[irish_links]

"....The reason is that the people doing the voting under those proposals do not form a unitary entity, suitable for such voting...."

As I understand it, the Good Friday Accords established a framework for effective dual citizenship for persons living in Ulster as well as shared governmental oversight over the affairs of Ulster by the governments of the U.K. and the RoI. This seems like the acknowledgment of an unitary entity to me. Your assertion that no unity exists appears as no more than an evasion of the basic power of my position: that the status of Ulster is a political decision rightly determined by all franchised persons living in Eire.

For those of us who do not accept the legitimacy of the original absorption of the Eire into England or the later partition of Eire by the U.K., even this formality is unnecessary. Ireland is one nation by way of history, language, culture and tradition, as well as current de facto political agreement.

For your buddy, I hereby make a equivocating denunciation of the IRA. I denounce the Provisional IRA for its conduct of terrorist activities against civilians; destruction of private property; its criminal activities, organized and anarchic; its violent intimidation of all individuals no matter their ethnicity or political belief; its interference in the politics of third party nations and association with even more despicable terrorist groups internationally; and it noxious neo-Stalinist ideology and pernicious effect on Irish political life generally. I do not denounce the legacy IRA for its heroic service in 1916 and subsequent struggle against colonialism and partition. Nor do I denounce the provos for defending oppressed communities otherwise defenseless against sectarian violence and military intimidation by foreign armies, brown shirts and paras. Full stop.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

For your buddy...

Very nice.

Nor do I denounce the provos for defending oppressed communities otherwise defenseless against sectarian violence and military intimidation by foreign armies, brown shirts and paras. Full stop

So you are defending for the IRA attacking British soldiers who were protecting Catholic areas from terrorist attacks?

I want to eradicate both the IRA and the Loyalist terrorist groups.

BTW, my tagline remains.

[slane]

Ireland is one nation by way of history, language, culture and tradition, as well as current de facto political agreement.

No it isn't. Northern Ireland has a completely different culture and tradition from the rest of Ireland. Eamonn Collins, an IRA terrorist, stated that he felt far more at home in Edinburgh than in Dublin. Nor is Ireland one nation based on the Good Friday Accords. Quite the opposite in fact - the Republic of Ireland has renounced its territorial claim to Northern Ireland.

And in regards to voting, the question of Northern Ireland's status has been settled by democratic vote. The Dail, with a Sinn Fein majority, voted to ratify partition. The people of Northern Ireland voted by referendum to remain part of the UK. And frankly, if there were an all-Ireland vote(which there never will be for reasons already gone over), the results might surprise you. The overwhelming number of people in NI want to remain part of the UK, including a sizeable number of Catholics, and most people in the Republic feel little or no attachment to NI, view its inhabitants as a pack of nutters, and are happy to let British taxpayers foot the bill for policing NI. The people there who don't get along now aren't going to get along any better simply because the border disappears.