Cost of a United Ireland and the GFA

Before you posted that, I had edited my post to answer your point about who threw who under a bus. By wrecking the economy / was that not throwing the people of N.I. under a bus?

My edited answer included " It was the EU, Irish government and Republicans who threw the business sector in N.I under a bus by dividing the UK / having the border down the Irish sea, with all the extra paperwork etc. They wanted to cause the UK as much difficulty as possible, as punishment for "brexit".

You cannot blame everything on "dem ones"

Would you prefer if it was between the 6 and the 26 ? The Republicans threatened violence so that would not have worked.

So you think if there was no partition between these islands, no borders anywhere we would all be better off?

I think we would all be better off in the EEU / EU if it was just the economic union they voted for.

If there was a border between these islands, with customs, tariffs, paperwork, etc, then that is a hinderance to trade with our closest neighbour and a G7 economy, no matter which way you look at it.

I often wonder if there had been no talk of an EU army, if the EU had not expanded east so much, would the UK still be a member? In 1973 it went from 6 to 9 members. That is what the UK voted for when they joined. It was to be an economic union, not a political one. Now there are 28 countries. Either way, the EU lost its second biggest contributer and is in trouble. Unemployment in EU in December was 6.1%, in UK it was only 3.7%. Hundreds of boatloads of refugees are still trying to cross the English channel from the "mighty" EU in to the UK, and are willing to risk their lives to do so.

"Me" spilt milk? Dunno what you are talking about. I am not British. However, prior to Brexit surveys showed that people were happy to be in the EU if it stayed true to its promises (a healthier economy, protection against terrorism and crime, immigration control, good public sector services etc). Apparently, many people felt abandoned by societal and economic changes and blamed the EU (rightly or wrongly). Being opposed to furthering political union in the EU ( the British are very fond of their own armed forces etc and know an EU army of 28 states across Europe would not work ), the UK regarded enlargement as a way of preventing deepening integration and federalism.

Brexit has happened now anyway, the EU is vexed and has lost its second biggest contributer and it making things as difficult as possible fo the UK. The UK was a key asset for the EU in the fields of foreign affairs and defence given that the UK was (with France) one of the EU's two major military powers, and had significant intelligence capabilities, soft power and a far reaching diplomatic network. Time, maybe 20 or 30 years as someone has said, will tell if Brexit was a success or not. In the meantime, thousands of refugees are still risking their lives in little inflatable boats to get out of the EU and in to Britain.

Whose economy is tanking - the one with 6.1% unemployment (EU) or the one with 3.7% unemployment (UK)? The economy which the refugees are leaving from in little inflatable boats ( EU) or the one they want to get to (UK)?

A few sad immigrants? 45,756 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats in 2022, an increase of more than 17,000 on the 28,526 who arrived in 2021. They risked their lives, as some more people drowned. We know there is higher unemployment in the EU compared to the UK, but why are the refugees going one way and not from Britain to the EU? Before Brexit I remember here in the EU seeing cartoons of the refugees in little inflatable boats leaving Britain after Brexit, it seems we in the EU got that wrong too.

The economic outlook in the EU is also bleak. Unemployment is higher in the EU, and inflation in Netherlands is close to 12% for example, much higher than Britains. The UK was one of the first major countries to emerge from lockdown. The UK economy is also less exposed to the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Their trade and financial links with Russia are relatively limited, though no one can escape the volatility in energy prices.

Anyway, the point of the thread is the Cost of a UI and the GFA. A UI will not happen in our lifetime so no need to worry about it too much. A hundred years ago 33% of people in N.I wanted a UI, now it is 32%.

I have never couched it as the UK 'giving' billions. Stop making stuff up.

I have clearly said that Ireland and the UK will reach settlements on various issues that are in the interests of both. They will also arrange a transition period when rationalising can take place, The PS etc.

The more the UK economy tanks the more likely it is that they will look to offload what is costing them huge sums of money. Some initial pain for long term gain etc.

The scaremongers claiming the UK will just walk away are just that - scaremongers.

Bleak indeed.

According to the IMF, half of the European Union will be in recession this year, and a third of global economies.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/01/02/half-of-the-european-union-and-one-third-of-the-world-face-recession-in-2023-imf-warns1

Economic forecasts change the whole time, but this thread is about the Cost of U.I. etc.  Anyways, as someone else said "lets take the last claim, the UK economy is tanking which means the UK won't have the money available to pay for a United Ireland plus if the rest of the UK is in such a bad position would the population allow the government to hand money over to people that have said they want to leave? no they won't

So the answer then is for the Rep to fund a United Ireland at a cost of, I have no idea but it's billions. Can the Rep fund this without additional taxes? no it can't.

So why is this thread not a discussion about the actual topic, how much? and how would that revenue be generated in the Rep to pay for it?"

And who is going to take on N. Irelands share of the UK national debt, which costs billions per year just to pay interest on alone?

Exactly, and yours was out of date.

It is a mix of both, together with a worldview stuck in the middle of the last century, when countries could be self-sustainable and the big powers would bail out small countries like Ireland. Not happening any more, lads.