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Reuters
Loyalists clash with police officers outside the City Hall in Belfast following a vote by local councilors to stop flying the British flag every day.
Fifteen police officers were injured when hundreds of people tried to storm Belfast City Hall in Northern Ireland over a plan to stop flying the British flag as it currently does every day of the year, ITV News reported.
The violence broke out after Irish nationalist councilors from the Sinn Fein and SDLP parties voted to take down the flag which has flown above the city hall every day since the building was opened in 1906.
The decision means the flag will be flown only for 17 days of the year, as is the case at the provincial assembly at Stormont.
Nationalist and Unionist parties share power under a 1998 peace deal that largely ended 30 years of sectarian violence in which more than 3,600 people died.
Read more on this story from ITV News
Many of the protesters who clashed with police were carrying British Union flags.
Reuters reported that the attempt to storm the building was repelled by police.
A photographer from the Press Association news agency and two security guards were also injured, a police spokeswoman told Reuters.
Peter Morrison / AP
Police and protesters face off during clashes that saw 15 officers and three others injured.
Dozens of police hurt in Northern Ireland sectarian clashes
Democratic Unionist Party councilor Ruth Patterson described the vote to remove the flag as "divisive, destructive and disrespectful of anything remotely Protestant, anything remotely British," ITV News reported.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson condemned the violence.
"There is no excuse or justification for attacks on police officers, council staff, and property," he said, according to ITV News.
"Such behavior is not representative of those who campaigned to maintain the Union flag flying over Belfast City Hall," he added. "Those who talk most about building community relations have by their actions in the council substantially damaged relations across the city."
Queen Elizabeth to hold historic meeting with former IRA commander
Nationalist parties, which aspire to break from the U.K. and join a united Ireland, last year for the first time secured more seats on the council than Unionist parties, which support maintaining Northern Ireland's position in the United Kingdom.
Gerry Kelly, a member of the Northern Irish Assembly, strongly criticized the police, according to ITV News.
"I have to say, and I don't use these words unless I really mean them, it was a disgraceful police operation -- or lack of a police operation," he said. "If that had been 1,000 or more republicans, it would have been very different."
Ireland PM in historic tribute to veterans on British Remembrance Day
"They indiscriminately attacked cars. We are very, very lucky that they didn't get into the building or we could have been dealing with a lot more injuries," he added. "I am angry because it's not as if they were taken by surprise. This was a well-planned protest."
ITV News, a U.K. partner of NBC News, and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Citizens in other nations are subject to genocide, starvation, land theft, etc., and this is the most grievous outrage in these people's lives: a piece of cloth?!
Now she understands how the Irish Catholics felt for hundreds of years.
Look at it this way. It is the same as the South flying the Confederate flag and how the Blacks think that it raciest and stand for enslavement.
So do the REAL Irish people who have been ruled by the British far to long believe it is a slam on the real Irish to fly the British flag as nothing more a symbolic jester more than a few days a year.
The Irish want their own flag as the major flag that should be used and not one that is a symbol of enslavement of the real Irish people. NOT the transplanted British people who enslaved the real Irish people.
To a lot of the South it represents them and has nothing to do with the blacks. So I guess the British see it the same way. So who is right and who is wrong? It is a matter of opinion.
No, it is not. The Confederate States is a failed state. The United Kingdom is NOT.
The "real" Irish people live on the whole of the island. They've been doing so far longer than your people have been in America. North Ireland is the fourth state in the United Kingdom (along with England, Scotland and Wales) and it is NOT occupied territory. It's a part of the UK.
BTW, there has been no slavery in the UK for a lot longer than in the US!
It is only part of the UK through forced colonization. Canada, the Bahamas, Australia, India, South Africa and many other territories had the same status as Northern Ireland at one time. All left the UK and are now independent nations. Many are no longer in the Commonwealth.
Scotland is now considering leaving the UK and returning to independence.
All you have to do is look at a map and it is quite obvious what country Northern Ireland belongs to.
No JDD - It is the will of the majority of the people living in Northern Ireland to ba a part of the UK.
What was done hundreds of years ago is history. If the majority of the people want to leave the UK, it can be decided by a vote, just as it will be in Scotland. Right now, the majority of Irish people in the north are satisfied with the present situation.
The government of Southern Ireland is just about bankrupt, which is a great reason for the people of Northern Ireland to remain with the UK.
Ralph,
The part you missing is that when the vote to remain part of the UK was taken, many voters were transplanted colonist from the UK. They were Irish citizens by conquest not by birth.
When The Irish voted for Independence, the vote in Uster to remain part of the UK should not have been recognized as the majority in all of Ireland including Ulster voted for Independence for all of Ireland.
The Ulster vote was carried by a majority who shouldn't have even been in the country in the first place. Basically, they were English, not Irish.
@JJD: Ah. So should the US give Alaska to Canada, then? How about Kaliningrad? Give it to Poland! Heck, let's just give Portugal to Spain while we're at it, locals be damned!
Counter-proposal: let's roll the clock back a mere 90 years and restore "Ireland" to the UK! I'm guessing you don't like that idea much, eh?
First of all Alaska was purchased from Russia.
Secondly, if 25 years from now, New Mexico is populated by a majority of people who are of Mexican decent, and they vote to return New Mexico to Mexico, by your rationale "that's what the majority wants so that's OK".
And don't try the "we settled that in 1865" garbage again. Because unless your willing to commit troops to force a state to stay in the Union, there's nothing can be done to stop it from leaving.
@JJD: Yes, but look at the map! It should be Canadian! Hey, it's your own logic... if you don't like it, that's not my problem.
You don't seem to understand... they do not get to vote. New Mexico is a US state, and it cannot just decide to leave the Union.
Yep. That and several dozen SCOTUS rulings that the states (and local governments) are subordinate to the Federal Government. Congress is never going to just let a state "go". BTW, the US has sent troops *many* times to quell independence movements. Ruby Ridge & Waco weren't that long ago!
Let's also remember that the United States is an output of transplanted colonists. America for the indigenous!!!
RalphH, JJD doesn't care about the will of the people in NI - he thinks that his will alone counts for more then the will of 1.5 million people.
And yeah, looking at a map, Alaska should be part of Canada - if Canada'll take them.
RalphH : I dare you to go to Belfast and tell someone who's family has been in Ireland for the last 10 generations that they're not really Irish
If a state decides to succeed by majority vote SCOTUS rulings are not relevent to that state, nor is the US Constitution, nor is any Federal Law, mandate, decree or policy.
That's the point you don't seem to understand.
Vier,
The English didn't care about the will of the Irish peopel when they voted all Ireland to be independent as a Nation.
All of Ireland was granted independence in 1922 : then the North petitioned the UK to be let back in.
Just curious : what is your idea for the people in the North? Should be all be kicked out of their homes and sent to Britian? And how? The Irish Army only has a few thousand people in it : not enough to conquer a country of 1.5 million : even if the rest of the UK didn't get involved.
If a state decides to succeed by majority vote SCOTUS rulings are not relevent to that state, nor is the US Constitution, nor is any Federal Law, mandate, decree or policy.
That's the point you don't seem to understand.
Here, let me educate you:
Article IV: Section 3.
New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
You just whining that "we can vote to leave" doesn't mean a thing. A state can't leave without the approval of Congress. Good luck getting that!
Further, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase in Texas v. White:
The Union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary relation. It began among the Colonies, and grew out of common origin, mutual sympathies, kindred principles, similar interests, and geographical relations. It was confirmed and strengthened by the necessities of war, and received definite form and character and sanction from the Articles of Confederation. By these, the Union was solemnly declared to 'be perpetual.' And when these Articles were found to be inadequate to the exigencies of the country, the Constitution was ordained 'to form a more perfect Union.' It is difficult to convey the idea of indissoluble unity more clearly than by these words. What can be indissoluble if a perpetual Union, made more perfect, is not?
When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.
I find your belief that a state could just vote itself out of the Union to be quaint, but really, please put up something other than "it's true because I say it is".
Completely irrelevant
If a state decides to leave, US law is no longer in force in that state, again the question you can't or don't want to address
Short of troops, tell me what can be done to stop a state from leaving the Union, if the majority votes for it.
@JJD: You saying "because I say so" is what is not relevant.
Since I've painted you into a corner and you won't admit that a state can leave the Union, and nothing short of armed action can stop them, and you keep responding with the same dribble, which is irrelevant to the point,
I am leaving this discussion.
Hmm... let's see here. I cite the Consitution of the United States and legal precident, you just keep on saying "lalalalala I can't hear you!!". Yep, I'm painted in a corner alright! [/sarcasm]
If you still somehow think you're not wrong, feel free to take your opinion to a constitutional law forum such as http://able2know.org/forum/constitutional_law/ and see how many people agree with you (LOL!!).
Uhh Mark from B-port...then how do u explain the creation of West Virginia..which was illegally formed to punish Virginia...laws change and people in power ignore them..like ur beloved Lincoln!!!
CSA all the way!!!
Aren't you a little off topic? Ireland's the topic. In 1922 No. Ireland's majority was mostly Protestant & pro British. The country should never have been split at that time. Most of Britains naval warships (ships period) were made there, so it was most beneficial to England and, yes the Protestants wanted to remain with the UK. The Irish goal from that time to this has been to reconnect their country. PERIOD! For 90 years their country has been divided by an outsider. A foreign invader! Does not matter how many years ago England INVADED. The Irish have been fighting it ever since. Hasn't that been pretty obvious?
I am thankful that my Irish and English forefathers came to America.If not for them I may have lived in Ireland and had starved to death.God Bell America the beautiful.
@RicInCT: West Virginia? You mean that part of Virginia that *refused* to leave the Union? Let's see... a state tries to leave the Union and forms a rebel government. People in a section of that state then decide to leave the rebel state because they're loyal to the Union. It's not like Virginia protested -- heck, the Virginian Legislature in Richmond OK'D the split, so everything was done according to Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution.
Interestingly, Virginia then sued West Virginia in 1866 (with an act repealing sucession!) saying that the states should re-merge, or that at least several counties should be restored to VA. In 1871 SCOTUS ruled in favor of West Virginia 6-3.
The Irish HAVE dealt with starvation, genocide, occupation, theft of lands, loss of life, for some 1500 years at the hands of the British. OF COURSE they don't want to look at that flag! Those who do just need to go back East and leave the Irish alone.
Amen brother- one day Eire will be ours
...so the "British" have been keeping the Irish down since they were -1195 years old? Impressive! (Britain was founded in 1707.)
Even if you want to go allllllllllll the way back to the Treaty of Windsor (with the English), you're at 837 years, give or take.
I'm also confused why you think that citizens of the UK shouldn't be able to look upon their own flag.
Keith, couldn't agree with you more
1500 years so just after the Irish enslaved the briton St Patrick, pre viking settlement and Norman invasions of the british isles.
In the last 400 years how many countries still exist in the present form? This is nonsense
The people in Northern Ireland with scots and english ancestory have been in Ireland longer than america has existed.
It was an Irish war that resulted in the Norman English being asked to intervene in Ireland in the 1100s.
The name of Scotland comes from a Irish Tribe - Scoti named by the Romans who invaded Roman Britain. The Scoti later moved to Scotland. Some could say the Northern Irish may be decendents of these original people.
.
gw10,
No Irish entity in Ireland asked for an the English invasion ever. There was no Great Britain when the fighting in Ireland started hundreds of years ago. They, the English, merely invaded Ireland and won. Happened all of the time in those days: a country invading and conquering another.
"Right" depends on whose side you are on; both can have a logical reason for saying and believing they are "right". Two sides to every story and time does change things. There are also occasions when there are very obvious "wrongs" on one or both sides. Seems often that "might makes right" in world history and affairs.
The English won the first time and succeeding times over the years. The Irish started winning in 1921 and will probably finally win in reuniting their island. When they do, they will be "right" also. Hopefully, they will be much more lenient in working with the ex Northern Irish than the British USED to be in dealing with them.
What NC said, but to expand: the various Home Rule Acts (especially the Fourth) were highly dependent upon Ireland remaining part of the UK during World War One. While the 1916 Easter Rising was put down fairly easily, no one was itching for street warfare (or indeed, any sort of continued warfare) by 1919.
IMO, had Russia stayed in World War One and the Germans never had a chance to initiate Operation Michael, the war would probably have ground to a halt half a year earlier with far fewer British casualties in 1918. Surely, if even half of the the 178,000 UK troops that died in that one month had lived they would easily have enough to keep "Southern Irleand" docile.
Oh it's always fun to watch the loonies pitch in on this conversation. "I'm vaguely Irish because I once drank Guinness and I want a united Ireland" .... twats. Well guess what, the majority of people of Northern Ireland want to remain part of the UK, and don't want the idiot Americans involved in their self determination. And before you continue to bleat on about British repression of a native population just look at your own history
Then I guess if a majority of people who are of Hispanic decent vote to take New Mexico out the ofUnited States and repatriate to Mexico, you're ok with that.
...that was settled in 1865: states cannot leave the Union.
What are you going to do Mark, if they vote to become part of Mexico, reject democracy, and go down there a shoot them?
@JJD: Yep! Just like last time. That's why there isn't a Confederate States of America around today. No state that has ever joined these United States has ever left the Union -- it cannot be done legally.
The US is a Republic, not a Democracy, btw.
Yes it can be done "legally", because by the definition of succeeding you are disavowing allegiance to a country and are therefore no longer bond by it's laws.
Again, unless you are willing to commit troops, a state can not be forced back into the Union.
@JJD: Again, no. Go read up on Texas v. White. According to SCOTUS, no state can nor ever has left the Union. In simple terms, no state can unilaterally decide to leave the USA.
...Troops? It's been done before, and it will be done again if necessary.
Short of troops, tell me what can be done to stop a state from leaving the Union, if the majority votes for it.
Do you really think at that point they would care what the SCOTUS ruled?
@JJD: Why on Earth do you not get it: the US Government has NO PROBLEM deploying troops. Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Bonus Army, the Battle of Blair Mountain, the Civil War, the Whiskey Rebellion... and dozens of other incidents bear that out.
You can cry and whine about "the majority" all you want, but you don't have a leg to stand on. A vote like that has no validity any more than your vote for President does.
...and that's why they will legally be shot to death.
The question was
Short of troops, tell me what can be done to stop a state from leaving the Union, if the majority votes for it.
@JJD: Why would we need anything "short of troops"? But, I suppose that before shooting people that we'd turn off your electricity, Internet, phones and halt all interstate commerce and air travel.
Like any of that would matter to a people who wanted to leave the Union.
See my above comment.
There are only several points here to be made, 1 is that not even 1% of Texas wants to secede. Secondly, it is not legal for Texas to secede. Even if a majority did, then we would just tell them to get off our land, that's what your freedom to Move out is for. If everyone in Washington D.C. just sat in front of the white house and said we want this land, what do you think will happen?Hahaha. It's called rational thought.
If I may restate JJD's question:
Short of force, how would you stop someone who won't be stopped by any other means?
@risuo: It's still a moot question... you might as well be asking "without a computer, how do I get on the Internet"? Or "short of eating, how do I not die of starvation"?
Why do you think that there has never been such a vote in almost a 150 years? Because it's impossible.
And if the republicans in Ireland finally win, then the Unionists will be out. Too bad. Just the way it may well someday be. No right or wrong to it. Facts only. Tsk.
Donkeys! The bloody lot of them!
Britain: Get out of Ireland now!
Britain is out of Ireland. Do you want to start the troubles all over again? To many Irish, the IRA were the good terrorists. They cannot let go of their hatred from centuries ago, when is was common and accepted that the strong countries could dominate and control weaker ones. That concept is now outmoded, thanks to new international laws.
Of course there are also many trouble makers in the North, who like to shove the defeats of long ago in the noses of the Catholic population, with parades and flag waving.
Paul McCartney's song - banned in the UK - "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" is the sentiment. Belfast was an insidious power grab by England, not Wales and Scotland.
Ulster was settled on the orders of King James I (King James Bible, ring any bells?), who was also KING JAMES VI OF SCOTLAND, having inherited the threone of England from Elizabeth I ,and who settled Ulster mainly with Scots. That's why today you have the "Scotch-Irish" in the Appalachians.
Learn some history, you moron!
Oh,and I don't care if she's pregnant. Do you?
The so called "Unionists" should wake up...Irish parties NOW make up the majority on the Belfast Council and in at least three of the six remaining occupied counties..its time for a new referendum for the six counties...and the demographics are trending toward the Irish...not the Unionists...and please enuff with the religious argument...its a simple case of Imperialism versus Nationalism....as for the concept of the "United Kingdom"..it was forced on the Welsh and Scottish thru warfare...Scotland will soon vote on independence..and with all that oil in the North Sea...Scotland would be much better off as an independent state..let the English sink with their homegrown Muslim terrorists...poetic justice!!!
NO FREE TRADE WITHOUT FULL EMPLOYMENT!!
The Welsh are also on the path to Devolution - they have a parliament- and they are the only Celtic Nation to successfully revive their ancient language. Long Live CYMRU! Oh, and how about KERNOW ( you call it Cornwall) Time for devolution, there and maybe Devon, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. And while we're at it, let's devolve Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire and bring back the Cumbric Nation. Devolution is in full swing in Spain, England needs to wake up from it's sense of entitlement, the Spanish have!
Wow. I think you might be mental
Yep, the republicans in N. Ireland may win out yet. Just the way things may well be. Then they will be "right".
The Irish for many years have and always will hate the British royal family. My Irish ancestors ewre rape, killed and left to die by the command of all THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY MEMBERS for certuries. I hope Kate loses this little pimp or whore!!!!!!!!!!
Wishing death on the unborn is *not* a Catholic value.
Hate monger
Ireland unfree will never be at peace.
To hell with the protestant slim. If they want to fly the british flag fly it over there home. Make Ireland whole.
Yes, bring all of Ireland back into the UK so there is no flag controversy!
Dear Dear Martin. The Flag would not be the Union Flag without Ireland.
Saint Patricks Cross?
Northern Ireland for the Northern Irish.
Ireland is for the Irish, the bloody Brits can go F themselves!
Ireland *is* for the Irish. Northern Ireland is a different country!
Exactly Mark
The Republic of Ireland for the Southern Irish and Northern Ireland for the Northern Irish who by majority support a collective union with England, Scotland and Wales.
Uhhh better study the demographics of the six Northern counties...while the Unionists may have been the majority there in the 1920s...they are NOT now....time for a new referendum..which is exactly what I asked Gerri Adams recently when he spoke at Quinnipiac U...
There is no such place as Northern Ireland..only occupied Ireland!!!
Nonsense - Unionists are the majority in N.I - no -one doubts that when the question is asked. It is brought up know and again by republicians - its their ultimate goal - it is there reason for existance - therefore must play to it.
Here are figures from 3 polls carried out by Northern Ireland life and times
(2008 - 2010). Its rather self explanatary. (no recent further updates as the stats are quite extensive you take a while to correlate - carried out by N.Is two universities.) You can see below from these polls
that the majority of both protestants and catholics in 2010 support remaining in
the UK,
Overall from the poll - 16% want a united Ireland.
When asked
Do you think the long-term policy for Northern
Ireland should be for it…
Answers grouped by religion. (%), Key P =
Protestants, C = catholics, NR = no religion
1) To remain part of the
United Kingdom, with direct rule
2008) P = 24, C = 7, NR= 17
2009) P = 27,
C = 8, NR= 20
2010) P = 21 C = 6 NR= 14
2) To remain part of the
United Kingdom, with devolved government
2008) P= 65, C=37, NR=54
2009) P=
64, C39, NR= 46
2010) P= 69, C = 46, NR= 47
3) To reunify with the
rest of Ireland
2008) P=4, C=39, NR= 11
2009) P=3, C=40, NR= 16
2010) P
= 4 , C = 33, NR = 17
4) Independent state
2008) P= 3, C= 8, NR =
7
2009) P= 1, C= 5 NR= 7
2010) P = 1, C = 4, NR = 4
The rest, other
answers and don't knows
LOL...soooo how do u explain what happened in Belfast..where the Irish nationalist parties are NOW the majority!!! The whole island will be free...probably before England becomes an Islamic state!!!
LOL - why? - you can't accept that the majority of N.I support the union? Grow up. You may be clueless of the situation but I live here, lived through the troubles - no sane person that accepts the facts wants a vote - why - waste of money and it plays to the extremes on both sides and the paramilitaries - A vote would result in N.I remaining part of the UK - there is no doubt - and there is no doubt tensions would rise before and after the vote
The Council voted to fly the Union Flag on designated Dates not remove it altogether. It has been brought in line with other government buildings but the City council on such matters is effectively
controlled by the Alliance Party – traditionally a unionist party but lately stated neutral to represent both sides of the Community in an otherwise tribal political landscape - but in effect they back the status quo -polling best in protestant areas. It was the DUP first minister Peter Robinson – Top politician in Northern Ireland that actually lost his Westminster Seat to an Alliance party member in Protestant East Belfast – though next elections this seat will likely return to the DUP.
Firstly I am not English and you do realize how ridiculous that statement is or more worryingly maybe you don't.
Britain like all other nations doing the same thing, should stop occupying other peoples nations. There will never be peace in the world, as long as these countries are forcing themselves on other countries. Its the same in the Middle East and elsewhere. Occupiers, conflict, death, and war. This goes for any religious groups trying to force their beliefs too.
The world needs to start condemning ALL who are doing this. Get out of other peoples countries. Keep your religion to yourself. And maybe we can have some damn peace for a change.
F4E: Could you name a single country that is not on contested ground, please?
x
Good God, look at the vicious faces of those Northern Ireland "police" types !
Apparently the best way a British subject can show his loyalty to the Union Jack is to attack British police while they do their job.It is possible this contardiction represents some else!The flag doesn't represent lawful government to them,rather it represents white-protestant supremacy .How they long for the good old days,when the police would escort mobs to Catholic streets,where they could burn down homes and wave the jack about with impunity.Ah the good old days!
What does "white-protestant" mean? Do the African-British Northern Irish not count? How about the Indian or Pakistani-Northern-Irish (which is the 3rd largest minority)? The Chinese-Northern Irish?
...or are you saying that all of the Catholics are something other than white?
Please don't get the Irish riled up again. Remember, it is not so much about the difference between the Protestants and Catholics as it is between the separatist Irish and the occupying English. Maybe England should just go home and let the Irish keep their own country. Scotland is thinking about seceding, too. They're all tired of the 'royal family' that never had to win a fair election dictating to them what their daily lives should be like.
Actually if Scotland votes to withdraw from the Union they'll still retain the royal family. The Scottish nationalists didn't include the option to become a republic in the referendum as all the opinion polls show greater support for the monarchy. The monarchy is popular here because we like having a Head of State that unifies most of the people instead of creating the division that seems to come with a President.
You do realise the "occupying English" have been settling in Ireland since the 1160s? How about the "occupying English" leave Northern Ireland when the occupying Americans leave the North American continent. Or is the forced colonisation of the American West different to the English colonisation of Ireland?
If the new government decides to dissolve and join Eire, then they should be able to do just that, right? After all, they were elected by the people.
If the Northern Irish assembly chooses to hold a referendum on withdrawing from the Union then the British Government will have to respect the wishes of the electorate, just like they've promised to do with the Scottish referendum. However, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future as two of the three biggest political parties in the Northern Irish assembly are unionists that oppose a unified Ireland.
Tear that flag down, and get the British out of Northern Ireland. This is a great source of income for the British, and they need to maintain the up kept on the royal family. Having spent a month in Southern Ireland recently, the people are incredible nice, and the everyone is suffering from the economy. The time has long pasted for the British to get back to their little kingdom.
Of all the home countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) I would imagine Northern Ireland brings in the least amount of income - as they have the smallest population, fewest major cities and lack investment from multinational corporations due to the violence during the Troubles, etc.
Also, the London School of Economics has shown that for every 60p spent on the royal family they contribute £1 to the British economy.
And the fault for that lies with the Irish government who opted to join the European single currency. The people of the Republic of Ireland would be suffering a lot more if it weren't for the fact that the British Government bailed out the Irish economy with a £7bn loan.
But the British are already in their kingdom. Northern Ireland is one of the three kingdoms that makes up the United Kingdom (the other two being Scotland and England), hence why the St. Patrick's Cross features on the Union flag. The Parliament of Ireland voted through the Acts of Union in 1800 to merge the Kingdom of Ireland with England and Scotland.
We have free and fair elections in Northern Ireland. If the people of NI want to join up with the Irish Republic then they would vote for Irish nationalist parties (two of the three biggest political parties in the Northern Irish assembly are unionists). An opinion poll by the Belfast Times last year showed that over 50% of Catholics in Northern Ireland wanted to remain in the United Kingdom with just 32% admitting to wanting a unified Ireland.
Your desire to see Northern Ireland dissolved and become part of the Irish Republic would be against the principle of self-determination.
Let them fight for it. The side that wins...wins. That is how it has been for hundreds and thousands of years. Each side has a point that can be "good". That is the way it normally is. So, let them duke it out to decide who wins.
The loser will grouse and complain and eventually may get what they want. Same as it has always been. Persistence is the key.
Ok, there it is; the solution.
BRITS OUT - PERIOD!