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Here is an article published two days ago that espouses a different position. The GBP and the EUR reaching parity may be a symbolic shift in world finance.
The proposition of a United Ireland has become not just acceptable in political discussion but, according to some, pragmatic since the seismic shift in the political terrain caused by last year’s Brexit referendum. Britain’s lurch into populism and the prospect of a new Scottish independence referendum has thrust reunification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland to the surface of political discourse, however unwelcome it may be to some. “Brexit came out of nowhere, it was not in the British political script at all… What it effectively did was highlight that all of the rational arguments are now in favor of Irish reunification,” Kevin Meagher, an author and former special adviser in Northern Ireland tells RT.
While Brexit may have come as a shock to many, Meagher argues that the writing has been on the wall for years and that now, a United Ireland is the only logical outcome which serves the interests of all parties involved. A referendum on Northern Ireland’s status, often referred to as a border poll, looms large as UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand reaches for the Brexit trigger. “If you have a border poll and there is a majority in favor of Irish Unity, that is not really the point at which you want to begin this conversation,” Meagher says. “Before we actually come to that, we can start to intellectually understand how the Irish state may become more federal, with a large amount of devolution, there may be a strengthened constitutional right to different identity .
“That’s the conversation that should start to happen now.”
Since a 1998 peace deal, known as the Good Friday agreement, ended three decades of bloody sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, sporadic periods of unrest and violence have tested the fragile accord as it struggles to fully emerge from its bloody past. While there is no sign of a return to the tit-for-tat sectarian violence that killed 3,600 people, the frailties of Northern Ireland’s political power-sharing system have once again been exposed by the collapse of its assembly. Last week, Northern Ireland ventured into the unknown as unionists lost their majority, at least in terms of seats occupied, in national elections – for the first time since the partition of Ireland in 1921.
While the ideological imperative on both sides of the debate in Northern Ireland may not be as strong as it once was, consideration of tradition and cultural identity is essential if the debate on reunification can begin. “I would never say that reunification is an inevitability. I think it’s very interesting that question of unity has come back into the frame… [but] you cannot coerce or force Unionists into a United Ireland against their will,” Ferriter points out.
Brexit makes governance even more complex as Northern Ireland’s border with the Republic is the UK's only land border with the EU, raising the prospect of border controls that could stoke memories of past violence. “That issue in itself is problematic,” says Ferriter. “But there are an awful lot of people growing up in Northern Ireland now, post-Troubles, that don’t necessarily see unification as a burning issue.”
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If Scotland has a second referendum and votes for independence, just how will Scotland reduce it's budget deficit of 9%? To put that into perspective, Greece, which we all know is an economic basket case, has a budget deficit of only 7.2%.
So with no Barnett formula, no currency of it's own, no central bank and separated from it's largest export market, England, how will Scotland survive economically?
The EU said last week that if Scotland wants to join the EU then it will have to go to the back of the queue. And it will also have to meet the EU's economic criteria for membership, and that means a budget deficit of 3% or less.
I wonder if the Scots who want independence realise the sort of financial pain the Scottish people would suffer while trying to reduce the budget deficit? According to the experts there would have to be massive cuts in public spending, cuts that would make the UK's austerity measures look like a walk in the park.
The other alternative would be huge rises in taxation. Are the Scots ready for that?
I know Sturgeon is not from Glasgow, it is the attitude of Glaswegians ( having lived there)who will force the issue. No, the English don't think they are superior we just get on with our day to day lives. A lot of Scots Nats think they know their history they don't , they don't represent that land. But I would let them vote next week
If Scotland has a second referendum and votes for independence, just how will Scotland reduce it's budget deficit of 9%? To put that into perspective, Greece, which we all know is an economic basket case, has a budget deficit of only 7.2%.
So with no Barnett formula, no currency of it's own, no central bank and separated from it's largest export market, England, how will Scotland survive economically?
The EU said last week that if Scotland wants to join the EU then it will have to go to the back of the queue. And it will also have to meet the EU's economic criteria for membership, and that means a budget deficit of 3% or less.
I wonder if the Scots who want independence realise the sort of financial pain the Scottish people would suffer while trying to reduce the budget deficit? According to the experts there would have to be massive cuts in public spending, cuts that would make the UK's austerity measures look like a walk in the park.
The other alternative would be huge rises in taxation. Are the Scots ready for that?
I agree that Southern English have a different mind set from not only Scots but Northern England, the West Country etc: that makes them, not all, sound patronising, and superior. I do get Paul on this, Shame that Britain is splitting on this one.
You beat me to it. I just scanned about 250 comments posted on BBC. Mostly positive, I think. It will be interesting to follow news about the negotiations.
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