Cost of a United Ireland and the GFA

It shows no such thing. Your link mentions the Protocol has introduced trading frictions from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. If anything, your link shows that some years ago, when these islands were all in the EU, and we were trading as one economic unit - there were no customs or tariffs or language barriers or anything else between Ireland, N. Ireland, Britain etc, we were all better off.

Now back to the thread title and cost of a UI: care to answer the question :

Again I ask you, let us suppose for a second - far fetched and all as it might be - that in some years time there was a United Ireland and let us suppose Sinn Fein were in government....as they aspire to be. As noted before, just naming the train station in Belfast Bobby Sands station ( seeing as our Irish train stations are named after the old IRA ) would hardly be enough? The last time, there were IRA pensions for those veterans of 1916 and the war of Independence. All 60,000 of them. And that was when SF were not in government...God knows what it would be like if they had been. Do you think any of the volunteers should be rewarded, and if so how many roughly and at what cost? Just so that we could get a handle on another possible cost to the new UI state. It could cost the State a billion or more per year. This thread is about the cost of a United Ireland. As you are a very strong advocate for a UI, would you vote for special pensions for the comrades - say 60,000 of them again - or not? A simple yes or no will suffice.

And do you think most Republicans would like to see "the volunteers" rewarded? Seeing as it happened last time, I think it may not be unrealistic to expect that they would? When planning for a UI, it would be helpful to plan for an extra billion or two per year expenditure rather than face unexpected surprises?

Because at the moment N.I has the best of bost worlds - being able to trade to some extent with both the UK and the EU. That is something it would lose in a U.I. - trading with the rest of the UK would be more difficult, as Irish importers / exporters have found, with tariffs, much more paperwork etc.

Back to the point of the thread, the cost of a U.I. Care to answer the questions you were asked already:

Again I ask you, let us suppose for a second - far fetched and all as it might be - that in some years time there was a United Ireland and let us suppose Sinn Fein were in government....as they aspire to be. As noted before, just naming the train station in Belfast Bobby Sands station ( seeing as our Irish train stations are named after the old IRA ) would hardly be enough? The last time, there were IRA pensions for those veterans of 1916 and the war of Independence. All 60,000 of them. And that was when SF were not in government...God knows what it would be like if they had been. Do you think any of the volunteers should be rewarded, and if so how many roughly and at what cost? Just so that we could get a handle on another possible cost to the new UI state. It could cost the State a billion or more per year. This thread is about the cost of a United Ireland. As you are a very strong advocate for a UI, would you vote for special pensions for the comrades - say 60,000 of them again - or not? A simple yes or no will suffice.

And do you think most Republicans would like to see "the volunteers" rewarded? Seeing as it happened last time, I think it may not be unrealistic to expect that they would? When planning for a UI, it would be helpful to plan for an extra billion or two per year expenditure rather than face unexpected surprises?

Covid and lockdown etc have skewed trade figures in 2021 etc. There are import tariffs now and much more paperwork now importing from Britain to Ireland than before brexit. N.I is still part of the UK and does not have such tariffs etc when buying goods from the UK mainland. If N.I was part of a U.I. then, assuming it was part of the EU and Britain still is not, it would cease to enjoy the current trade relationship it has with Britain.

At the moment N.I has the best of both worlds - being able to trade relatively easily with both the UK and the EU. That is something it would lose in a U.I.

Anyway, I answered your questions, would you care to answer mine. Back to the point of the thread, the cost of a U.I. Care to answer the questions you were asked already:

Again I ask you, let us suppose for a second - far fetched and all as it might be - that in some years time there was a United Ireland and let us suppose Sinn Fein were in government....as they aspire to be. As noted before, just naming the train station in Belfast Bobby Sands station ( seeing as our Irish train stations are named after the old IRA ) would hardly be enough? The last time, there were IRA pensions for those veterans of 1916 and the war of Independence. All 60,000 of them. And that was when SF were not in government...God knows what it would be like if they had been. Do you think any of the volunteers should be rewarded, and if so how many roughly and at what cost? Just so that we could get a handle on another possible cost to the new UI state. It could cost the State a billion or more per year. This thread is about the cost of a United Ireland. As you are a very strong advocate for a UI, would you vote for special pensions for the comrades - say 60,000 of them again - or not? A simple yes or no will suffice.

And do you think most Republicans would like to see "the volunteers" rewarded? Seeing as it happened last time, I think it may not be unrealistic to expect that they would? When planning for a UI, it would be helpful to plan for an extra billion or two per year expenditure rather than face unexpected surprises?

Fact is, as everyone knows, Northern Ireland businesses now get the'best of both worlds' with access to both EU and UK markets. It would lose that in a UI (assuming UK is still outside the EU) because the 32 counties would be in the EU and mainland UK not.

Now, care to answer the questions you were asked earlier?

Can't see how you came to this conclusion based on the linked article?

Trade increased because services that used to be cheaper in the UK mainland are now better sourced from another region in the UK that still has access to us.

Take NI out of the UK and those products and services rise in price to our levels and are no longer competitive. That sandwich maker in unity would have to pay our minimum wage, rates and insurance rates rather than the lower UK levels.

The protocol will now become an obstacle to unity as NI benefits from unique access to both markets. Partition with the protocol trumps both unity and staying completely in the UK

You are absolutely correct on this. I hadn't thought of this angle before, but in essence, the Protocol, if fully implemented could sound the death knell for a united Ireland down the road. Once Northern Ireland businesses get used to having the best of both worlds and being able to export to both the UK and EU, there will then be an additional economic cost to a united Ireland, which will be the loss of access to the United Kingdom market. That could be very significant in the debate.

I have always said that politicians in Northern Ireland are slow learners (look how long it took Gerry Adams to learn the folly of terrorism) and that it will take a few years for unionists to figure out that the Protocol is brilliant for Northern Ireland. I think some republicans may have figured this out already and fear the consequences hence the mad rush for a border poll even though the conditions have not been met.

With the protocol they can trade with both their biggest markets in a way no one else can. Unity removes that great opportunity. Your article shows how valuable that position is to NI. It makes unity a bigger risk for NI, not more attractive.

That article has nothing in it that suggests NI would be better off as part of Ireland.

Only if you believe (falsely) that NI is anywhere near it's potential. Trade with Britain is stagnant and finite, trade as a full member of the EU is not stagnant and has much more potential. They can still, like us, trade with Britain. But like us, the future is in lessening the dependancy on Britain and being much more outward looking.

The majority is not wrong, they want to be in the EU...for a reason.

Ok, so you are no longer saying that the linked article shows NI would be better off as part of Ireland?

They are virtually in EU with the protocol from an economic sense.

Ask anyone in business who imports or exports between Ireland and the UK and you will discover that contrary to your opinion,  hindrances have not more or less been sorted here. There is a lot more paperwork that before Brexit, more delays with carriers, import duty costs, customs costs etc. That would all be ahead for NI if it were to leave the UK.

As Blanch correctly said, currently Northern Ireland businesses get all the benefit of being in the EU without the obligations, while simultaneously having all the benefits of being in the UK.

A united Ireland would therefore be a step backwards, crazy that this might be spun differently.

To be fair the majority support being in the EU as part of the UK but not as part of Ireland.

Please explain how an option with more hindrances would be better?

You'll begin to hear the farmers and other sectors soon no doubt as realities start to kick in.

If there hadn't been Brexit, I would have thought it impossible for anyone to argue that leaving a trade alliance (in this case the UK) would somehow improve Northern Ireland's economic prospects. However, there was Brexit, and people swallowed that argument in the case of that trade alliance. Seeing the same dismal and failed argument being repeated here, that somehow leaving the UK would benefit Northern Ireland economically reminds me of that old saying "Fool me once...."

If anyone is swallowing the argument that a united Ireland is necessary for the prosperity of Northern Ireland, they are more than a fool.

Your argument only makes sense if the protocol didn't exist and we were heading to a hard Brexit.

NI would have new barriers to trade with the UK, how is that an advantage?

Ireland was never totally dependent on the UK, althoiugh as it is our closest market with such a large population, and no language or culture complications in doing business, it was always an important market.

Businesses and people in NI can currently trade with the EU without difficulty.

Correct. Francie Brady thinks that erecting new barriers to trade between NI and the rest of the UK would be an advantage!