Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Tanáiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Coveney says talking about a united Ireland as part of Brexit debate is 'hugely unhelpful'

The Tánaiste said the issue could “create an even more divisive debate and atmosphere in Northern Ireland, which is the last thing we need”.

SIMON COVENEY HAS said discussing a united Ireland as part of the Brexit debate is “not helpful”.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said the issue could “create an even more divisive debate and atmosphere in Northern Ireland, which is the last thing we need”. 

There has been speculation that Britain leaving the European Union could eventually lead to the unification of the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said a “crash” no-deal Brexit moves the timeline for a border poll on a united Ireland forward.

“In the event of a crash … certainly the issue of a referendum on unity would move, advance, very, very quickly,” McDonald said on 11 December. 

Coveney said Sinn Féin’s calls for a border poll are a “hugely unhelpful intervention” done for “party political reasons”. 

When asked about the possibility of a united Ireland in the next 10 to 20 years, Coveney said: “That’s a sensitive question at the moment given the pressures of Brexit. I try to be very careful with what I have said on this issue. We don’t really want a constitutional change and a debate around that to be part of the Brexit debate. It’s not helpful.

It creates more tension on top of what is already a very tense and divisive debate in Northern Ireland and Westminster.

“That issue is dealt with comprehensively under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and under the principle of consent which we absolutely support.”

Peace process 

The Tánaiste said the Irish government and nationalists need to “reach out to unionism in a more effective way than perhaps has been possible in recent years”.

“We are all neighbours on this island and we have to learn to live together. Unfortunately the threats of Brexit have caused a lot of tensions that we wish weren’t happening.

Unionists feel threatened by Brexit, nationalists feel threatened by Brexit, and others who are neither in Northern Ireland feel hugely frustrated by Brexit because of the paralysis that has come with it in the context of politics in Northern Ireland and the ability to get a devolved government back up and running.

“So I think we need to take this step by step. What we are dealing with now is Brexit. What we are trying to do is to protect the peace process and the status quo rather than looking to change the constitutional arrangements on this island as a result of Brexit.”

Coveney added that the Irish government is “trying to accommodate different perspectives in the context of Brexit”.

“If we can do that we create a platform, hopefully, and a trust between unionist and nationalist parties – and of course the Alliance as well and the Green Party – that can hopefully allow us on the back of finding a way through Brexit get devolved government back up and running again so we have the mechanisms of the GFA functioning,” he stated.

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government since January 2017. 

House of Commons vote 

Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called on the United Kingdom to “get your act together” in relation to Brexit. 

Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a House of Commons vote on the draft Withdrawal Agreement so she could seek additional assurances on the backstop element of the deal. The vote is now expected to take place in January. 

Many politicians have raised concerns about the backstop, which aims to avoid a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland and could see the North stay aligned to some EU rules.

The Democratic Unionist Party believes the backstop threatens the United Kingdom and could lead to a trade border in the Irish Sea.

Preparations are being made at British, Irish and European level for a no-deal Brexit, in case an agreement is not reached ahead of the official withdrawal date of 29 March. 

With reporting by Christina Finn 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
89 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Gibney
    Favourite Dave Gibney
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:54 PM

    I find it deeply unhelpful when politicians refuse to discuss a United Ireland. Not a United Ireland subsuming the North into the South. But a United Ireland as a brand new country – based on valuing all citizens equally; on tackling homelessness which is extremely high in both jurisdictions; having a healthcare system where your treatment doesn’t depend on your income; where education is properly funded; where natural resources aren’t handed over to oligarchs & multinationals; where decent jobs with decent pay is the norm & we eradicate poverty. We are two failed states & the sooner we get a United Ireland the better for everyone on this island. Not talking about it isn’t helpful, it just maintains the status quo for the establishment. Now why would that suit someone like Simon Coveney?

    397
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ronan Sexton
    Favourite Ronan Sexton
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:02 PM

    @Dave Gibney: We have enough of our own problems down here without importing theirs to top it off. We also have enough of our own scrotes and idiotic clowns of politicians too without importing theirs.

    176
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Gibney
    Favourite Dave Gibney
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:08 PM

    @Ronan Sexton: not sure you read what I said. I’m currently in Derry and it’d take some convincing to tell many of the people up here that they’d be better served by the healthcare system in the South. You seem to think we’d be “importing” their people and their problems when that’s exactly what shouldn’t happen. It exposes an elitist mindset where people in the South think they’re superior. We’re not. We need a brand new country. Not a uniting of two failed states.

    274
    See 12 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute CrabaRev
    Favourite CrabaRev
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:09 PM

    @Dave Gibney: There are a large number of Sinn Fein Posters on this site. They all believe, or are told to believe, that a united Ireland involves a simple integration of Northern Ireland into Ireland. The vast majority of Irish people know that this will not be the case. A proper and peaceful unification of the Island will require new institutions. It will also take a very long time.
    I fundamentally disagree with you that Ireland is a failed state. We have some issues, the same as any other developed country. But we are one on the wealthiest countries in the world with some of the most highly educated people in the world. All that in less than 100 years of independence from the UK and in less than 30 from the Catholic Church.

    70
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Owen Murphy
    Favourite Owen Murphy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:11 PM

    @Ronan Sexton: if there were more people like you at the start of this century there would be a United Ireland already (under British rule) good job spitting on the graves of those that went before you Ronan

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Owen Murphy
    Favourite Owen Murphy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:15 PM

    @Owen Murphy: the last century

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Doyle
    Favourite Dave Doyle
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:42 PM

    @CrabaRev: “We have some issues, the same as any other developed country” Then you go on to say “we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world”
    For one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the “issues” you try and dismiss as normal, are causing untold misery to many and see the majority one or two pay packets away from joining them.
    The wealth of the country is concentrated in the hands of a few well connected people. Banks aren’t taxed, vulture funds aren’t taxed, ordinary people are being taxed to the point of poverty.
    Homeless figures published are only the tip of the iceberg, the real figures, were ETHOS applied could easily treble. Homes and rents are unaffordable. The public health service barely functions.
    Ireland is a failed state.

    50
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Graham
    Favourite Graham
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:10 PM

    @Dave Doyle: Not sure you understand the definition of a failed state. Go visit South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen etc. and come back to us about it. The valid issues you list and the idea of Ireland as a wealthy developed state are not mutually exclusive.

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Holland
    Favourite Paul Holland
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:19 PM

    @Dave Gibney: Two countries, two messes. One country, a bigger mess

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute CrabaRev
    Favourite CrabaRev
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:46 PM

    @Dave Doyle:
    Your personal bitterness towards Ireland seems to have totally consumed you. You really haven’t a clue. The public health service functions. It has serious capacity issues, but it functions. I have personal and family experience of it. Wealth in Ireland is very fairly distributed. It’s complete fabricated nonsense to say its concentrated in the hand of a few. Every normal person working person in Ireland can see that.

    As I said, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the word, and the vast vast majority of our citizens benefit from that. Like every country we could do better.
    We are obviously not the paradise that is Bulgaria. I believe length of the lines at immigration there are a sight to behold. Very hard to take you even remotely seriously Dave.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Doyle
    Favourite Dave Doyle
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:08 PM

    @CrabaRev: With what you have written, you must inhabit the same ivory tower Leo lives in.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ben
    Favourite Ben
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:32 PM

    @Dave Gibney: Yes a socialist utopia with the shinners running the show
    A few problems though
    The constitutional position of the North cant change unless a majority up there agree to it. At the moment it not a done deal that more that 50% of Catholics would vote for it and its a foregone conclusion that no more that 5% of protestants would

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chin Feeyin
    Favourite Chin Feeyin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:34 PM

    @Dave Doyle: Banks are taxed. They are allowed to carry forward losses in the same way as every other company.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Doyle
    Favourite Dave Doyle
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:39 PM

    @Graham: So you have to go to South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen etc to normalise the “valid issues” i list.
    FFG have failed the people of the country.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute CrabaRev
    Favourite CrabaRev
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:41 PM

    @Dave Doyle: I inhabit a normal house. In a normal estate, in a normal town in Ireland. I think the real problem is you inhabit a very deep and dark hole. It has completely consumed you.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Skybloo
    Favourite Skybloo
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:16 PM

    It seems that talking about Brexit is also hugely unhelpful

    437
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cameron O'Toole
    Favourite Cameron O'Toole
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:28 PM

    @Skybloo: for Leo and Co talking about issues is their bread and butter

    136
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Adrian
    Favourite Adrian
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:50 PM

    @Skybloo: talking about brexit is probably helpful to coveney and leo because it shifts attention from the issues like homelessness and health which can be easily measured and we know their performances on these issues is horrendously poor, whereas its hard to guage how well they are performing on brexit, there are no stats like in housing, health, so they tell us they’re doing a great job but we cannot measure that, they simply expect us to believe them!

    324
    See 11 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute T Beckett is back
    Favourite T Beckett is back
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:04 PM

    @Skybloo:

    There’s never going to be a “helpful” time to discuss inevitable unification.

    Just do it, stop appeasing unionists and British nationalists!

    96
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Cauldhame
    Favourite Frank Cauldhame
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:21 PM

    How can anyone take what Simon says seriously? He is a serial liar. Homelessness and evictions are the biggest issue in Ireland today. When Coveney was Minister for Housing he basically his behind a rock and when he re-appeared it was to tell lies on National radio about how he was going to tackle the problem. Nothing was done by him in this regard. Surely FG have better, stronger, more intelligent people in their ranks than what this man has shown over the last 5/6 years?

    138
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute davey boy
    Favourite davey boy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:39 PM

    @Adrian: It can be argued that health and housing has been in crisis since the foundation of the state. Expecting these two to fix it is absolutely unrealistic. Yes, it does need a lot more attention and skilled people to do it, but it will never be fixed. Everyone just needs to get used to it.

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Diddles Daffy
    Favourite Diddles Daffy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:59 PM

    @davey boy: tell that to a homeless persons face

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Doyle
    Favourite Dave Doyle
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:27 PM

    @davey boy: The only “fix” FG want is to privatise the health service. THe more it functions badly, the more FG like it.

    63
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Kavanagh
    Favourite Michael Kavanagh
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 4:42 PM

    @davey boy:
    Very defeatist Davey.
    Health and housing issues were tackled, not fully perhaps but with considerable progress made, in the past by direct government actions.
    Why not now?

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Nolan
    Favourite John Nolan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:11 PM

    @Adrian: if they were performing well on Brexit would you acknowledge it? I think we know the answer to that one!

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chin Feeyin
    Favourite Chin Feeyin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:15 PM

    @Dave Doyle: there is absolutely no evidence of a policy of privatising the health service. The government will give more money to the HSE in 2019 than ever before. In addition, they hav signed off €1.4 billion to build the Children’s Hospital.

    Hardly a policy of privatisation.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Doyle
    Favourite Dave Doyle
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:59 PM

    @Chin Feeyin: Proud of the fact that the Children’s Hospital is running at 1 Billion over budget. Giving more money to the HSE isn’t going to fix the problems in the health service, they’ll just find more ways to squander it.
    The Cervical Screening function was hived off to a private company. Remind me how many women have needlessly died, the hundreds of others who got the all clear and when it became known the results were wrong, how many years was the truth hidden from them. How many women are still waiting to know if their lives are in danger.
    “That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chin Feeyin
    Favourite Chin Feeyin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 8:30 PM

    @Dave Doyle: yes, but where is the evidence of privatization policy? None.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Me_a_monkey
    Favourite Me_a_monkey
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 10:45 PM

    @Skybloo: any of them talking about anything is unhelpful!

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cal Mooney
    Favourite Cal Mooney
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:50 PM

    Apparently talking about the penal laws is now unhelpful too. They have removed all referenced to it in the new history books. The genocide through famine also a bit too uncomfortable too. It’s gone as well. The 1925 FG sale of Derry and Newry also removed.

    163
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dan Jacobson
    Favourite Dan Jacobson
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:10 PM

    @Cal Mooney: imagine what the relationship between European countries like Poland and Germany would be like if everyone suffered from the Cal Complex?

    34
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cal Mooney
    Favourite Cal Mooney
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 4:47 PM

    @Dan Jacobson: Did you learn about the German Polish conflicts in a history book? Imagine FG were able to go into the Polish schools and remove the worst of what they suffered at German hands. That is what they are doing to Irish history books today. See, I don’t have to resort to personal attacks to defend a point.

    46
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Nolan
    Favourite John Nolan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:17 PM

    @Cal Mooney: what sale of 1925? There was no FG back then and what happened in 1925?? Its confusing but perhaps its about an ignorance of our history thats the problem here.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cal Mooney
    Favourite Cal Mooney
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:45 PM

    @John Nolan: At the Anglo Irish conference in December 1925, the party that very shortly afterwards renamed itself to FG agreed to leave the majority Nationalist town’s and cities like Derry and Newry under British control in return for what is documented ‘Financial considerations ‘ offered by the British government. This is already written out of Irish history books. You can still google all this history, but its not taught in scools. The newest versions of secondary school history books doesn’t even mention the penal laws.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bernard
    Favourite Bernard
    Report
    Dec 31st 2018, 9:11 AM

    @Cal Mooney: That’s probably because there was no “genocide”, but it’s a handy Nationalist myth used to stoke hate and division, like most versions of Irish Nationalist history.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Furey
    Favourite Paul Furey
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:19 PM

    He’s right! As there is no sensible and workable solution to the Unionist issue. A solution that works for both sides.

    96
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brendan M
    Favourite Brendan M
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:25 PM

    @Paul Furey: unionism can’t have a veto

    129
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Furey
    Favourite Paul Furey
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:30 PM

    @Brendan M: I didn’t say they did. But you do understand why it needs to work for them?

    43
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Aidan Mitchell
    Favourite Aidan Mitchell
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:19 PM

    @Paul Furey: so tailor brexit to the 0.9% of the UK that voted dup? And to the 44% minority that voted to leave?
    As majority of northern Ireland are dup voters or leave voters then perhaps there is another question that needs to be asked.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liam Doran
    Favourite Liam Doran
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:19 PM

    Is it not time we had a vote up there to see what the people want?? Not just a united Ireland, do they want borders, do they want some independence or stay with brexit??

    80
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Furey
    Favourite Paul Furey
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:21 PM

    @Liam Doran: I’d imagine that will happen should Brexit ever be finalised. But it can’t be another mad YES/NO vote.

    31
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liam Doran
    Favourite Liam Doran
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:24 PM

    @Paul Furey: I agree Paul, so much talk in UK over its future in the North it just seems a little unfair

    10
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jim Buckley Barrett
    Favourite Jim Buckley Barrett
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:34 PM

    @Liam Doran: didn’t northern Ireland vote to remain in the EU?

    Seems to me, that the United Kingdom can only survive if they split up.

    31
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Louise Hannon Fotos
    Favourite Louise Hannon Fotos
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:32 PM

    He’s right. Talk of a United Ireland should be left out. It’s spooking the Unionist psychie. The only way you can have a rational debate is in a period of calm

    99
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pádraig Ó Braonáin
    Favourite Pádraig Ó Braonáin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:14 PM

    @Louise Hannon Fotos: A time will come to ”spook the unionists” anyway. They’ll threaten violence no mater if a vote is taken now, after Brexit, or anytime in the future…this must be faced head on.

    112
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dot Com
    Favourite Dot Com
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:16 PM

    @Louise Hannon Fotos:
    He’s not right, Unionist have to join the rest of us in the 21st century.

    46
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donal Desmond
    Favourite Donal Desmond
    Report
    Dec 31st 2018, 6:17 AM

    @Louise Hannon Fotos: We all saw what happened when rational debate was given an opportunity in the late sixties, No surrender and not an inch became the unionists mantra for next thirty odd years. If politically expeadenent May would sell out the D.U.P. and unionists if it suited her agenda.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pádraig Ó Braonáin
    Favourite Pádraig Ó Braonáin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:57 PM

    Yes ”reach out to Unionism” by all means, however, to pander to their usual auld threat and demands is a huge mistake.

    Is it too much to ask Fine Gael to consider the wishes of people on the island as a whole, not to mention our vast Irish diaspora…what about their hopes and aspirations?

    I think this weak government is all too prepared to deny those wishes, and willing to roll-over to the threat of violent Unionism….once again…history repeating.

    95
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Nolan
    Favourite John Nolan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:21 PM

    @Pádraig Ó Braonáin: but did you not sign up to the GFA? Only 5% didnt the rest endorsed it in 1998. Do i need to remind you what was agreed?

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ben
    Favourite Ben
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:42 PM

    @John Nolan: Most keyboard republicans fail to realise that fact. The constitutional position of the North can’t change until the majority of people up there agree to it They were told that in the 70′s but decided top keep up the “struggle” until the realised its was getting them nowhere. They are all on here fantasying about a 32 county utopia with Mary Lou running the show but fail to realise that most other people living on this Island subscribe to democratic principles and wont accept them running their socialist utopic paradise unless they have been elected and there is more chance of the Pope becoming a protestant that that happening

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ger O'Reilly
    Favourite Ger O'Reilly
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:34 PM

    The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, many of those voters were from the Unionist tradition. In the event of a hard Brexit it would be reasonable for them to vote on their future that may or may not include a United Ireland.

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Smith
    Favourite Paul Smith
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:46 PM

    @Ger O’Reilly: No they didn’t they voted for the UK to remain in the EU . To vote remain they get the best of both worlds . That doesn’t mean they want to be part of the EU over the UK . They export 4 times more goods to the UK then the EU .

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alternative for Ireland
    Favourite Alternative for Ireland
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:45 PM

    Coveney talking out of both sides of his mouth here.

    “That issue is dealt with comprehensively under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and under the principle of consent which we absolutely support.”

    Yes precisely. Consistent polling done in the last year has been showing majorities in favour of a United Ireland. And as per the GFA a border poll must be called.

    59
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seán Marlow
    Favourite Seán Marlow
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:28 PM

    FG and FF have always cow-towed to British/loyalist threats. Eg, they wasted billions to collaborate with the British Forces who perpetrated deliberate massacres of hundreds of Irish unarmed citizens in Ballymurphy, Derry, Springhill, New Lodge, Newry, Belturbet, Dundalk, Dublin Airport and the worst atrocity of the troubles: Dub/Mon. After every British mass murder, FF/FG INCREASED collaboration with the British Forces who perpetrated them. No wonder the ECB could confidently threaten a [financial] bomb in Dublin in 2008, knowing that FF/FG would cravenly roll over.

    84
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sean Conway
    Favourite Sean Conway
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:02 PM

    @Seán Marlow: The UVF could start a bombing campaign. and that wouldn’t bother you?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute O Swetenham
    Favourite O Swetenham
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:12 PM

    It’s not like Sinn Fein are the only ones to mention the possibility of a United Ireland during this whole brexit debacle. Look at the comments on social media below any article discussing northern Ireland’s role in brexit, half of them are English people casually suggesting to just “unite Ireland” and be done with it.

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony
    Favourite Anthony
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:28 PM

    I don’t think people here understand what a united Ireland means. It isn’t a case of the north becoming part of the Republic. It means the end of both countries and the creation of a new country with a new flag, anthem, government etc that will be inclusive of all people on the island. I’m not sure that would sit well with alot of nationalists let alone unionists but it would be the only way.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ObsidianShine
    Favourite ObsidianShine
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:56 PM

    @Anthony: Couldn’t agree more, and I say bring it on!

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niallers
    Favourite Niallers
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:29 PM

    @ObsidianShine: I suggest the new flag should represent peace between both traditions.

    Perhaps Green for the Irish and perhaps orange for the people who feel Linked to William of orange. And perhaps White to symbolise peace in the middle. That would be perfect.

    70
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony
    Favourite Anthony
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:43 PM

    @Niallers: the orange order are only one group. The orange doesn’t represent all unionists

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Mc Partlin
    Favourite Stephen Mc Partlin
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:44 PM

    ‘Reach out to Unionism in a more effective way ‘ . Is he for real . Reach out to narrow minded , hate filled bigots who denigrate our language and customs at the drop of a hat . People who FG consistently pander to ( and accept vile insults from the likes of Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell to name a few ) . Then again FG just roll out the red carpet to anyone except our own .

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Terry McClatchey
    Favourite Terry McClatchey
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:41 PM

    @Stephen Mc Partlin: Yes he is for real. That is because he has met some unionists (small u) and understands that many cringe at the utterances of Campbell and Wilson etc. Matching bigotry with bigotry is a successful strategy for perpetuating division. Those who genuinely want to promote unity require a different approach.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony
    Favourite Anthony
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:39 PM

    @Stephen Mc Partlin: they aren’t all like that the same as not all nationalists are terrorists. If you believe that then u are only proving that it is you that is the narrow minded one

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
    Favourite Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:51 PM

    It’s obvious the Republic does not want reunification unless the British foot the bill. Simple reality.

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Sullivan
    Favourite John Sullivan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:04 PM

    @Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: The problem with history is that it is determined by events on the ground and decisions taken under pressure after 20 minute meetings…not by want people want. And the British are under massive pressure and don’t care because an island with 65 million hungry mouths facing its jugular being cut off and abject humiliation will not give a monkeys what the Republic ‘wants’.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anne Warren
    Favourite Anne Warren
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 4:27 PM

    @Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: It’s obvious that governments of the Republic have never wanted reunification as they have never done anything to promote it effectively

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry Doherty
    Favourite Larry Doherty
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:16 PM

    “Lets reach out to Unionism”, I hear Simple Simon say.

    Yes, lets embrace their culture and let them march through nationalist areas such as Derry, which has now been done for years in the interests of reconciliation but without any acknowledgement or reciprocation.
    Maybe we should agree to meet their Queen. That might make them feel at ease. Oh sorry, that was done too several times. And did they attend their invite to the Pope’s visit to Ireland. Of course not.
    Maybe then we should grant them a right of veto over the reunification of Ireland. Oh, the Good Friday agreement did that but they are still fearful according to Simon.
    Maybe we should all go to each others football matches to try to break down barriers. Oh, that did nt work either. Martin McGuinness went to an NI one but Arlene refused to go to a Republic match. A small gesture, surely.

    I am reminded about a statement about feeding crocodiles………

    Maybe Northern Nationalists should just agree to go back to their pre -1968 status and sit at the back of the NI bus. Oh sorry, Simon. That won’t work either.

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Jacobsen
    Favourite David Jacobsen
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:57 PM

    Just offer Northern Ireland a devolved status where the Protestants maintain their identity and so on, but agree to a unified Ireland for trade and prosperity.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Jacobsen
    Favourite David Jacobsen
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 12:58 PM

    @David Jacobsen:

    Let them experience Brexit first, like after March 2019.

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Sullivan
    Favourite John Sullivan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:10 PM

    @David Jacobsen: The problem is …devolve what.? They can keep Stormont…but the Protestants have lost Stormont. It isn’t ‘theirs’ any more. So do we create a new Stormont ..just for them… covering Lisburn Larne east Belfast Newtownards and Carrickfergus? If their identity depends on controlling their own fiefdom and keeping down the Irish Catholic ‘crocodiles’ within it…then they know where their ‘mainland’ is.

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Sullivan
    Favourite John Sullivan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:59 PM

    Dublin are bricking it. The nice 26 county foie gras and Chateau Margaux 8% GDP dinner party gate crashed by the tattooed UDA skinheads from Cloughfern? That’s why for Dublin it will NEVER be the right time and will LAWYS be ‘disruptive’. That is why they want the backstop and really fear Brexit…A hard border plus food shortages in the Derrys of this world could land the North east Germany-like on their lap…a reality they psychologically felt couldn’t exist for a century. Reports suggest that when May spoke about withdrawal of consent and the end of the UK in the Commons a few weeks ago…Dublin had kittens. For the first time in history the British body politic has collapsed and when the center collapses anything can happen. Dublin can read the polls too. If Derry etc refuse to accept a hard border and decide the Brits brole the GFA, all bets are off with them …we are out of the UK knowing the Brits wont use 3 para to make them stay (a la Slovenia or Latvia)….then the nightmare for Dublin is the 20 minute Downing St, cabinet meeting followed by a phone call to Leo telling him he has 4 new counties. (Thatcher already tried it with Garrett….Leo may be told not asked) Wasn’t it Lenin who said…’nothing changes for a century then everything changes in a week’.

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Roy O'Rourke
    Favourite Roy O'Rourke
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:10 PM

    @John Sullivan: So the British just hand back the four counties? No poll, no debate, no consent of any kind they just hand it over?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Sullivan
    Favourite John Sullivan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:17 PM

    @Roy O’Rourke: If the British refuse a poll the circumstances on the ground…Farmers in Tyrone are cut off by ‘the hardest border in Europe’ according to one EU official from the rest of Ireland against their will…etc etc. and they say no. If you force a hard border we will be on the Irish/EU side of it. Britain, a country with food shortages and supply chains cut….what support would there be to send troops to force Derry and Armagh and Tyrone to stay British and ‘their’ side of a hard border against their will? What are they going to do against massive civil resistance? Anyway…it’s all academic as the Brits will be going no where.

    13
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry Doherty
    Favourite Larry Doherty
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:26 PM

    @Roy O’Rourke: which four had he in mind???? Six or nothing. No more stepping stones to the Republic.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Sullivan
    Favourite John Sullivan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 6:48 PM

    @Larry Doherty: I absolutely agree with that. All I am worried about is what could happen in a situation where Britain basically implodes. 65 million hungry people on an island and the north thrown to the wolves. We know from history what happens when that happens…each identity manning the checkpoints etc. The place could split a part on the ground. No one wants that to happen and yes 6 counties together…but this presents a serious danger that we cannot legislate for.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mike Conway
    Favourite Mike Conway
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 3:38 PM

    New Years Resolution: Stay clear from all Brexit news and The Journal.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Big Red
    Favourite Big Red
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:25 PM

    And who will pay for a United Ireland? Not the British, and certainly not the Irish. There’s a lot of mouths to feed up there.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niallers
    Favourite Niallers
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:37 PM

    @Big Red: Synergy by eliminating duplication of services. The north budget includes paying a contribution towards the UK armed forces and Trident nuclear submarines. That will not have to be paid for. Models in reunification done by academics that modelled German reunification shows that there will be a 36 billion euro surplus after eight years.

    https://amp-irishexaminer-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.irishexaminer.com/business/united-irish-economy-could-deliver-boost-of-36bn-388959.html?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishexaminer.com%2Fireland%2Funited-irish-economy-could-deliver-boost-of-36bn-388959.html

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat Aherne
    Favourite Pat Aherne
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 4:57 PM

    @Big Red: studies have shown that it will pay for itself

    12
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry Doherty
    Favourite Larry Doherty
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:27 PM

    @Big Red: there’s nothing free in the Free-state.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niallers
    Favourite Niallers
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 5:28 PM

    We’ve not talked about it for decades. It’s time to talk about it.

    Not talking about it is the worst thing you can do.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Bryan
    Favourite William Bryan
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:26 PM

    Think Leo is not helping saying he will stop UK planes over flying The Republic

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niallers
    Favourite Niallers
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 2:30 PM

    @William Bryan: he didn’t say that. Purposely taken out of context. You’ve just lost all credibility.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niall Cassidy
    Favourite Niall Cassidy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 4:38 PM

    Simon Coveney ” Talking” is HUGELY UNHELPFUL!

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Smith
    Favourite Paul Smith
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 8:26 PM

    When are we going to talk about leaving the EU and joining with our Scottish , Welsh and English neighbours .

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Mc Coy
    Favourite Maria Mc Coy
    Report
    Dec 30th 2018, 1:40 PM

    He may think it’s unhelpful but Britain created this mess themselves the North voted against it and has a right to stay in the EU. The border will always be aa British issue and if Ireland reunites it’s down to Brexit. Only a matter of time really.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      News in 60 seconds