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Does NI actually have incentives to unite with the Republic? I mean, with the current agreement they already have special status (no borders) and I think NI pe
by riffraff 6y ago
Does NI actually have incentives to unite with the Republic?
I mean, with the current agreement they already have special status (no borders) and I think NI people can get Irish Citizeship easily.
It sounds "nice" to have a unified Ireland from a purely simplification perspective but I wonder if it's actually a popular idea in NI.
- secondcoming 6y agoIt won't happen any time soon but I think the Unionist population in NI is seeing that the Union isn't what it once was. A United Ireland is a very real possibility, but I doubt Ireland could afford it.
- vr46 6y agoIf Scotland leaves the UK, the NI Unionists will explode. Northern Ireland is closer to Scotland than England both in culture and proximity. Right now, NI citizens have a better deal in the UK than non-NI citizens, so they might not see the need to join the Republic, but watch this space, right?
- acjohnson55 6y agoIt gets interesting if Scotland joins the EU. That would leave NI rather isolated. I'm a complete outsider, but it's hard for me to imagine a United Ireland. I can imagine an independent NI, with special relationships with the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and what's left of the UK. And independent NI isn't a tiny country, by European standards.
- riffraff 6y ago> independent NI isn't a tiny country, by European standards. At 1.8M people, it would be larger than Cyprus, Malta and Luxemburg, so yeah. It is an interesting possibility, but would it make any sense? People who want a united Ireland wouldn't like it, and people who want it part of the UK wouldn't either. Both may like it more than the opposite alternative though.