Should Northern Ireland remain part of UK?

[Harleyman]

Being half "green" Irish myself I've never liked those plastic Paddies who call themselves Loyalists. I dont think they would fit in as part of the the Irish Republic to the south and I dont think the Republic would want them either.

I've never been to N.I but I met a Loyalist once, a real nutter. he was half sozzled at the time and banging on about "Popery" and the 'Battle of the Boyne"

 

He asked us if we knew another good pub nearby and we sent him to Kelly's a hangout for Irish catholics. I wonder what happened to him?

[buck]

Really? Which 4? I only know of St. George,St Andrew and St Patrick. Genuine question..[/QUOI seem to have picked up the story over the years that says there were 4flags represented. If Wikopdia says there are only three, who am I to disagree.

[1984]

Let them be independent

[andygardener]

the thing is cressida that flags have a far more significant meaning in northern ireland than they do in the rest of the uk or in the republic of ireland for that matter.

by flying the flag for 365 days over belfast city hall the 'loyalist' community was making an ongoing triumphant statement to the nationalist community along the lines of 'you may have lived in this country far longer than us but we are top dog & here's the flag to prove it'.

as it happens the 'loyalists' are now in the minority in belfast & are only a majority in antrim & down out of the six northern ireland counties. why should the majority have to put up with this ongoing taunt when it is now their decision? other councils have removed the flag permanently so belfast have actually given a concession to let it fly the same as all other uk cities.

nationalists have made a number of concessions to the 'loyalist' community over the years but i cannot think of a single concession given by 'loyalists' that wasn't forced out of them by the british government.

the people who are rioting are that thick that they appear totally unaware of the impression their actions are having in the rest of the uk. for a group of people who go on & on about how british they are they seem oblivious to how completely non british their actions appear to everyone else.

 

In reality the loyalist councils fly it 365, the republican councils don't fly it at all and the Alliance have suggested this as a compromise in Belfast.

 

However they are now demanding legislation to force all councils to fly it on the designated days, including the republican ones.

 

Lets see how that goes down with SF.

[mjw47]

independence wouldn't work for northern ireland, at least not without a huge change in their outlook & output.

it is currently costing the uk taxpayer £11 billion a year to subsidies the province. they have one of the largest % of public employees in europe. britain is desperate to offload this cost which we can no longer afford with the economy in the state it's in. the republics economy is also in dire straits & their population is only 4.6 million so they cannot afford it at the moment either.

no doubt when the time comes in about 10 years or so both economies will hopefully have recovered & a mutually beneficial deal will be agreed to unite the country & end the ongoing unrest.

 

---------- Post added 29-01-2013 at 19:58 ----------

 

andygardner,don't think that will bother sf in the slightest. they will have achieved a change from most councils flying the flag 365 to councils falling in line with the rest of the uk.

unlike the 'loyalists' the nationalists aren't quite as hung up on symbols. they don't despise every feature of the other sides culture for instance. i have never heard a 'loyalist' say a good word about gaelic games for instance whilst martin mcguinness is a self professed cricket lover. but attacking the 'loyalist' addiction to flags & marches gets them to react in a way which displays their insular bigotry to the world. if they are too stupid to see this then it's hard to have any sympathy for them.

[truman]

Really? Which 4? I only know of St. George,St Andrew and St Patrick. Genuine question..[/QUOI seem to have picked up the story over the years that says there were 4flags represented. If Wikopdia says there are only three, who am I to disagree.

 

I didn't have to resort to wikipedia...