# Do most people in the Republic of Ireland not care about a United Ireland or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2015, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119 "2015-10-19T09:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/21 "2015-10-19T16:19:30Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > b) London has, in an attempt to keep Northern Ireland peaceful, thrown heaps of cash at the province to develop institutions and industry (well off people tend not to get violent). Figures for the amount that the British government subsidises Northern Ireland range from £6 billion to £11 billion annually. That’s for a population of 1.8 million people. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/22 "2015-10-19T16:28:18Z")
Within Northern Ireland (quite apart from the way in which every election since partition has, in effect, been about which set of unionists is considered most reliably pro the border, and which set of Irish nationalists most reliably agin it), there was a specific referendum on the issue in 1973, which predictably came down on the side of remaining in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/23 "2015-10-19T16:29:56Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Figures for the amount that the British government subsidises Northern Ireland range from £6 billion to £11 billion annually. That’s for a population of 1.8 million people. So at a conservative estimate, about £3,300 spent per person. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/24 "2015-10-19T16:50:53Z")
And what is the Labour estimate? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/25 "2015-10-19T17:03:38Z")
> [@D18](#): > > And what is the Labour estimate? 😉 Very droll, minister… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/26 "2015-10-19T17:05:01Z")
> [@D18](#): > > And what is the Labour estimate? 😉 Well played sir. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/27 "2015-10-19T17:25:29Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > All parties involved are members of the EU these days. While the UK still holds on to their beloved £, they are at the same time a FULL member of the EU. > > It would be the same as the Confederate Army starting up attacking the US Army within the USA. No, _voting_ is not like armed attack. That both states are EU members ought to make a hypothetical transfer easier. If NI wanted it, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/28 "2015-10-19T17:34:08Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > …there was a specific referendum on the issue in 1973, which predictably came down on the side of remaining in the UK. Of course, NI was established in the first place on the basis of being the largest piece of Ireland that could be drawn to contain a majority of unionists. If local self-determination was the overriding principle, you’d think the NI districts bordering the Republic might be asked to vote individually on their own future. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/29 "2015-10-19T19:22:42Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > So let’s assume that the Irish government (i. e. the Republic of Ireland) doesn’t push the issue. But if there were indeed a referendum to be held in Northern Ireland (with the consent of the UK government) and a majority in Northern Ireland/Ulster opted for a United Ireland, the government in Dublin certainly wouldn’t stand in the way and they would accept their lost brothers and sisters back, wouldn’t they? Speaking as an irishman living in the republic the answer to that is probably a no. The north is a basket case and would probably drag the republic down with it if they reunited. Any talk of a united ireland in the republic in most lip service. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/30 "2015-10-19T19:38:55Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > The UK and the Republic happen to get on very well these days. A couple of years ago I drove from Belfast to Galway. I expected some sort of border control crossing from NI into the Republic, but there was nothing to indicate the border at all. If there was a “Welcome to the Republic of Ireland” sign, I missed it. I wouldn’t have noticed the crossing except (1) gas station signs went form pounds/gallon to Euros/liter and (2) the numbers on the speed limit signs jumped as they went from miles per hour to km per hour… ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/31 "2015-10-19T20:21:48Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Of course, NI was established in the first place on the basis of being the largest piece of Ireland that could be drawn to contain a majority of unionists. Kinda — or part of the blind greed that characterised all parties. It might have been over-reaching to include Fermanagh and Tyrone in the Ulster state. * * * However, at various times the British government has offered the North on a plate to the Republic, only to be horrifiedly refused by the southern Irish. Both by Churchill and Harold Wilson. The protties weren’t thrilled when they realised much later that London was willing to throw them under a bus. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/32 "2015-10-19T20:53:31Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > A couple of years ago I drove from Belfast to Galway. I expected some sort of border control crossing from NI into the Republic, but there was nothing to indicate the border at all. If there was a “Welcome to the Republic of Ireland” sign, I missed it. I wouldn’t have noticed the crossing except (1) gas station signs went form pounds/gallon to Euros/liter and (2) the numbers on the speed limit signs jumped as they went from miles per hour to km per hour… [Common Travel Area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area). Kind of a tiny Schengen area. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/33 "2015-10-19T21:14:01Z")
A good friend of mine grew up in Dublin, though she’s lived in the US for over 20 years. She’s told me that she has absolutely zero interest in a united Ireland – the North wants to be part of the UK, and she’s just fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/34 "2015-10-20T15:40:35Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > So let’s assume that the Irish government (i. e. the Republic of Ireland) doesn’t push the issue. But if there were indeed a referendum to be held in Northern Ireland (with the consent of the UK government) and a majority in Northern Ireland/Ulster opted for a United Ireland, the government in Dublin certainly wouldn’t stand in the way and they would accept their lost brothers and sisters back, wouldn’t they? I am not so sure. I have a feeling that outside of Unionist/loyalist circles in the north, the biggest bulwark against a united Ireland is the Dublin political establishment and beneficiaries thereof. Although in recent years Fianna Fáil (the discredited but long dominant party in the republic) dubbed itself the “republican party”, there seems little interest amongst the Dublin establishment to engage with the north beyond what is necessary for the maintenance of peace. I suspect the establishment fears a concomitant loss of power and influence that a united Ireland might bring and also the probably ascendance of Sinn Féin to a or the major party on the island. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/35 "2015-10-20T15:48:19Z")
> [@D18](#): > > A genuine question: why wouldn’t an Northern Irish Catholic not want to be “joined with the Republic of Ireland outside of the UK”? Well for one, Catholicism doesn’t match nationalism 1:1, majority of nationalists are from a Catholic background but not all Catholics are nationalist and not all nationalists are Catholic. Furthermore, a well to do Catholic might fear upsetting the apple cart, ie they suffer in the pocket from joining up with the Republic. Poorer Catholics might want to continue being within the NHS system. Security fears and memories of the Troubles might also impact your opinion on whether to leave the United Kingdom. Even when/if Northern Ireland becomes majority nationalist in the near future, you will still have 800,000 to 900,000 people who don’t wish to be a part of it, some subset of whom might start taking it out on their Catholic/nationalist neighbours. I am a Dubliner from a nationalist Catholic background with deep roots in the north and I know plenty of people on both sides of the community in the north who don’t care one way or another. They just want to live their lives. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/36 "2015-10-20T17:32:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > [Common Travel Area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area). Kind of a tiny Schengen area. The point being that, at independence, there were plenty of people in the UK, both north of the border and across the water, who would technically become Irish, but still “belonged” in the UK, whatever their politics. Plus, the UK government needed the face-saving figleaf of continuing Irish membership of the Commonwealth. So independence for the Free State never meant a total separation, socially or economically - in practical terms it couldn’t. There’s always been a freedom of movement between the two, and Irish citizens in the UK have always been able to vote in UK elections (as can citizens of any Commonwealth country, if they’re living here) and that carried on when Ireland left the Commonwealth and became formally a Republic. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119/37 "2015-10-23T09:07:47Z")
To be honest, if Northern Ireland adopted the Euro I am not sure I’d care if there was ever a united Ireland. I am perfectly at home north and south of the border but the change of currency each time is an annoyance, especially since my Euro (for all its problems) is the currency across much of Europe, but 60 miles north and I have to have sterling. Of course the prevalence of debit cards makes this less of an issue than it might once have been, but it is really hard to budget for a short trip when the price of everything is slightly askew from what you’re used to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-people-in-the-republic-of-ireland-not-care-about-a-united-ireland-or-what/735119.md?page=1)