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The 2021 census data reports that for the first time the Catholic population is the largest religious group in Northern Ireland. No wonder Sinn Fein immediately started a push for a border poll. There was a lot of noise and then at the end of 2021 everything went quiet.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the silence was a series of polls conducted by the Irish Times sampling views on the centenary of partition. The Irish Times polled voters north and south of the border and the results show that the south prefers an island country (67%), the clumsy sods in the north will not (35%).
The north wrestles with its own problems but some of the more interesting data comes from the attitude of the south. Putting aside the unifying economic challenges that should not be underestimated, the most surprising aspects of the polls were how few voters in the Republic were prepared to compromise to accommodate the tetchy Nordies. No change to the flag (77%), no change to the national anthem (72%), no rejoining the Commonwealth (71%) – in fact a disturbing majority (42%) of RoI voters believe there should be no unionist party which is allowed in the government. the effect will be to disenfranchise 15% of the combined electorate. The financial side shows a gap with 67% of RoI voters wanting unity but only 22% ready to pay more taxes. Wait until they see the bill.
On this basis unity is good to have but RoI Voters are not going to bust their guts.
The Irish Times political editor summed it up as, “If there is no guarantee that things will change for the better rather than the worse, politically and personally, [southern] voters tend to follow their conservative instincts to maintain the status quo.
I have heard the cries of the British taxpayer.
.But if the British find the understanding of Ulster a minefield, they can cheer themselves up that the Republic has not understood better; Nordies do after all just speak another language.
Alanbrooke
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