The reunification of Ireland - news, history, debate and analysis

[midlander12]

I genuinely do not believe Unionists would be able to forcibly repartition Ireland and create a Transnistria like enclave - they are now only a majority in 2 of Ireland's 32 counties. They just do not have the numbers or the strength or support from the outside world to do that, or even support among their own ethnic community to do something like that.

The Primate of All Ireland is on the record stating he does not think there will be any violence when Ireland is reunified. I personally do not care what religion people are and do not mention religion when I refer to the foreign ethnic British Unionists in the north, but for the sake of the point I'm making now, according to the census, there are less than 600 thousand Protestants in the north today - not a million as the media continues to claim. Their voting power is less than 400 thousand. That's my understanding - I am open to correction.

But say they did start trouble when Ireland is reunified and did create smaller enclaves dotted around the north - rather than using the Irish Army, because of the optics of an age old fight continuing scenario, I wonder if the UN could be brought in to police those areas and undermine that narrative. Then world opinion would be totally on the Irish side and the enclaves without any support, would just wither on the vine.

I just don't feel a threat of violence from the Unionists should be taken into consideration when voting to reunify Ireland - shades of Home Rule. The Unionists need to be faced down, rather than pander to their bullsh1t.
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No I wasn't saying the threat of violence should be a reason for not going ahead or should be pandered to, but there's also little point in ignoring the possibility either. And if they were impeding a democratic vote to reunify, they would indeed have to confronted. There appears to be an assumption that unity will come about in some sort of collegiate scenario following a peaceful referendum. I think that's rather wishful thinking.

As for the 'facing them down', if Farage is in power I guarantee you that will be left to the Irish army; a Labour or centre-left govt, maybe not. And good luck with your UN option - Farage would veto it for a start, and anyway the UN is effectively dysfunctional and last authorised a peacekeeping mission in 2014. The EU maybe, if we don't piss them off further in the meantime?

[Irish History]

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Are the tectonic plates shifting on a border poll?

https://removepaywalls.com/https://www. ... LEUGZVJDM/

We are looking at the realistic prospect of a (new) president and (new) taoiseach in Dublin who are prepared to jointly push for (re) unification just as strongly as Sinn Féin and the SDLP do at Stormont

his (Micheál Martin) insistence that a border poll should only follow some ill-defined form of northern reconciliation had become largely unsustainable.

When the comprehensive results of the latest Northern Ireland Life and Times survey are also taken into account, there will be a sense that some tectonic plates may indeed be shifting, as it indicated that, if a border poll was held tomorrow, a tight margin of six percentage points would separate those would vote yes (36%) to unity from the no camp (42%).

There was a 12 percentage point difference between the two sides in 2024, and just six years previously the gap stood at 33 points, so distinct trends are at work, even before the overwhelming backing for unity among the younger generation is considered.

O’Callaghan is regarded as the most committed nationalist on his party’s front bench, and has been confident enough to set out his detailed thoughts on the potential allocation of ministries to unionists in a post-referendum Irish administration.

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[NewBroom]

I just don't feel a threat of violence from the Unionists should be taken into consideration when voting to reunify Ireland - shades of Home Rule. The Unionists need to be faced down, rather than pander to their bullsh1t.

So your grand proposal to deal with a large group of our neighbours who not want to 'reunite' - is to 'face them down'.

Just how are you going to face them down? Please explain.

[Irish History]

So your grand proposal to deal with a large group of our neighbours who not want to 'reunite' - is to 'face them down'.

Just how are you going to face them down? Please explain.

1/ They are not our neighbours - they are squatting in our house.

2/ They are a minority so you ignore them and implement the will of the majority - its called democracy.

Any other stupid questions?
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[Irish History]

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A Real Strategy for Reunification – and Why the SDLP Matters.

https://sluggerotoole.com/2025/11/13/a- ... p-matters/

Fundamentally, northern nationalism is still almost always something inherited and Catholic.

That's because Ireland is the Nation you foreign ethnic British Unionists are planted in as a people, and we native Irish people are the nationals of Ireland and happen to be Catholic. This is Ireland you are in - you are not in Britain.
And you foreign ethnic British Unionists tried to force us not to be Catholic - remember? The Normans who assimilated into Irish society were also Catholics - it's you foreign ethnic British Unionists (census) who never assimilated into Irish society and are not Catholic and are not Irish - that is why you people are the cause of all the trouble in Ireland.

In my opinion, the Heather Humphreys episode, where an Ulster Protestant background became a point of suspicion, should have prompted deeper reflection. Dismissing her experience as isolated really misses what it signalled to open-minded Protestants in the North

What "episode" would that be? The media merely asked her about her family connections to the sectarian Orange Order. Did they insult her by asking - I don't think so. It seems to me that Unionists are just looking for another excuse to whinge about something.

I will never find a political home within Sinn Féin. They have their version of history, and it belongs to them, but we will always see things differently.

What version of history would that be - what's to dispute about Ireland's history? England illegally invaded and fraudulently occupied Ireland - foreign ethnic British Unionists were planted on Irish land that they stole from Irish people they murdered or ethnically cleansed. Where is the confusion about that?

So, where might a civic opening come from within existing politics? This could be the point of the SDLP, who are so often dismissed as irrelevant. The party could become the civic bridge Sinn Féin just can’t be. The SDLP’s strength doesn’t lie in chasing the same nationalist votes, but in winning new people entirely, and that could be a game-changer in shifting the numbers.

Fine with me.

So why don’t I just get on with it and join the SDLP? Because, as I tried to explain above, it isn’t just about signing a membership form; it’s still about crossing a cultural line and stepping into a space that can make you feel like an outsider.
The SDLP can’t assume it looks open to Protestants, but it must do the hard work of making it so. This means more Protestant candidates, sustained engagement in Protestant civic spaces, and a tone that doesn’t assume shared background.
The work of persuasion needs to start by making active, visible participation in nationalist politics very possible for pro-unity Protestants.

Fine again - but just so you know, we Irish don't need the permission of foreign ethnic British Unionists to reunify our country anymore - we Irish now have the numbers in the north to make it happen ourselves, whether you like it or not. Maybe you need to reach out to us rather then complaining that we don't reach out to you, when in actual fact, we have been reaching out since the GFA in 1998, whereas you Unionists are still dragging your heels.

Reunification will be decided by a border poll, but it doesn’t have to be a Catholic-nationalist victory over a Protestant-unionist community. If nationalism can include Protestant representation within its ranks, it starts to dissolve old divides and replaces them with something more civic and shared, and that’s a great foundation for the future.

Fine with me.
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[Irish History]

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RE: above.

Orange Order seeks meeting with Taoiseach to discuss 'bigotry against Protestants' in Republic of Ireland following 'sectarianism' on show during presidential election.

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/polit ... arsely-api

The announcement appears in the latest edition of the Orange Standard, the order's official newsletter. You could not make this up - I'm glad I don't have their nerve in my tooth !!!

What emerged during the presidential election was a campaign of outright bigotry towards the Orange Institution and at times, a naked sectarianism towards Protestants in general.

The Orange Order of Ireland is the epitome of sectarianism and bigotry in Ireland - established to hate everything Irish except the land the foreign ethnic British Unionists stole from us Irish people they murdered and committed ethnic cleansing on.

A follow-on article, titled “Historical bias against southern Protestants”, spoke of “a deep-seated attitude of opposition to anything that does not fit the late-nineteenth century construct of what being Irish is all about – nationalist, Catholic and Gaelic”.

Seriously, these people are TOTALLY DELUDED - they should spend a week in the Gaeltacht where the real Irish people live. So in that quote above, the foreign ethnic British Unionists are trying to, as they have always done since they were planted as a foreign people in Ireland, disenfranchise us native Irish people from our own native country Ireland which is named in our stead.

This goes to the crux of the problem with these outsiders within. The foreign ethnic British Unionists (census) never considered themselves at one with us native Irish people - they never intermarried with us native Irish. They have treated us as less than human. When they refer to Ireland as in the title of their sectarian Order, they were not associating themselves with us actual Irish people, but only using Ireland in the context of them living in Ireland and Ireland being one of the so-called "Four British Nations" of the so-called "British Isles" It is a false claim - a misappropriation of Ireland and all things Irish. They are nothing but land-thieves.

The foreign ethnic British Unionists (census) in historical fact and to this day want/wanted nothing to do with us native Irish, or being Irish, except to steal our land and oppress and suppress us, and claim our country Ireland in a foreign country's name - namely England/Britain/UK.

They need to be broken - and they will be for once and for all time when Ireland is reunified.
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[NewBroom]

1/ They are not our neighbours - they are squatting in our house.

Right, so just how do you propose we manage Unionist opposition to having reunification forced on them?

You've written off any show of force from them. Do you propose to remove these squatters as you call them? And how so? By what means?

And of course, arguably you should first get rid of all the f****** squatters arriving here everyday for the past three years. If Sinn Féin had any semblance of common sense, they'd be organising street protests and so on, getting behind their voter base. Of course maybe they are behind the scenes given the recent expulsions they were arm twisted into.

[NewBroom]

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/polit ... arsely-api

Orange Order seeks meeting with Taoiseach to discuss 'bigotry against Protestants' in Republic of Ireland following 'sectarianism' on show during presidential election.

They are absolutely correct, this was entirely predictable given the campaign that some/ many of Connolly's supporters ran against Humphreys.

That Sinn Féin backed Connolly and allowed this to happen was a major screw up in terms of their overall objective. It'd make you question if the party leadership up north have lost their touch.

[Irish History]

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What exactly are Nigel Farage’s plans for Northern Ireland?

"How badly burned could NI unionism plc get if Reform does field candidates in supposedly ‘safe’ seats where the TUV, DUP and UUP might also be standing?"

I don't know if anyone has noticed the constituency map GB News uses - but when it shows the Reform colour for constituencies, it intentionally colours Lough Neagh the Reform colour to make English people think Reform has a foothold in the occupied 6 counties of Ireland. Comedy Gold.

https://removepaywalls.com/https://www. ... BFFRVQP3Q/

Farage stuck a knife in the back of the TUV and is also on the record saying the north would inevitably (RE) unite with the Republic and Mary Lou McDonald is someone with whom he would share a platform – both views repugnant to a unionist

in October 2021 the formal relationship with the NI branch (UKIP?) and the main party disintegrated when local members accused it of ‘silence’ on the issue of the NI Protocol.

New-generation English nationalism was always his priority and I’m fairly sure he was aware that his core electoral base had no particular interest in defending Northern Ireland’s position within the UK

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[Return of the Mac]

They are absolutely correct, this was entirely predictable given the campaign that some/ many of Connolly's supporters ran against Humphreys.

That Sinn Féin backed Connolly and allowed this to happen was a major screw up in terms of their overall objective. It'd make you question if the party leadership up north have lost their touch.

There is a delicious irony about an organisation which is bigoted towards Catholics giving out about bigotry towards Protestants

[Irish History]

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RE: above.

Orange Order seeks meeting with Taoiseach to discuss 'bigotry against Protestants' in Republic of Ireland following 'sectarianism' on show during presidential election.

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/polit ... arsely-api

The announcement appears in the latest edition of the Orange Standard, the order's official newsletter. You could not make this up - I'm glad I don't have their nerve in my tooth !!!



The Orange Order of Ireland is the epitome of sectarianism and bigotry in Ireland - established to hate everything Irish except the land the foreign ethnic British Unionists stole from us Irish people they murdered and committed ethnic cleansing on.



Seriously, these people are TOTALLY DELUDED - they should spend a week in the Gaeltacht where the real Irish people live. So in that quote above, the foreign ethnic British Unionists are trying to, as they have always done since they were planted as a foreign people in Ireland, disenfranchise us native Irish people from our own native country Ireland which is named in our stead.

This goes to the crux of the problem with these outsiders within. The foreign ethnic British Unionists (census) never considered themselves at one with us native Irish people - they never intermarried with us native Irish. They have treated us as less than human. When they refer to Ireland as in the title of their sectarian Order, they were not associating themselves with us actual Irish people, but only using Ireland in the context of them living in Ireland and Ireland being one of the so-called "Four British Nations" of the so-called "British Isles" It is a false claim - a misappropriation of Ireland and all things Irish. They are nothing but land-thieves.

The foreign ethnic British Unionists (census) in historical fact and to this day want/wanted nothing to do with us native Irish, or being Irish, except to steal our land and oppress and suppress us, and claim our country Ireland in a foreign country's name - namely England/Britain/UK.

They need to be broken - and they will be for once and for all time when Ireland is reunified.
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RE: above. Foreign British claim that Ireland is one of the so-called "Four British Nations".

The BBC are claiming today on the occasion of the hun Kings 77th birthday that counties Derry, Down, Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone are a...Nation!?

The foreign British Monarch still claims to be King of all Ireland though the use of the HARP, Ireland's sovereign seal on his Crown Arms, flags etc.

Will we ever be rid of the parasite that is England - who do these people think they are!?

Seriously, the English are totally deluded - all afflicted with emperor's new clothes syndrome!

To mark King Charles III's 77th birthday, four British Nations are holding royal gun salutes at noon today, November 14, 2025: London (Green Park), the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland. The salutes are traditionally a 21-gun salute and are carried out by ceremonial units like The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Honourable Artillery Company

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