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Seems clear enough to me, a majority of people in N.Ireland want to stay part of Britain end of story, like I said its called 'Democracy'. Whoever did or didn't vote is irrelevant (and if they didn't vote rather stupid) I suggest those that boycotted knew what the result of the poll would be before the vote. You see this is how 'Democracy' works - its exactly the same in the US, people are asked to vote on their wishes and the majority gets their wishes granted (Democracy see). I have yet to see ANY Democratic vote ANYWHERE in the world that has 100% of the people voting the same way (though the Falkland Islanders were damn close with over 99% of people voting to stay part of the UK) but again that's called 'Democracy' its how 'Democracy' works and if the minority of people that don't get what they want from a Democratic vote then decided violence was the answer to get their way instead of accepting the 'Democratic' result then the UK would pretty soon turn into a country that looked lot like some kind of African dictatorship.
Unfortunately many people on this globe see the English (yes English not British) as some kind of evil race of beings that has subjugated the world. Hollywood perhaps? Scotland has also voted to stay part of the UK and that DOES NOT mean subjugated by the English but to remain part of the 'UNION' a union incidentally that came about when the king of Scotland took over the English throne and NOT because the 'evil' English invaded and subjugated (despite what Mel Gibson thinks).
Often the government of Democratic countries get a lot less than 50% of the population voting for them but if you want to be part of a civilised modern world you have to go with the majority (like it or not). Democracy may not be perfect but do you know any better way of governance?
Ok, so you did reference it, but as you must know that so called "vote" was irrelevant to most people as it was seen not only as gerrymandered (aka Fixed), but also when you have one of two parts of the community abstaining from the vote, it will hardly carry any weight in the peoples mind.
At least those with whom you must win over.
As an aside, that will be the problem if a real vote occurs and the majority votes to unify with the RoI. You cannot just say to the Unionist community "like it or leave", though good old Foster already poisoned the well by saying that is likely what she would do.
This new breed of politician in NI (on both sides) seems to be tone deaf at times. I wonder if having two women at loggerheads has anything to do with it?
Your post is nonsense, you seem to STILL be missing THE ONE AND ONLY thing that matters - people in Northern Ireland voted to stay part of Britain!!
Pedantic perhaps, but this statement is false.
There has never been a vote on it.
But at this juncture i don't think one is merited.
Let the UK be in the cold outside of the EU for a spell and the northies will find out very quickly that Dublin has their back better than Westminster does.
Ok, so you did reference it, but as you must know that so called "vote" was irrelevant to most people as it was seen not only as gerrymandered (aka Fixed), but also when you have one of two parts of the community abstaining from the vote, it will hardly carry any weight in the peoples mind.
At least those with whom you must win over.
As an aside, that will be the problem if a real vote occurs and the majority votes to unify with the RoI. You cannot just say to the Unionist community "like it or leave", though good old Foster already poisoned the well by saying that is likely what she would do.
This new breed of politician in NI (on both sides) seems to be tone deaf at times. I wonder if having two women at loggerheads has anything to do with it?
`
Then that really was 'their' problem, at the end of the day the vote was unanimously in favour of staying part of the UK, there really is no more you can do - like I think I may have pointed out already THAT is Democracy and the UK (and Ireland for that matter) are both (like the US) Democratic countries, democracy puts the decision in the hands of the people, and like EVERY Democratic vote its what the majority of the people want that counts. It is exactly how things are done in the US too, should the Clinton supporters have placed bombs in the White House because they lost out to Trump? Can you think of a better way than Democracy of doing it? A tug of war perhaps? Listen I can only hope and pray that the people that live in that part of the world can bridge their differences and ALL live a prosperous and happy life unfortunately people on all sides are going to have to make concessions, not easy I imagine, there has been terrible wrongs and hurt from ALL sides, but it will have to be done for the future of the young of N. Ireland.
Pedantic perhaps, but this statement is false.
There has never been a vote on it.
But at this juncture i don't think one is merited.
Let the UK be in the cold outside of the EU for a spell and the northies will find out very quickly that Dublin has their back better than Westminster does.
Then that really was 'their' problem, at the end of the day the vote was unanimously in favour of staying part of the UK, there really is no more you can do - like I think I may have pointed out already THAT is Democracy and the UK (and Ireland for that matter) are both (like the US) Democratic countries, democracy puts the decision in the hands of the people, and like EVERY Democratic vote its what the majority of the people want that counts. It is exactly how things are done in the US too, should the Clinton supporters have placed bombs in the White House because they lost out to Trump? Can you think of a better way than Democracy of doing it? A tug of war perhaps? Listen I can only hope and pray that the people that live in that part of the world can bridge their differences and ALL live a prosperous and happy life unfortunately people on all sides are going to have to make concessions, not easy I imagine, there has been terrible wrongs and hurt from ALL sides, but it will have to be done for the future of the young of N. Ireland.
Just as the US example (i.e. Alabama or Hawaii) is not a great comparative analogy, neither is the India example.
I do see your point though, just not as well as you might hope. That is in large part because Britain purposely gerrymandered a majority in certain areas of Ulster to help maintain rule over it.
Remember, one of the arguments Britain made for maintaining control of India back in the day was they needed to protect their British Muslim subjects.
Now just imagine if they agreed to give up the whole of India with the exception of small portion of the land mass, say Kashmir.
Additionally, they had been removing all sorts of Hindu's or making life difficult on them in that region, and having more and more planted Muslims loyal to the crown there.
See where I am going with this?
So instead of Britain being free and clear of India and their present problems (with sectarian strife and disputed land,,,,,,sound familiar?), they would be right smack in the middle of it today.
That is part of the reason Unfailing Presence has been saying why the heck does Britain have any interest in maintaining control on NI.
Granted their thrust was based more on economic benefit/resources vs. a drain on the British economy, but the underlying question remains.
Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
See the link previously posted.
I know you addressed this to Jman0war, and I say this with all due respect, but please try to use credible sources rather than Wiki.
I obviously knew about the 70's vote so I didn't need to click on the link to confirm it. But if it were news to me, I would not want to get my edification from such a unreliable and biased source.
Pedantic perhaps, but this statement is false.
There has never been a vote on it.
But at this juncture i don't think one is merited.
Let the UK be in the cold outside of the EU for a spell and the northies will find out very quickly that Dublin has their back better than Westminster does.
More and more people (despite Roscoe's claim of not having a chance in hell) are thinking a vote today in NI could result in reunification rather than remaining part of the UK. Brexit is obviously a factor, if for no other reason putting NI at the forefront of peoples consciousness.
That was not the intent of Brexit, but as English Dave rightly points out, if Brexit fails, many of the English and those wanting to shed the EU, will be resentful toward the Irish.
Ironically enough they should really be upset with the DUP/Unionists/Loyalists who are poisoning the well as I type this.
They have PM May by the _____, and are only looking out for their own selfish interests.
tbh i wasn't aware of this 1973 vote.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Seems like a reactionary thing to try and dry-up the support the IRA would have been getting in spades back then.
It was a farce and not considered real by much of the world as the Nationalists/Republicans who were the main supporters of the IRA refused to participate. Hence the lopsided figures of almost 99% voting to stay in the UK.
If that was a genuine representation of most of NI, the IRA would not have had any support at all. If anything, it probably added fuel to the fire because many Irish felt like 2nd class citizens in their own homes.
Remember, one of the arguments Britain made for maintaining control of India back in the day was they needed to protect their British Muslim subjects.
Now just imagine if they agreed to give up the whole of India with the exception of small portion of the land mass, say Kashmir.
`
Well that issue was pretty much sorted by the partition between India and Pakistan/Bangladesh. Not that this has been entirely plain sailing since then of course.
It was a farce and not considered real by much of the world as the Nationalists/Republicans who were the main supporters of the IRA refused to participate. Hence the lopsided figures of almost 99% voting to stay in the UK.
If that was a genuine representation of most of NI, the IRA would not have had any support at all. If anything, it probably added fuel to the fire because many Irish felt like 2nd class citizens in their own homes.
`
I don't think that vote is particularly relevant for the reasons you have stated. More relevant I think is all the general elections that have seen more people voting for Unionist parties rather than Nationalist parties. For better or worse in NI those votes are a pretty good proxy for where people stand on the issue.
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