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Uneasy on my mind

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breeze Fri 24-Jun-16 15:25:39

Now that everyone's absorbed the news, and mostly got their feelings off their chest re Brexit (said my bit on Elegrans brilliant thread). Something has been niggling away at the back of my mind all day. Now while I never had a lot of time for Tony Blair back in the day, I will always give credit where credit is due (my opinion of course) and it was a huge relief when he turned the other cheek, and for 'the greater good' gave Northern Ireland what others had always refused to do (rightly or wrongly) political powers and for the most part, peace has reigned. I won't begin to be so arrogant as to say I understand the many aspects of Irish politics. I can only say I grew up in a climate of fear and bombings, so (please leave IS out of this thread if you can) it seemed a solution, that did in some ways leave a nasty taste in the mouth for putting aside previous terrorist activities, but found a solution for peace. I think most of us, when deciding our leave or remain vote, chewed over the economy, law, immigration, but I for one, didn't consider the potential backlash that a decision to leave could have on Irish politics (I don't regret my decision). It really concerns me, and has been niggling away at the back of my mind since it was announced this morning that N.I. politicians have said they now want to see a united Ireland. All I can say is, I pray this does not stir up passions that inflame a now peaceful situation and return us to the days of conflict. Any views?

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nigglynellie Fri 24-Jun-16 15:46:52

I think N.I would have to(?) have a referendum like Scotland in order to leave the UK. If they do, and decide they want to go, then that's what will have to happen. It'll be a pity as it will for Scotland, but you can't deny the will of the people, so we'd have to wave them goodbye!

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Greyduster Fri 24-Jun-16 17:03:35

Sinn Fein must be rubbing their hands with glee as this has played straight into the hands of those calling for a United Ireland. The Unionists will not have it, though, and I hope that things can be settled without some kind of a backlash. There are those in both camps who have continued to stir the pot throughout this period of stability and are just waiting for an opportunity to go back to prior peace process. I saw first hand what it was like in 1972 - God forbid we should go back to that. The people of Northern Ireland deserve better.

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grandMattie Fri 24-Jun-16 17:08:41

Sadly for it, Scotland has already has its referendum; the English weren't asked their opinion of the state of the union. So the Scots are going to have to take it and whinge.
It is going to be hard after the "Leave" decision; Europe, Junker in particular is going to be very vindictive. Poor Northern Ireland is going to have to lump it if they still want to stay in the Union.
Interestingly, the Welsh want to leave the EU.

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grannyactivist Fri 24-Jun-16 17:20:03

breeze I am very sad that we may indeed see a rise in sectarian violence if there is once again a political attempt to unite Ireland, but even if this is not the case there are still huge implications for border control between the North and the Republic of Ireland.
As an aside, the NI peace process has been successfully used as a model elsewhere in the world, most recently in Columbia, to reduce conflict and bring about peaceful resolutions.

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