KJMW

There has always been 'popular' support for a united Ireland but I don't see why Brexit should increase it. It is easy to make predictions, particularly ten years hence!

Bipat

Should a 'Union' such as the EU have a "core"? Will France and Germany always be at the 'front'---There are wo countries already actively dissenting on many areas (staying for the money!).
It will be interesting to see how the successor to Chancellor Merkel fares---although the success of M. Macron in the next election is in some doubt.

Watchpost

For the simple reason that Brexit has placed a border between NI and GB.

BristolUK

Why not? Many, if not most things do, especially successful things.
The only England football team to win a world cup had a West Ham core. The most successful International team - Spain - had a core of Barcelona players. The great Milan team, a core of Dutchmen.
The UK government a core of Old Etonians....oh, wait, we're talking successful

DaveLovesDee

Should it have a core? It's not a matter of 'should', it's a matter of does. And it's two most successful and influential members will be the core, whether they're France and Germany, or Portugal and Poland if they were the most successful and influential.

yellowroom

NI voted to remain, a lot of people are unhappy that the leave voters of England didn't care about the legal implications that reintroducing a border would have on the Good Friday Agreement and the peace that has held. NI is now in a bizarre between-land legally, where it remains in the CU so there are customs and checks in goods going between the mainland and NI, but not between NI and Ireland. And the difficulties in shipping goods from mainland GB to NI are resulting in empty shelves in some shops. The people of NI are going to end up doing a lot more business via Dublin and than London, so I can see a point coming where people accept it would be easier to be with them than GB.

dave_j

History: it's there for generations to learn from, but these can be hard lessons.
The island of Ireland is full of people, north and south, who proudly identify themselves as irish.
When I lived in the UK I identified anyone from whichever side of the border as irish. I didn't discriminate. Even though some from the north might identify themselves as british, that's not how I saw them, and I would have expected many in the UK to have had the same feeling as myself.
This influences how I viewed 'The Troubles'. It seemed to me that it was always that irish was fighting irish and was difficult to understand. Of course I realised that there were religious and political undertones driving events but I also realised that sooner or later the two communities would need to assimilate and that NI would need to leave the UK, it just made common sense.
Brexit will have accelerated this need to rationalise what is an unstable situation. Brexit has has brought with it a mechansm that has demonstrably placed NI as a semi-detached part of the UK and it will soon become clear that the difficulties thrown up by the diplomatic fix and debacle that defines NI trading links are not sustainable in the longer term.
To my mind it makes common sense for NI to become a devolved part of Eire and a member of the EU.
But will this actually come to pass?
It'll be difficult politically but given a year or so of difficult trading and I fully expect the question of a unification referendum to gather pace, all it needs is for the question to be asked.

yellowroom

I think you're exactly right - NI will devolve further away from GB to the point of independence, and the common connections plus the the EU rules will draw a united Ireland closer. Farage will have achieved more than Sinn Fein ever did.

dave_j

Farage may have been an unwitting instrument for irish re-unification, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The IRA, or some such organisation, would always have arisen given the existing politics and, let's face it, the attitude of many 'loyalists' towards catholics up until quite recent times and what was really an artificial separation of what used to be a united ireland.
I remember as a young man meeting two catholics from NI and being shocked at the tales they told me, tales that then never seemed to reach the mainstream news, but then I was quite insular in those days.
I've often thought that if only politicians could meet and leave politics outside the room, then common sense might get a look in, but I also realise that that's not what they're about... but sometimes, just sometimes they get coerced against their better nature into doing the right thing.

yellowroom

Being English, I've generally thought I my opinion doesn't matter on this other than abhorring the violence and thinking that the people of NI have a right to self-determination, whatever direction or form that took, and the rest of GB should honour that if/when the day comes that they wish to break the Union. Same with Scotland - I don't want them to go but they have the right to decide their future in the event of another IndyRef.

dave_j

I agree, and should NI, Wales or Scotland decide to leave the UK I don't think we'd witness the degree of resentment that's currently existing between the EU and UK, it would be an acceptance of simple fact. Perhaps speaking the same language helps as would the close intermingling that's prevented inter state conflict for a few hundred years, we shall see.
Of course none of this would prevent the likes of Rangers and Celtic reaching for the knuckle dusters as usual, it's what they do.

Red Eric

I wish you'd make your mind up.

Although admittedly I'm not one of those with as little as half a brain cell, for whom making sense of current affairs must be very complicated.

Lion in Winter

Not only that, but the percentage of Protestants vs Catholics in the North is changing. Prods are getting smaller.

Red Eric

Catholics more fecund?

Lion in Winter

I wasn't going to go there, but....