Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams calls for a United Ireland referendum and poll on border

Dano. More pressing issues at the moment for those going hungry and falling into mortage arrears. Not many shinners falling into either catagory in the North or South. SF had the option of calling a cross party vote on welfare reform which would have stopped it. They didn`t and thought the people would remain ignorant to their game. Backfired leaving Alex Maskey sitting on the Nolan show like a rabbit caught in the headlights. The plunker even clapped when a member of the audiance said the people of the North had been let down by all the politicians. He must have forgot he`s now one.

The fact is that there are more pressing issues at the moment...try tuning on to any RTE debate...the bank debt is all-consuming at present...welcome to the real world...

Greendays. Any fool can make a speech and sound great. Had the audiance been able to ask him questions on anything relevant, Gerry the fool may have answered. Something he avoids at all costs. So much so that his entorage has a number of well rehersed remedies for such occassions though. It used to be the rough and ready form of Gerry fan club hecklers. The ones who looked like not very good ex boxers.In recent times they have become more technical using cordless microphones with a very very weak pick up ,allowing those in the first front couple of rows ( bussed in for the occassion with the right questions) to be heard. On a few occassions when the audiance either refused to be fobbed off or moved forward so as to be heard, the venues fire alarm would come to the rescue. More recently he has simply refused invitations to various locations throughout Ireland. Says a lot for the man who is never stuck for something to say.

Long time Gerry, last time I had the pleasure of hearing the great man speak was at Emory University. Keep up the struggle; and that's a nice tan, looks like your ready for a vacation in Long Island. Peace and shamrocks, L. Reardon

Enda Kenny is a coward. He has failed to take on (and lock up) the 40 or so 'untouchables' that have ruined the Irish economy. Main reason being that the senior civil servants and politicians are all in it up to their necks. Stroke politics is alive and well in Ireland and the grass roots FF'ers have returned to Fianna Fáil because they see Fine Gael as an ineffective Fianna Fáil Lite. Ireland must regain her Sovereignty by any means possible and the only way that this being achieved is by leaving the Euro, devaluing and realigning with Sterling within the Commonwealth. As Harold Wilson said "The pound in your pocket has not lost its value" It's still a pound! A common currency on both sides of the border and rejoining the Commonwealth of Nations would be a good start and offer some hope to the 300,000 debt enslaved families that wake up in Ireland every day wondering how they will ever make ends meet. If you want to talk about Civil War then these Debt Slaves are the real flesh and blood standing army that may yet be the cause of such a war in Ireland. It certainly won't be about a six county border.

Gordon I do not accept your premise that a civil war would ensue if a poll took place. Even the "Belfast Telegraph" is open to the idea and as you know it is not a bastion of Irish nationalism. Making statements like "Betting" on the actions of people of whom you know nothing about is simplistic and adds nothing to the debate.

It always amazes us in the Irish Republic when people living abroad advocate a United Ireland now. There would have to be a constitutional referendum in the Republicaand another referendum in Northern Ireland. In the majority opinion there would also be a CIVIL WAR and none of us want another one. My question to people like Sean in Melbourne is would you come home then, I bet you would stay far away from the chaos. It all very well to state these opinion when you don't live here, the rest of do. Civil wars cause devastation to countries and Irish people know this very well. Most Irish people are not warlike and the thought of same fills them with horror.

redhand32. Copperfastened the union can hardly be confused with copperfastening the unification. Do you still believe the rubbish that was fed to republicans in order to get them on board the Gerry is our hero train. The one that has turned out to be a gravy train for Gerry and a few others in this new land of equals where some are a lot more equal than the rest. LOL

Ancavkar. Who believes most Americans advocate a UI at any cost ?. You should get to know the facts better before slinging such accusations. I know good Americans , the ones who got their hands dirty and risked all, only to be stood down by the back door at the hands of Donaldson, who afterall was following orders from people like Adams and Mc Guinness. As you have opened the subject though. I think its a disgrace that so many Americans of infleunce don`t find the need to shy away from some one who has admitted to sheltering some one he knows to be a peadophile.

@redhand32 - what is the real value of the TD for Louth calling for a referendum in ROI, when the real question has to be answered in NI? The GFA says that any change to the present constitutional arrangements are dependent on a majority in NI supporting any such change. Even if there are green papers on reunification published in Dublin, that will count for nought without a similar process in Belfast. And Gerry Adams HAS had his hearing on this, as it is now a matter of Record in Dial Eireann. So, move on and do politics based on pursuasion as opposed to grandstanding which will achieve little and has a limited shelf life in the minds of the Irish electorate!!

No matter what upper or lower classes in the 6 counties, Irish-American percentages, or whomever thinks whatever position is correct, the bottom line is that the Good Friday Agreement copperfastened a process to Irish unification accepted by the parties, including Republicans who remain an undefeated army, but placed arms beyond use in the interests of the political struggle. Gerry Adams is both timely and correct in his call to a referendum in this context. He represents the position of Irish Republicans (except the RSF and their armed wing psychos) and should be heard and responded to accordingly. It is that simple. ub

seamus: Most Irish-Americans, do not as you wrongly belive advocate a united Ireland at all costs. You should get to know them before you make typical broad generalizations. In fact our main concern is that there is peace now. Hopefully a united Ireland will come about peacefully at some point.

Public opinion polls do not express public opinions, but the opinions their ruling classes want their publics to have - ie predictive! The flaw of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and Government of Ireland Act, 1920 was to see an Ireland with double vision, 19% of which was 100% in the United Kingdom and 81% of which was 100% outside of it. The population of the Island of Ireland then as now was/is approx 6 million (100%), 1 million (c20%) of which are United Kingdomers. As such, would this not predicate that the island of Ireland should be c20% associated with the UK and c80% dissociated. Which I expect would approximate something akin to associate membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. At the end of the day, you can't eat a British union jack - or an Irish tricolour. (Though a red flag might well prove flavoursome in an age of political apostacy).

@seanomelb - yeah but, no but, yeah but, Adams's personal poll showed a drop of 9 percentage points when the average for the others was 3-3.5 percentage points. Admittedly its only one poll, but the percentages would seem to indicate that it is the current leadership that is now starting to hold the party itself back. And this is consistent with earlier polls. The electorate may eventually buy what Sinn Fein has to offer, but it wont be with Gerry Adams doing the selling. So, no, I am not dreaming. Sinn Fein were ahead of Fianna Fail in earlier polls, but no longer. Which is kind of remarkable when you consider the damage which that party inflicted on the country!!

Yes, I know seamus60. I always hope for change for the better, anyway. Why give up hope?