Sinn Féin wants a vote on a united Ireland after Brexit...

[Ken Burch]

...and a second Scottish referendum is on the way.

http://www.thejournal.ie/sinn-fein-brexit-irish-unity-2842816-Jun2016/

THE UK’S DECISION to leave the EU means Sinn Féin will press for a border vote in the North.

Both Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain in the EU, but the leave campaign was able to convince Wales and England to leave the union.

“We have a situation where the north is going to be dragged out on the tails of a vote in England… Sinn Fein will now press our demand, our long-standing demand, for a border poll,” Sinn Fein’s national chairman Declan Kearney said after the UK as a whole had vote to leave the EU.

Northern Ireland could now be faced with the prospect of customs barriers for trade with the Republic.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Secretary can initiate a poll in circumstances where it was clear public opinion had swung towards Irish unity.

Clearly, Gerry and Martin must have been planning this push in the case of a Leave victory.

Any chance they could actually get a majority in NI for unification by using the argument that a unified Ireland would mean Northern Irish residents would be spared "Brexit"?

[orwell]

1. And the dominoes continue to fall...

...I guess they are following England's lead and throwing off the yoke of foreign control...

[Ken Burch]

2. Will the last country out of the UK please turn out the lights? n/t.

[Narraback]

3. Returning the six ulster county's from armed control is a great idea. Rejoining Free Ulster

There are three free counties that could not be gerrimandered enough as they had too many Irish nationalist to allow into The statelet of norn iron. The nine county province of ulster must vote on joining the rest of Ireland In freedom not bondage. Six occupied counties and the free counties and three free counties now in the republic. All need to vite

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. The Slugger O'Toole website is a good commentator on Northern Irish affairs

Northern Ireland has voted Remain, but by a much smaller margin than many people had forecasted. Polls began at about 70/30 but they settled at the upper end of the range at 55/45.

Predictably Sinn Fein has responded by calling for a border poll. That’s a plebiscite that they are almost certain to not to get (such is the weakness of northern nationalism at this time). This time, at least. As my oul da used to say no one remembers second place.

More significant will be how the medium term negotiations between the Irish government and the UK go. Don’t count on Scotland leaving either. There’ll be no Labour party in the short term, but even if Brexit is successful the EU will then be drifting out of sight.

http://sluggerotoole.com/2016/06/24/northern-ireland-votes-narrowly-for-remain-but-what-does-it-mean/

What about a border poll?

A quick border poll will not succeed. Sinn Fein are calling for one, and there may be one in Scotland sooner rather than later, but any border poll in Northern Ireland that does not result in a leave vote will settle the question for a generation. Any vote must wait until after the UK actually leaves the EU and we find out what the real impact on our daily lives is rather than what is still a hypothetical question.

http://sluggerotoole.com/2016/06/24/so-what-happens-now/

[T_i_B]

5. Daft question...

If Scotland becomes independent, will Northern Ireland align itself with Scotland rather than isolationist England?

A lot will depend on what the Unionists think, but I honestly don't know.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I've not heard anyone propose that

and it wouldn't seem likely to me, but I'm completely on the outside for Northern Irish politics. I think reunification with the Republic would be the only likely alternative to the UK.

[Ken Burch]

7. I've heard some talk on the fringes of Celtic-nationalist political thought

(we're talking VERY far fringes here)about the idea of a "Celtic Federation", which would include Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, perhaps the Isle of Man and even possibly Brittany(for those who don't know, Brittany, or
Breizh as it is called in Gaelic, is a historically Celtic region that is part of France).

The Celts have never been close to achieving the kind of unity needed to make something like that work, but perhaps a form of the federation concept could gain traction now.

Another possibility would be a new arrangement comprising the Celtic parts of Britain AND the North of England...with the unifying factor being the wish of all of those areas to be free of the dominance of the southeastern England, the area that imposed Thatcherism on the rest of the UK in the Eighties and arrogant Anglo-Saxon conquest on the Celts long before that.

That structure would at least have a contiguous landmass and relatively compatible political and social views among all involved.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Finding a dividing line inside England would be next to impossible

The last time something like that was attempted, it was the creation of Northern Ireland, as we saw how well that worked out ... Does South Yorkshire count as 'the north'? Derbyshire, right next to it? At least with Scotland v. England, there's a long-established border that had meant something to people for generations.

On the subject of the EU, the split was roughly 'Scotland and major cities Remain; everyone else Leave'. The Guardian has a map, weighted by population, here:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2016/jun/23/eu-referendum-live-results-and-analysis

Liverpool and Manchester voted Remain, and Leeds and Newcastle by a whisker; but Bradford, Sheffield and Birmingham voted Leave. On this, Scotland had more in common with London, or more liberal/international places like Brighton or Cambridge, than the north of England.