Sir, – The recent Ipsos border poll on Irish unification suggests that 50 per cent of people in Northern Ireland would vote against, 26 per cent would vote in favour and 19 per cent don’t know.
The traditional view that all Catholics want reunification and all others do not was confirmed (yet again) as too simple.
In January 2021, a Guardian poll reported that 49 per cent of people in Northern Ireland wanted to stay within the UK, 42 per cent favoured Irish unity and 11 per cent were undecided.
What’s my point? Polls vary.
That said, both polls showed a significant majority in the Republic of Ireland in favour of reunification.
Both polls also showed a clear majority across the island supporting a border poll by the end of the decade.
I passionately favour reunification by majority consent on both sides of the border.
Nothing else is workable or equitable. And no-one wants to risk a return to violence from a minority who feel ignored.
Perhaps it would be better to say I want an agreed Ireland. I wonder what a poll would tell us if the health service on both sides of the border was as good as everyone deserves?
Imagine a poll that put forward a vision where traditionally divisive words and images were negotiated to a consensus of co-existence?
Or perhaps most significantly, if there was clear evidence that collective and personal wealth and security would be better as one country with a single economy that would thrive within the EU as well as finding opportunities in the UK and North America.
Happy new year to everyone, in whatever part of Ireland you live. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK KANE,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.