Category Archives: Irish reunification

Are Northern nationalists in danger of becoming the Most Ungenerous People Ever (MUPE)?

Posted on Friday, 7 June, 2019 by

Northern Ireland Protestants and unionists get a universally bad press. They are portrayed as narrow-minded, bigoted, right wing and often racist. They have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept the modern concepts of power-sharing democracy, social equality … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification | 1 Comment

The courage and generosity of Seamus Mallon: a book introduction

Posted on Friday, 17 May, 2019 by

This is my abridged introduction to a new book, ‘A Shared Home Place’ by Seamus Mallon (with Andy Pollak) which is published today by Lilliput Press. Courage and generosity: those are the two words that come to mind when I … Continue reading →

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

My dream is of an economically united Ireland

Posted on Friday, 24 August, 2018 by

When it comes to Northern Ireland many years of journalism and cross-border cooperation have taught me to be a hard-headed, cold-eyed realist. Any suggestion of movement towards Irish unity, whether it be a post-Brexit agreement to put border checks down … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 7 Comments

I wish the Taoiseach would shut up about a united Ireland

Posted on Tuesday, 26 June, 2018 by

I wish our Taoiseach would shut up about a united Ireland until he has something sensible to say on the subject. According to the Irish Times he was at it again earlier this month, telling Fine Gael parliamentarians after a … Continue reading →

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

The anti-colonialist bullies versus the reconciliation persuaders

Posted on Monday, 25 September, 2017 by

Gerry Adams is a majoritarian bully. He showed his true colours in a letter to the Irish Times last month when he wrote that the Good Friday Agreement “allows for Irish reunification in the context of a democratic vote: 50% + 1. … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 2 Comments

A cautionary tale: could this be the next phase in our island’s history?

Posted on Saturday, 27 May, 2017 by

Just over a century ago there was a northern province of a small western island off the coast of Europe which threatened to cause mayhem for the powerful and far-flung empire of which it was an insignificant (although then economically … Continue reading →

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

Are there really 150,000 unionists who are persuadable for a united Ireland?

Posted on Tuesday, 25 April, 2017 by

Last month’s blog was based on a most interesting conversation with the widely-read unionist commentator Alex Kane, in which he estimated that there were now 150,000 ‘soft’ unionists who were persuadable of the merits of Irish unity,and that he expected … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Leave a comment

The most interesting conversation I have had about Irish unity for a very long time

Posted on Sunday, 26 March, 2017 by

Last week I had the most interesting conversation about Irish unity that I have had for many long years. It was with Alex Kane, the North’s most widely-read unionist-minded columnist: he has opinion columns in both the Belfast Newsletter and the Irish … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 2 Comments

Can we have a bit of realism about the border, please?

Posted on Thursday, 25 August, 2016 by

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am one of those rare Irish people – outside Sinn Fein – who thinks quite a lot about the border. I don’t talk about it much: there’s nothing more likely to … Continue reading →

Posted in British-Irish relations, Cross-border cooperation, General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland | 2 Comments