Irish Politics Thread

Leaving aside the west brit nonsense, I'm always curious what the folks "asking legitimate questions" are looking for as answers. The majority of the time it feels (to me) like a "gotcha", where the grown ups are talking serious politics and economics and nationalists with their pie-in-the-sky ideas don't have any concrete plans. Like the "how is it going to be funded" argument is just another way of smugly sitting back because you already believe it will cost huge amounts and you want a nationalist to say that, as if the cost will somehow change their mind about unity as a whole. It's the same with pretty much anything political. Look at unionists up north losing their minds over the Irish language act, when the more moderate among them realised just plain old bigotry wasn't flying any more, they pivoted to the funding argument. We'd love to accommodate Irish, but jeez we just don't have the money. f**k, look at people in the Republic complaining about the cost of Irish language services. The cost is not really relevant when it's a fundamental principle. How much does it cost to provide free primary education in Ireland? How is it funded? What does it matter? 

I've often found as well that if any plans or suggestions in relation to unity or it's benefits are presented, they're waved away, or nationalists are scolded for pushing a narrative when the country isn't ready, and you're gonna spook the unionists actually, and really this is a sensitive time, would you not keep quiet.

There should be a citizen's assembly on unity put together, as tedious as it may seem deliberative democracy has been shown to work in Ireland when there's political will behind it. The abortion legislation is a pretty clear example of this, a hugely contentious issue in the run up to that referendum but everyone knew where they stood and what legislation was coming down the road because of those assemblies in the year beforehand. It hasn't been perfect since then (people both for and against it) but in terms of such a fundamental change to the constitution, it's probably gone about as smoothly as you could hope.

A citizen's assembly is the starting point, and more questions will no doubt spring from it, but it at least establishes a framework. Accommodating unionists would be part of that too, inviting them along to discussions - but at some point people in the Republic who question any talk about unity need to realise that a significant majority of unionists will most likely simply not engage. It is anathema to them to even discuss it as a possibility. They can't engage even in a contingency plan because their political outlook doesn't have room for it. They can't help build out the vision for a potential United Ireland in case it helps make it become a reality. And if that fact means that unity is just a non-starter for some people in the Republic, that is certainly a point of view they're entitled to - but at least be honest about that from the outset, and don't pretend as if it is a nationalists responsibility to softly softly absolutely everything with regards to unity for the sake of a fictional unionist who apparently wants to be part of the discussion.