Ireland...?

Question

Do you want a united Ireland? Tell me where your from and what age you are. Why or why not?

Please put why/not and if you're not from Ireland tell me if you were born in Ireland/have irish parents etc.

Tribbles though I have not yet seen a map without NI I have seen a map of the UK/British Isles where the republic was cut out. I believe that we should I have a gov. like USA where NI and ROI would have govs. for there own stuff like law etc but the president of Ireland would be over the 2 ''states''

I honestly thought that all english people wanted NI to be separate from Ireland. My opinion has changed for the better!! :-)

Answer 1

I'm also from the North West (Donegal Gaeltacht), in my fifties, and although I would really like to see a united Ireland I don't think it will happen in the foreseeable future. In time, maybe, as (hopefully) - the English will adapt to the European Union, the economic differences will level out and there mightn't even be a need for a formal unification.
At the moment there are just too many people, in the Six Counties as well as in the Republic, who have all kinds of reasons to be against a united Ireland for it to be realistic in any shape or form, at least in the immediate future.

Why do I want it? Hard to answer, except that it feels unnatural to have the border there, less so now that it has become nearly invisible, but still an artificial separation. In spite of the separation and religious divide (which is no topic within the Republic at all) we still have more in common than the island we inhabit.

We have made enormous progress during the last 10 years -
Martin McGuiness can be seen chatting to Ian Paisley, and the sky didn't fall down! - but it's too early yet for any progress further than that. Since we can't have the united Ireland immediately, I'm happy enough with small steps in the right direction.

Answer 2

Yes
Ireland is Ireland. Ever since we were invaded we have been a united nation, hence an Irish kingdom. Should we just accept that invaders, enemies with no culture own one of the most Irish and vital lands on the island? My grandparents and relitives did not fight and die for no reason, they feel the same way I do about the seperation of our country - resentment. I can accept that presbyterians who are born in Ireland can say that they are Irish because they are born here, I think this is good. I would be happy if we got back South-Armagh (where I have relitives in Crossmaglen), Down, and the whole west of Northern Ireland (excluding Prodestant south) where there is a mass nationalist majority and the Donegal borders (Derry). I believe the drawing up of "Northern Ireland" was a complete miss-judgement of geography and social rights. Most importantly I love Ireland and would love to see our brothers in the north united with us. Will this happen? If the Scots get independence the prodestants will have nowhere to run to.

Answer 3

I'm from Dublin,I was like the others in thinking we would have an united Ireland in the next say 100 years (or federal Europe at least) but I went to Belfast in Oct for a long weekend, I loved it, and regretted leaving it so long to go in the first place.Everyone I met there was great and extremely welcoming.. I got lost (due to road works entering the city, well thats my excuse) and ended up on the Shankill Road, with its red white and blue pavements, murals to the British monarchy and union jacks adorning the streets, I turned into a housing estate to swap driving duties, and even there the pavements were red white and blue..I eventually stopped a police man and asked him for directions, he was extremely helpful, took time out to draw the route on my map (must be married and knows about women and maps LOL) and sent me on my way.

The complementary newspaper in the hotel had a 'slight unionist bias', so I read the letters to the editor with amazement. One asked 'who do Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington think they are calling themselve Irish, when no nation called the Irish exist. They are either Northern Irish or from the Repbulic of Ireland,ie republicans, and so the rant went on..the main news there was to do with a vote to allow the teaching of the Irish language in schools, even though 65% of the people had no objection to this, it was still not passed, I forget the excuse given now.

I then went up to the Giants Causeway, again some of the towns I pased had union jacks flying high. This makes me ask - why the display of patriotism in such a rural setting, I can understand in it the nationalist and unionist part of Belfast, but why there.

So as much as I would like a united Ireland, I'm afraid the fear, bigotry and resentment runs deeper than we can imagine, so to do so peacefully will take a while, but you never know, it could, and probably will happen. But i doubt in my life time

Answer 4

Im from county leitrim which is north west republic of ireland. Im 21 and yes i would like a united ireland. I would like it but then again i wouldn't. it would cost our country too much money to take on the north and would be a step back for the country not forward. It would also result in civil war between the loyalists and the republicans. But i answered yes i would love a united ireland. we are only a small island and we should not be divided. so many of our ancestors perished under the rule of the british and they prob turning in their grave at the thought of the country still being divided. A united ireland a wonderful statement but in truth a wishful and unachievable dream.

Answer 5

Northern Ireland is also left out of stuff in the UK a lot.. I feel more Irish than British too, although maybe that's cos my dad's Irish. I don't want anything awful like the Troubles again! I'm from Belfast, Northern Ireland

Answer 6

Irish, from Co L/Derry, 26

Phew - a tough question!

In all honesty I believe that we would be better off being first rate citizens in our own country rather than 2nd rate citizens in the UK. However - who's to say that Ulster people would not become 2nd rate in an all Ireland set up?

It's one island, we should learn to work together, there's been wrong done on both sides of the border - especially with the RoI policy toward protestants after the civil war - largely ignored throughout Europe the same policies used elsewhere was known as genocide.

Time to move on, forget the British side of the the affair, it's time we left them behind with their petty beaurocracy.

Answer 7

I'm 39, and to be honest, the whole notion of a 'United Ireland' is now redundant. We are more united than we have been for years and years .... the political divide is only artificial, and communication is so much better than ever.

I'm from Limerick, and why do I think it's redundant? Contact I've had with people in NI has always been friendly, differences have been acknowledged but hostility nil, blink while crossing the border and you'll miss it. I am convinced that a velvet revolution is taking place, and that in a couple of generations people north and south will look back and say 'What was all that about?'

And a major part of the politicial divide becoming redundant is that both Britain and Ireland are EU countries. Britain opted out of using the Euro, as did Denmark, but that's just a small thing really.

Answer 8

Northern Ireland is recognised as part of the UK. Whereas the south is recognised as part of the EU. Thats just the way it is. There are alot of people who argue either way, but there will never be a united Ireland, there were attempts and they failed. The British fought to keep it British for near 40 years. Politicians over there are trying now to get a steady assembly up and running, to bring order and peace to Northern Ireland as its own part of the UK, the time of a united Ireland, has come and gone, i think alot of people are just accepting that and trying to get on in a peaceful way of life after the pain of the last 35 years. And if it works the way it is, it should be kept that way.

Answer 9

I'm from Belfast, Northern Ireland and i'm 31. In some ways I do want a united Ireland...I don't feel british. I feel irish, i was raised in an irish culture and household and I think the British occupation of Ireland throughout the ages was very unjust...but in other ways I do not want a united Ireland. I think the people of Northern Ireland have evolved to be their own people. I feel no connection with people from the Republic. I like some of the British influences in our culture - the BBC, the education system and the healthcare system. It would be a massive adjustment to have a untied country...but I guess if i'm honest...if I had to choose...there really is only one choice...YES...no matter what...all us Northern Irelanders were born on the Island of Ireland...we are Irish...we are not 'British' wether we argue we are or not...its time to move on and accept the inevitable.

Answer 10

Let me ask you a question... Have you ever seen a map of the Republic of Ireland that excludes Northern Ireland? On Irish television...? Nope, we always see ourselves as one country...all 32 counties...
Even though they are under British rule, we are still Gaelic brothers. We are united anyway, regardless of politics etc etc.
But I would love Northern Ireland to become independent as they have a great little country up there...they just need some funds, they had a bad start which is a pity.
I am Irish through and through, 24 from Limerick