United Ireland governing system

No. What a silly idea. Where do I even start? Why would we replicate the US system over here. Ours actually works.

Yes, 31 now, there were 114 until 2014.

There was a massive cut in the number of LA in 2014.

That's a helluva lot of borders. And yes there are borders between local authorities as anyone who lives near one is all too well aware of. Roads fixed one side, potholes the other. School transport buses that can't cross the invisible line. Bin collections, even health services. Far too many borders in the this wee country. Abolish them and replace with 5 regional authorities.

The GFA provides for none of the above, just the transfer of NI from state A to state B.

I couldn't give a fiddlers for our anthem which is by convention sung in a language it was not written in, 90+% of people don't know the words of, and is militaristic anyway, but the tricolour, the flag which symbolises peace and republicanism (in the anti-monarchical sense) is non-negotiable, and would be a massive mistake to give up as if we did it'd just become the emblem of republican hardliners - giving back to them ownership of it which Jack Charlton went to such effort to win back...

So neither of those two grasping clowns then.

Giving so much power to one individual is risky. What is the benefit? If this is in prospect for a united Ireland I will be voting No for certain, I don't want to be ruled by an elected SF dictator.

Exactly, we need to run religion out of politics once and for all rather than give certain ones special status.

It's a really exciting time with loads of opportunities for us all. New ideas, new systems, ways of doing things. It should be open for all to make suggestions as we move forward as 1. It's actually a chance to make a fresh start, make positive steps to ensure a prosperous future for all our people. There's no rush. We have time to discuss and plan our reunification. It's important to get it right. Once complete though, it will be an incredible day and time for Ireland.

We keep being told the what, we keep asking the why and keep being ignored.

The result of a vote for reunification in NI would basically just be Dublin taking Westminster's role over Stormont for the short term. It could take decades after that to negotiate the final settlement.

the idea that it would just be a direct integration of NIs government with the ROI government; and with NIs county councils just becoming one with ours - they're far too small for starters - or even just quietly merging with DL/CN/MN in to one body - isn't plausible.

The use of the term "Ulster" is going to continue to possibly cause actual wars up there for decades yet; NI Republicans would not be impressed with suddenly finding themselves under an Ulster Provincial Council that would still have a huge Unionist bloc on it; and barring a few outliers the reaction in DL/MN/CN would be even worse.

Have you ever heard of Éire nua?

It is plausible and don't forget that Ulster has a large Nationalist majority. Unionists will be treated with respect and will be welcomed into reunification. Things are moving on. The Alliance party are growing for example. This will not be the catastrophe some people want to make out. People want prosperity, they want strong, united communities. A united Ireland leads to that. Of course there will be stumbling blocks, that's why open discussion needs to happen and the pathway mapped out. This will be a great thing for our country. An amazing opportunity to create something that the generations after us will be forever grateful.

I've thought about this for some years now.

Unification of the island is a chance for The Second Republic. A renewal of the Constitution for the next century of time, a reorganisation of central and local government to suit the people of the new State.

My thinking is as follows:

Ireland will be Ireland, it will have the tricolour as its national flag.

Uachtarán na hÉireann will be Head of State and guardian of the Constitution, much as he/she is now, with perhaps some expanded oversight for the Council of State, including maybe some democratic election to its membership.

I would abolish the Seanad and I'll expand on that further below.

The Dáil should become a unicameral parliament. It should take on more of a hybrid list system characteristic, to lessen the parish pump and embolden the Parliament as a legislature for national issues, not with a membership constantly watching their own arse over local matters. It should be capped at 200 members.

Stormont as an assembly would be abolished, further below...

As a consequence of the last three paragraphs, a complete reorganisation of the inherited local government systems of both Ireland and the former Northern Ireland would be needed, in favour of a stronger, more relevant, more democratic, more powerful regional government system.

This for me is the key to including the citizens of what was the 6 Counties, especially those not strongly of an Irish identity. It would also be key to manageable and sustainable growth of the population and economy into the future

I would establish 11 regions, which would maintain within, but supercede, the historical Counties.

Each region would have a capital city, nominated as the seat of the Assembly and centre of administration for that region, including emergency and advanced healthcare, policing, courts, planning, third level education, and so on.

Spread out across the region would be sustainably planned housing, farming, employment and investment, local enterprise and innovation, tourism and leisure, sports and community facilities and so on. The idea of all the above would be to allow people to live fully at or near to where they are from, if they so choose, and to access the big social services that we need at times of life, in a nearby City, all while minimising time wasted travelling long distances day in and out.

Each Regional Assembly would have perhaps 60-70 members full time, paid, elected every five years. From among their number they would elect a Chief Minister / Governor / Mayor, who would hold that position for the full term, unless deposed, and would be have strong democratic powers, underpinned in law and by the Assembly. No unelected official would be pre-eminent any longer.

The Assembly itself would have budgetary control over regional spending on devolved matters; basically everything except national finances, law and justice, foreign policy and defence, EU matters and such. However as I said above, policing and justice and health and social protection etc would be organised along regional lines, with strong representation and consultation roles for the Assembly.

The regions would be:

Dublin - Capital territory - population 1.5 million

Lakelands - Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, capital Navan - population 370,000

Southern Metro - Kildare and Wicklow. capital Naas - population 400,000

South East - Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford - capital Kilkenny City - population 330,000

Mid-Ireland - Westmeath, Laois, Offaly - capital Athlone - population 270,000

South Munster - Cork, Kerry, Waterford - capital Cork City - population 850,000

North Munster - Tipperary, Limerick and Clare - capital Limerick City - population 500,000

West - Galway and Mayo - capital Galway City - population 420,000

North Midlands - Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo - capital Sligo Town - population 230,000

North West - Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh, Tyrone - capital City of Derry - population 650,000

North East - Antrim, Down, Armagh, Louth - capital Belfast - population 1.45 million