“The Pale”? That would be Dublin and the surrounding counties?
What would be “impractical” about a single government for a whole island? (I know, I know, ask the Cypriots . . .)
Er… the Unionists, who currently make up the majority of the population in the six counties of Northern Ireland.
Most of them are vehemently opposed to even the slightest hint of being ruled from Dublin. If rule from Dublin ever happened, I predict there would be a massive resurgence of Loyalist terrorism. Bombs would be going off left right and centre, in London as well as Dublin, I predict.
Also, though they might be happy to be in a united Ireland, I would imagine that even some northern Nationalists would miss their free health care, good road maintenance, and lower taxes. NI is pretty economically depressed and receives a great deal of subsidy from the UK government - this burden would also be transferred to Dublin.
We have also removed the constitutional claim on the north from our constitution by referendum and endorsed the Good Friday Agreement(now in a bit of trouble due to unionist objections) which says that the only way the North can become part of Ireland is when the majority of them vote for it.
The situation in the North is not what it used to be. In the days of devolution the north was a cesspool of discrimination and bigotry against the Catholics/nationalists. A lot of nationalists weren’t saints either but they were all but powerless in society. Now there is a society that is for all intents and purposes fair and just up North.
Economically it would be very hard on the republic if we got the north back. It’s almost totally dependent on money from the mainland. We also don’t have the security forces that the Brits have at their disposal. A united Ireland would lead to a shitstorm up the north.
The people who really want a united Ireland are the British Government. Leave us paddies to fight our fight amongst ourselves and leave them the fuck alone. If only their forefathers had of left us alone 
Not that I’m disagreeing, but by the same logic partition is also “impractical” (or was until the IRA ceasefire, anyway).
Agreed, though unfortunately it was a status quo, rather than a new model. But yeah - it must have been a bizarre thing when partition did happen (I myself am descended from the Protestant diaspora who left at that time, fearing persecution).
I have to disagree.
Sectarian attacks are ongoing - in both directions, yes, but more seriously against the nationalist community - and have been joined lately by an extremely frightening increase in racist attacks. As demonstrated on UTV’s Insight programme last night there are still serious institutional sectarian issues (the PSNI and DPP were found to be tampering with forensic evidence against several nationalist suspects). The Unionist-dominated Lisburn City Council has point blank refused to appoint any nationalists, including the SDLP, to any of its senior positions. And these are just the examples off the top of my head. It’s not nearly as bad as it was, but it’s still a ways from being a just and fair society.
Do Irish typically refer to Great Britain as “the mainland”?
If the Brits themselves use the phrase at all, I would guess they probably use it to mean the European continent.
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Do Irish typically refer to Great Britain as “the mainland”?
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not really, but if you used it people would know what you mean. I would guess it is more prevalent up north.
Most Irish people I know get bugged by the phrase, though not in an intensely serious way. It’s perfectly correct usage when used by people who view themselves as UK citizens in the North though.
Most Brits I know wouldn’t refer to the continent as ‘the mainland’ either, for IMO silly anti-European reasons.
No. I wouldn’t say I was going over the mainland if I was going to Britain but I was talking about the North and I was typing fast and wasn’t really thinking.
Nuther foreign resident chiming in here.
As any conversation about politics in Northern Ireland very rapidly turns to Northern Ireland, I am often guilty of tuning out.
Generally because I only ever seem to hear one side, which can range from remarkably reasonable and obvious to passionate zealotry, which is a bit scary. Generally, as well, I am only ever in the company of people who state their views and solutions as non-residents of Northern Ireland.
I would be very interested to hear the views of NI residents on the whole issue of NI sovereignity, because, at the end of the day, it should surely be up to them and not up to outsiders, I would have thought.
According to what yojimbo said up there, that is a term of the GFA.
Is it likely now that any such vote will take place any time soon?
A Northern Irish friend of mine once told me that NI people have grown up knowing not to mention politics to outsiders, as everyone else seems to think they know what’s best for NI. If that is the case and no NI Dopers want to enlighten me, then I am sorry for asking and rest assured, the one doper I do know from NI, I will never bring it up in person and that goes for any so far unmet NI doper I might meet in the future.
Getting back to the South, there’s been an interesting development over the past two weeks in that Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens are positioning themselves to run in the next general election as the ‘alternative’ coalition government.
Personally, I think this is a bad move for Labour and the Greens, as it will force both of them to the right - and they’re both already under some pressure from the left (Labour in particular). Ideologically the Greens are so far from FG that it’s hard to see this as anything but a power grab for them, and how well will that go over with their core supporters?
All very interesting …
I for one am scared of the moves towards privatisation that Mata Harney and her ilk are behind. CIE now, An Post potentially. would really scupper any hopes of rural renewal.
I’m in favour of privatising the bus services, though not the trains.
This is based on my observation of how it’s (generally) worked in the UK - private buses good, private trains bad.
There. I’ve said it.
Yeah but isn’t your experience with buses between towns etc. IIRC
Dublin bus will be destroyed if it went private. Would free passes for the elderly be honoured? Would there be commitments to keep unprofitable routes open? Would current level of services be guaranteed and on and on …
I’ve no problem with the idea of privatisation but believe that certain services need to be ran even when they are not profitable although even attempt should be made to make them as economically viable as possible with certain constraints.
In Dublin you may have a point (well, I’,m only saying that in the interest of fairness ;)) but Bus Eireann shouldn’t. It would end up with alot of routes curtailed or removed altogether. alot of the country routes are run at a loss, and It’s doubtful a privaqte company would keep them up.
Yes it is - the Oxford Tube now runs:
£11 return. It’s genius.
Isn’t that what legislation is for?
That I agree with, but again that could surely be built into any tenders?
BTW, within the city of Oxford, there used to be at least three competing private minibus companies, following routes laid down by the council - they would stop and pick you up anywhere on their route like a cab, and drop you off anywhere on their route (or at least they did when I lived there). That’d be handier for pensioners, wouldn’t it? And of course the fares dropped bigtime.
Leaving aside my opposition to privatisation on principle, I can’t for the life of me understand how it’s supposed to make the buses better. Dublin Bus is a good service. The only real problem with it is that there are too many other vehicles competing with it for road space, but I don’t see how selling it off is supposed to fix that.
What company is going to take on a tender where a sizable amount of routes are run at a loss without some sort of time release getout clause?