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FF is committed to the peaceful achievement of Irish unity

Are you aware of any example, anywhere, of a peaceful bi-national state that would not be better off as two nations?

Are you aware of any example, anywhere, of a peaceful bi-national state that would not be better off as two nations?

That is a good point - but would go over the heads of some here!

"...Are you aware of any example, anywhere, of a peaceful bi-national state that would not be better off as two nations?..."

Yes, one is the United States of America. You may recall we once fought a civil war. Another is Canada, where English and French speaking people form a union that is greater than the sum of its parts and somehow manage to coexist peaceably. Belgium, less so, but still a model of a bi-national comity. The Republic of South Africa is an example of a state in which formerly oppressed people live in relative harmony with their former oppressors. Malaysia is an Asian country with a Muslim majority and a wealthier Chinese majority that manages to prosper without violence.

Let me ask this question: for the roughly 400 years that the English monarchy ruled Eire, what concern for majority rights did the crown exhibit? Was it when it stole Christchurch and St. Patrick's in Dublin? (Still CofI last time I visited there). Was it when it seized the lands of thousands of farmers and made them serfs in every way but name? Or perhaps it was when they burnt nuns and friars out of their abbeys. Maybe it was the day it condemned to the gallows priests who had the temerity to say Mass or lashed the faithful for attending? Or maybe it was at Croke when they showed the Taigs what for at a GAA game?

Oh, I remember now. It was when the shoe was on the other foot. When the oppressed finally shook the chains from their ankles. Suddenly, great consternation was expressed about the rights of a majority held fast and falsely created behind the borders of Armagh and Derry.

This wrong has not been made right. An injustice does not become justice merely due to the passage of time. And, so long as Irish teenagers cannot walk the streets of Ulster without fear of being beaten to death because of their faith, it won't be forgotten.