unless you're suggesting Unification via rejoining a sinking United Kingdom?! We'll without a doubt be a state made up of people who are British as well as Irish (along with Polish, Nigerian, Brazilian etc etc), but I do not foresee a future where the unified Ireland becomes some sort of joint protectorate of the British state and an Irish government.

Again, perhaps I'm misreading you and you're talking in cultural terms?

Where?

A UI would be in independent Republic. In a Republic everyone is equal by law.

The GFA is legal peace agreement. It is not subjective. A UI could easily hit the legalities of the GFA. We are not obliged to do most of the things you claim a UI would need to do to honour the GFA. Btw there is still no Irish act in the North, 24 years after the GFA. This is not breaking the legalities of the GFA even if your subjective view is that is.

Anyone who wants to practice their identity won't be stopped and not demanding that people can only hold one passport would be enough for a UI to meet the GFA. This is what the UK do today regarding the Irish identity in the north and they're not breaking it.

You seem to think the UK are not breaking the GFA but if a UI do similar to the UK then UI will be.

Do you refer to the UK as a shared state between the British and Irish?

that wont happen , given that there is a good chance that Scotland would breakaway , it would be smart politicking to have a "special relationship" with that new state, maybe to the point of some defence sharing. If such were the case it would greece the groove

Nail on the proverbial head there.