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THE MAJORITY OF Irish people would like to see a united Ireland in their lifetime, a new poll has shown.
Last night’s poll for Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ 1, which was carried out by Amárach Research, revealed that 63% of people want to see a united Ireland before they die.
Just 18% of people said they would not like to see Irish unity happen, while 19% said they didn’t know.
There has been increasing speculation that the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 29 March could lead to the unification of the Republic and Northern Ireland.
However, most people who responded to the poll did not think that Brexit would cause a united Ireland.
48% of people felt that Brexit would not unite the 32 counties, with only 31% of respondents saying a united Ireland would happen because of Britain’s departure from the EU.
Meanwhile, the public was split down the middle when asked if there would be a hard border in the island of Ireland after Brexit.
If the United Kingdom crashes out of the EU without a deal on 29 March, it will revert to World Trade Organisation rules on trade.
That means customs checks will have to take place on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, creating a hard border between the two countries.
Responding to the poll, 37% people felt there would be a hard border, while 37% also felt there would not be, with 26% of people saying they didn’t know.
The poll questions were carried out by Amarách Research for Claire Byrne Live yesterday, 18 February, and were put to a panel of over 1,000 Irish adults.
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As a contrast, our newly appointed Taoiseach has frequently disputed the correlation between poverty and ill health and premature mortality. Despite the fact that Veradker is a qualified medical practitioner, his political ideology that poverty is not a concern of government, blinds him to the hugely detrimental impact of poverty on human health.
Diets in poorer area plays a bugger role in life expectancy….
@Paul: When we see that obesity if a factor in First World “poverty” we should wake up and see that PC fake analyse is keeping the poor, poor. Certain political parties need to keep a pool of poor people as voters to get themselves elected and these are the real enemies of the poor.
The private practice model of GP healthcare is not financially viable in poorer areas. Timely Access to GPs is more restricted in the case of poorer people than for those who are more comfortably off.
@Jenny mcCarty: You can qualify that statement, I assuming.
@Tony Daly: quiet the opposite. Workers have to arrange time off work to visit GP and pay 50 to 65€ as they don’t have medical cards.
@Geraoid O’Helidhe: Great, all workers should have them and the public housing close to jobs if required.
Well done for highlighting health inequalities. Not new but larger ignored in ireland.
See the Black Report – very old doc now
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/XXMM-JMQU-2A7Y-HX1E?journalCode=joha
Also this affects everyone to some degree as there is a social gradient.
It’s all about choices….
@Gavin Huban: To an extent it is but you have less choices to make or certain choices have a higher cost as a proportion of your income. To eat healthier might be very difficult to afford or even get depending on where you live.
Slightly off topic but one glaring indictment of our health service is that even for private patients, waiting times are only “a matter of month”.
In this country we have now a new norm of having to wait months even privately except where you are a Minister or politician.
@Ger Healy: I completely agree. There is something to be said for a competitive American model of medicine where doctors decide to help people, make money because of their qualifications and expertise, and not be grossly overworked. When I have had to see a specialist, after waiting a very long time for the appointment, I wonder about the waiting list of people behind me and how that must affect the health of the doctor being put under so much pressure day in and day out.
@Ger Healy: The narrative that people are definitely corrupt if they are politicians is wrong and threatens democracy and is similar to the widely held belief that all media are liars.
Put it this way…………………….have you ever seen a bookie riding a bicycle?Go figure!
@Jenny mcCarty: Have you ever asked yourself why you need these gross simplifications, Jenny? I pay a mortgage and work, but I acknowledge this as good fortune, as well as the work ethic and attitude I was lucky enough to inherit – in the long run I’m far better off in all respects. Stop whining – you may need to see the world in such simple terms because you are frightened by its complex problems and just want it to go away. For you and all of us it will, eventually, and this will have been your life – is this the best you can do?
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