Category Archives: Irish reunification

Leo Varadkar and Ireland’s Future have very different ideas of reconciliation and consent

Posted on Thursday, 28 March, 2024 by andypollak

I wouldn’t have said this seven years ago, when he first became Taoiseach, but I am sorry to see Leo Varadkar stepping down from that post. I do not agree with many of his right-of-centre policies on economic and social … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 2 Comments

A united Ireland is not inevitable – only persuasion can make it happen

Posted on Monday, 18 December, 2023 by andypollak

What is it about passionate nationalists that when they get less than a third of people in favour of their nationalist project, they still insist they are driving on to victory? That was the situation according to the second big … Continue reading →

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Straws in the autumn wind around the Irish unity debate

Posted on Tuesday, 19 September, 2023 by andypollak

There have been some interesting straws in the autumn wind in recent weeks as politicians get ready for the new political term and general elections in both Irish jurisdictions in the near future. Leo Varadkar doesn’t very often talk about … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 3 Comments

Why not a loyalist woman as the symbol of the ‘new Ireland’? Why not Bessie Burgess?

Posted on Thursday, 3 August, 2023 by andypollak

I was in Galway last month to see the brilliant production by the Druid theatre company of Sean O’Casey’s classic play set during the 1916 Rising: The Plough and the Stars. This is the tragic story of Jack Clitheroe, who … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland | 3 Comments

Talking to a cosmopolitan, community-focussed nationalist who is full of good ideas

Posted on Thursday, 4 May, 2023 by andypollak

Conor Patterson emphasises that he is not a politician, political commentator or member of a political party – he is a businessman with a passion for community development in his home town of Newry, in Northern Ireland and on the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 1 Comment

A wise, insightful examination of the perils and possibilities of Irish unity

Posted on Tuesday, 11 April, 2023 by andypollak

If readers of this blog are looking for a book to read on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, I strongly recommend Perils and Prospects of a United Ireland, by my friend Padraig O’Malley, the distinguished Professor of … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 9 Comments

Are we afraid of talking about Ireland’s violent past and possibly violent future?

Posted on Thursday, 30 March, 2023 by andypollak

This is a blog about letters to the newspapers. I know it’s dangerous to generalise from the particular, and especially the particular of one’s own tiny experience. But I can’t help seeing a pattern in recent rejections of my letters … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Sinn Fein | 4 Comments

In this still deeply divided country, should we be talking about confederation?

Posted on Friday, 10 February, 2023 by andypollak

The former Tánaiste and Progressive Democrat leader, Michael McDowell, has been writing recently about confederation.1 I may not often agree with his views on social and economic issues, but I have always found his political analysis of the North to … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 3 Comments

A united Ireland will have to include unionists – so let’s get on with the difficult task of including them

Posted on Monday, 16 January, 2023 by andypollak

I will be surprised if I see a united Ireland in my lifetime (I am in my early seventies). But the direction of travel is unmistakable. The history-changing reasons have been well rehearsed: the growth of the Catholic population – … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 8 Comments

A brilliant, hard-nosed look at moves towards Irish unity. Unionists beware!

Posted on Tuesday, 15 November, 2022 by andypollak

I have been reading Making Sense of a United Ireland by the University of Pennsylvania-based Irish political scientist Brendan O’Leary. This is an important book, rich in detail, truth-telling but also hard-nosed. It is the first deeply considered exploration of … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 5 Comments