Category Archives: Irish reunification

Two Irish mistakes as we hurtle towards the Brexit cliff edge

Posted on Wednesday, 21 August, 2019 by andypollak

Readers of this blog will know that I have been a voice in the wilderness when it comes to querying the wisdom of the Irish government’s ‘backstop’ strategy to avoid a hard border on the island following the UK’s exit … Continue reading →

Posted in British-Irish relations, General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | 3 Comments

A bit more complexity in Northern Ireland: the rise of the ‘Neithers’

Posted on Tuesday, 16 July, 2019 by andypollak

In last month’s blog I was complaining about the simplistic views of many people in the Republic on the complexity of demographic change in Northern Ireland. Too many of them insist on holding to the ill-informed belief that when Northern … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland | Leave a comment

The simplistic engagement of people in the Republic with the complexity of the North

Posted on Monday, 24 June, 2019 by andypollak

Earlier this month I attended a session of the Dalkey Book Festival entitled ‘Who’s afraid of a united Ireland?’ It may be difficult to credit, but in nearly 40 years of living (mainly) in the Republic, this was the first … Continue reading →

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

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

Posted on Friday, 7 June, 2019 by andypollak

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 andypollak

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 andypollak

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 andypollak

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 andypollak

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 andypollak

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 andypollak

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