Former president Mary Robinson says Irish are 'angry' and 'hurting'

No, what actually happened was one part of UKGBI left, and the other part stayed...'ourselves alone' versus 'keep the union'...

You miss the point as usual as we are discussing the separation of the Irish state into two parts.

There was no separate Irish State for 120 years, UK of GB&I was the legal entity, ie GB (England Scotland Wales) and Ireland...until the Treaty.

To use the phrase "pre-existing union" is ridiculous by virtue of the fact that no "union" existed before the carve up Irish state.

ancavker - The Irish people did not vote for 1916 either, just because facts are inconvenient does not make them any less valid...Laws passed by the 19th century administration are still legal, so therefore that union was a legal entity...revising cuts both ways...

The modern nation state and idea of a singular political unity defining a nation did not arise until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. During this timeframe Ireland was being terrorised and cleansed by psychotic puritans so the standard really is not applicable (although had Owen Roe O'Neill survived and prevailed, he would have most likely united the country as a single political entity under his leadership). However, Ireland has traditionally been united as a nation by language, ethnicity, genetics, culture and law.

Kilsally you have absolutely no idea what your talking about. Your post below is childish to say the least or you are so bitter commonsense just passes over your head.

ancavker obviously unaware that Ireland was only ever united for a very brief time under High King Brian Boru, uniting several kingdoms of Ireland. The only other time was under English influence (after the Pope urged the English King to invade and spread Catholicism in the 1100`s) and laterly as part of the UK. WE choose every 5 years or so to remain as part of the UK otherwise nationalists would be a majority. The Good Friday Agreement accepts Northern Ireland as part of the UK as voted for overwhelmingly on both sides of the border. The Good Friday Agreement also provides for a border poll should there be the chance of constitutional change - I don`t hear any politician, not even Sinn Fein calling for said border poll despite their United Ireland rhetoric which speaks volumes. Better to focus on making Northern Ireland work for all it`s citizens and working with our southern brothers & sisters and the rest of the UK (England, Scotland & Wales)

Dan: Please stop with the pre existing union nonsense. The Irish people did not vote to join this union. The other part did not choose to remain in the union, they simply carved out an area for themselves, and than took another big chunk with them, that they should not have. You keep harping on about this, and it is typical revisionist nonsense.

IrelandNorth - The Irish nation, at least those who remain on the island, inhabit two states...following a decision by one part to separate from a pre-existing union, and a decision by the other part to remain in it...uniting the two parts will, if and when it happens, create a new state, which may or may not be greater than the sum of both parts...unless like some you think a straight takeover is possible, likely or desirable?

Her Excellency, the Rt Hon Sen Mary Burke-Robinson, (although undoubtedly of old Anglo-Irish landed gentry and tweedy Trinitarian stock from Ballina, Co Mayo, Province of Connacht/western Ireland), did break the mould of the Irish presidency as a sinecure for retired politicians, (a political paradigm some may fear has been returned to?) The Irish state and Irish nation are not currently coterminous. Still, she's verbalising what needs to be said, even if she's a byproduct of her class environment like us all.

"Tom MO" - A beautifully witty play on words there with regard to Noddy. Nice one! Éamonn, Dublin.

Wasn't maccamouthpiece in favor of all the trans-nationalism that led to the economic crisis (including the bailouts of the creditors of the international banks that just happened to be based in Ireland)?

Why even mention her? She deserted Ireland. She should be a broad without a country

I may be wrong but was it not Mary Robinson who said it was Ireland's duty to invite the entire turd world to Ireland and go on the dole?