So make me welcome.......

This is utterly ridiculous. Do you honestly believe that anyone on the UK mainland ringing one of these call centres is concerned that A) that it is within the jurisdiction of the UK politically? or B) that they have any concern as to how the 'Irish' person they're talking to identifies their nationality?

You wouldn't get the most ardent Brexiteer describing Ireland as a foreign country, only bigots like McAllister. As for 'making' you feel welcome, i can only assume you've never been down here, maybe you should try that first. Most people here treat other people as just that, people. We're not interested in painting kerbs or flying flags to mark our territory and indicate that others aren't welcome.

I think you're being a bit too generous to the Brexiteers, it wasn't that long ago that Priti Patel was threatening to starve the Irish into submission if we didn't roll over and let the UK have the brexit they wanted

Apparently the British political establishment were describing us as the arrogant Irish at one point

Ya it was probably that.

The focus on religion as a means of identity as it stands in NI is the foremost reason why i wouldn't be voting for a UI

The focus on Republicanism and Catholicism in the Republic is just one reason many in NI would'nt vote for a UI. They look at things such as the national ladies soccer team chanting up the RA, they look to the glorification of the IRA by naming train stations etc after them, they look to the indoctrination of kids here in schools, they look to the historical discrimination against those who did not pass compulsory Irish in the leaving cert by denying educational and career opportunies, they look to the unequality in the educational system where most c of I schools are not funded as much as RC schools and therefore most C of I schools have to charge fees ( average €3800 a year ) in order to survive etc.

Anyway, our National debt is one of the highest in the world, despite all the money we got from the EU and the multinationals. Quote from RTE: " The State took on an additional €33 billion in debt over the two years of the pandemic, according to a new report from the Department of Finance.

The national debt stood at €237 billion at the end of last year.

This equates to €47,233 for every person in the country and is described in the report as 'one of the highest in the world.'

We cannot build a childrens hospital - which is set to now cost in excess of €2bn after being initially projected five years ago to cost barely a quarter of that - without being the laughing stock of the world, how could we take over somewhere else?

Your man Kielty was right. A lot would have to change for a UI to come about.

Yes Balmed out, there are 25 C of I secondary schools in the state and most have to charge fees, average €3800 a year, due to the State’s policy of providing them with lower levels of funding compared with most “free” secondary schools. 88% of schools in the state have Catholic patrons. Compared with the free sector, fee charging schools receive fewer State-funded teachers, reduced guidance and counselling allocations and do not automatically receive Covid-19 supports. Teachers are allocated at a ratio of one for every 19 students in “free” secondary schools compared with one for every 23 students in the fee-charging sector. The policy was first introduced as a cost-cutting measure in 2009 and has been extended to other areas. Teachers’ salaries in the fee-charging schools are paid by the State. They do not receive any other state funding. The 25,600 pupils in the fee-charging system have to be taught. Whether they are in fee charging schools or the free education sector, the State will be paying the teachers’ salaries. The fees that many protestant parents pay to educacate their kids in a school of their own ethos go towards paying electricity, heating, stationary, repairs, insurance, maintenance, computers etc, where as most Catholic parents who get their kids educated - in a school of their ethos - get "free" education / those costs paid.

As Kielty himself might joke, bad enough having to learn Irish in order to get in to UCD or UCC , or to get a job, without having to pay for it. He said some people chanting "Up the RA" does not help, he was right about that too. Hard for some moderates up North to be enthusiastic about joing a country when the ladies soccer team of same country wraps themselves in tricolours and chants up the RA. What does it say about our education system that it produces a generation of youngsters unaware of IRA atrocities in the not too distant past?

Unionists, by the time the vote for unity happens, will be less than 50% in the North (otherwise it would be a vote against unity, right?), and around 10% nationally.

Is that clear enough?

So I think you need to manage your expectations somewhat

You ask how the Irish people can make the hardline unionist community feel welcome. This is basically an impossible task because to them the concept of a united Ireland represents a total loss to them

Currently no unionist parties will engage in any discussion of a united Ireland because to them if they start talking about it then it legitimises the concept. I see their point, childish as it is, for example BBC were often forced to have climate change deniers on because they had to show a "balanced" debate

Frankly I think the Irish government strategy for the hardliners is to wait until most of them are dead or too old to cause trouble. In general younger people in NI seem to be less concerned with sectarian division and are more interested in peace

I think if the case exists that NI would be more prosperous in a united Ireland, and that there won't be some sort of cultural genocide of the unionist identity then that will win over the majority of the moderate unionist community

This in turn would deprive the hardline unionists of their support base and would hopefully stop any violence

I don't think anyone realistically thinks that people are going to stop shouting "up the ra" in the republic. Equally I don't think the orange order will be disbanded or bonfire night will be outlawed in the event of unification

I mean there's still folks who think the confederacy should have won the American civil war, but so far that hasn't led to another war. People will always have opposing views on how a conflict should have ended, but that doesn't automatically mean those views will boil over into violence

The majority wanted peace. Even when the troubles were ar their worst, in the seventies, Sinn Fein had little or no support on either side of the border, no MPs or TDs then. The majority voted for parties who condemned the terrorists - terrorists like the PIRA and INLA and UVF. Most people were law abiding citizens, paid their taxes, supported the government forces of law and order.

The Amazing Rasin says it is basically an impossible task for the Irish people to make the unionist community feel welcome. Well, as Mr. Kielty says, stopping chanting UP the RA would be a start, and stopping the glorification of the RA capaign and the rewriting of history. The vast majority of people on the island were against the RA campaign, do not and did not condone the murders of Gardai, the people behind Enniskillen, Le Mons, Bloody Friday etc. The young people in our schools need to be told that instead of singing and chanting UP the RA.

Not all nationalists, but a small percentage supported robbing banks, shooting Gardai etc here and up north supported those who committed Enniskillen, Le Mons, Darkley, Bloody Friday etc. The majority though voted for parties who condemned the PIRA, INLA etc like FF, FG, Labour, the SDLP etc. The terrorist campaign failed in its objective to get the "Brits Out" and weapons and explosives were destroyed.