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How Would the Republic Vote on Unification with Northern Ireland? (Patrick Mears, -Germany, 05/13/22 5:32 am)

With respect to your question, John, about how the Irish in the Republic of Ireland might vote in a border poll today, it is almost impossible to answer. Most of the polls that I have been reading about have been naturally taken in Northern Ireland, for a majority "Leave" vote taken there would trigger a border poll down south.

An article in the May 8, 2022 edition of the Financial Times titled "Prospect of a united Ireland comes into sharp focus" mentions a recent poll taken in the Republic by a polling organization named "Ireland Thinks" founded by Kevin Cunningham, a lecturer in politics at Technological University Dublin. According to the FT, Cunningham's polling company "found 51% of respondents in the Republic of Ireland, where Sinn Féin is the most popular party, believed that there should be a referendum--and 57% would vote in favor."

This FT article is well worth reading and may be accessed via this link: https://www.ft.com/content/53592270-98aa-4030-812a-dc019461b8d7 .

I took the added step of contacting a good friend of mine who was prior to his recent retirement a partner in a large, commercial law firm in Dublin and is a keen and knowledgeable observer of Irish politics. He responded by noting that, although the vote would likely be "yes" for reunification, he believes that a sizable majority of Republic voters would reject the proposal, primarily because they would not welcome the bitterness and strife that would accompany the merging of the two parts of the island. He also remarked as follows:

"The financial cost on the Republic will be massive but it will be significantly diminished by contributions from London (because London will be so relieved to rid itself of Northern Ireland). Separately, it's probably important to keep the independence of Scotland in mind: Brexit has changed everything. England wants to be rid of the other nations in the United Kingdom, despite mutterings to the contrary."

JE comments:  A very interesting perspective--that England would prefer to go it alone.  Of course, by "England" we mean a lot of people in England, possibly including the decision makers.  I hope we'll hear some comments on this from our UK colleagues.  Regarding national acronyms, will "UK" go the way of the USSR?

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