Nobel poet Seamus Heaney says there will never be a united Ireland

Willie thank-you for those kind thoughts,

Seamus Heaney rejects violence and bloodshed in the name of unity. He's right, the peace process is worth it.

Puffin ,you need to turn the other cheek.Blessed are the weak for they shall obtain mercy.God be with you

Portia_O'Neill "Seamus Heaney is right on the money with this call. Why encourage rioting and bloodshed over a stupid flag." To expose the supremacist nature of the planter/unionist mentality to the world the way it was during the Holy Cross fiasco.

Seamus Heaney is right on the money with this call. Why encourage rioting and bloodshed over a stupid flag.

Seamus60, you actually think dissidents are taken seriously (or your opinion)? Sinn Fein is governing Northern Ireland and will soon be governing the Republic. Sinn Fein is moving both Northern Ireland and the Republic towards the eventual reunification of our island. Danny Morrison is a fine gentleman who has dedicated his life to Irish freedom and Irish POWS. Besides his work with the Bobby Sands Trust and the work on The Blanket, Danny is an accomplished, published writer.

Seamus60, you actually think dissidents are taken seriously (or your opinion)? Sinn Fein is governing Northern Ireland and will soon be governing the Republic. Sinn Fein is moving both Northern Ireland and the Republic towards the eventual reunification of our island. Danny Morrison is a fine gentleman who has dedicated his life to Irish freedom and Irish POWS. Besides his work with the Bobby Sands Trust and the work on The Blanket, Danny is an accomplished, published writer.

Seamus60, you actually think dissidents are taken seriously (or your opinion)? Sinn Fein is governing Northern Ireland and will soon be governing the Republic. Sinn Fein is moving both Northern Ireland and the Republic towards the eventual reunification of our island. Danny Morrison is a fine gentleman who has dedicated his life to Irish freedom and Irish POWS. Besides his work with the Bobby Sands Trust and the work on The Blanket, Danny is an accomplished, published writer.

Seamus60, you actually think dissidents are taken seriously (or your opinion)? Sinn Fein is governing Northern Ireland and will soon be governing the Republic. Sinn Fein is moving both Northern Ireland and the Republic towards the eventual reunification of our island. Danny Morrison is a fine gentleman who has dedicated his life to Irish freedom and Irish POWS. Besides his work with the Bobby Sands Trust and the work on The Blanket, Danny is an accomplished, published writer.

Not allowed to have an opinion on this thread I am Unionist

PRESS SUBMIT THEN REFRESH AND WE CAN CUT OUT MULTIPLE ENTRIES.

@warrenpointoo - I would be off the view that the upcoming Referendum on Scotland's continued participation within the Union of the United Kingdom will be very telling in a number of ways. It will perhaps provide the template for any eventual plebicite in Ireland to decide the future path of the Irish Nation. It will also show, I believe the very considerable State and societal forces that will be ranged against any change to the current status quo, both within these islands. You see them beginning to mass already; in Europe, and in the USA with the doomful predictions of what would happen to the UK and by extension the European economy, if Scotland did choose to assert its right to independence. And it will be no different in Ireland. Major vested interests will go to considerable lengths to scare the electorate, to divide them, and thus retain the status quo, albeit with some minor tinkering in Scotland, with a nod to the idea of "Devo Max" but not really amounting to much. It is the world in which we live and I very much doubt that at present, the Spirit of Man will be sufficiently robust to see past the scare tactics and disinformation. And in this way, the status quo will for the most part remain in place for the forseeable future at least!!

BarneyJoe you are absolutely right the unionists will not be coerced into a united Ireland.The partitionist mindset of those that live in the Irish free state will contribute little to a reunited Ireland . Republican militancy will not contribute to it either.The nationalist majority will be enhanced by the multi-culture society our nation is fast becoming.british loyalism will not have a veto over the wishes of the Irish people anymore.british Unionism, one day will become an irrelevant institute in our nation, but Ulster presbyterian,s on the other hand will contribute much to our new and united nation.I think it is profoundly reckless and certainly not a very poetic submission by Mr Heaney, that there " Never" will be a united Ireland.These are certainly not the expressed views of respected and revered Irish nationalists you talk about, this seems to be the narrow minded vision of an irrelevant washed up old poet .

I think we are putting too much emphasis on the this so called Northern Irish Identity. It is still Irish. I believe the people that use it (and I can say I neve hear it, and I am in Fermanagh every year) do so to differentiate themselves from those southern Irish in the 26 counties who abandoned them.

I think we are putting too much emphasis on the this so called Northern Irish Identity. It is still Irish. I believe the people that use it (and I can say I neve hear it, and I am in Fermanagh every year) do so to differentiate themselves from those southern Irish in the 26 counties who abandoned them.