Plus Ireland "was plagued by poverty and emigration until the mid-1990s." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland http://en.wik

Plus Ireland "was plagued by poverty and emigration until the mid-1990s." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Republi... I have plenty of graduate Irish friends, almost all of whom live and work in the UK or America, they care about independence in spite of the costs. A massive majority of Scots don't, because Scotland's place in the UK is not one of conquered subject nation and thus her constitutional arrangement is much better.