Sinn Fein leader calls for new border poll on a United Ireland

Mac. The North of Ireland is a money pit says it all. The South can barely afford the cost of a poll on unity, never mind taking the burden of the North ( at this time)with all its running costs. I would love this country to be united more than a lot. But some of our various aspirations fall short when compared to whats in childrens bellies or not.

A very complex problem which will need a very complex answer if any resolution is to be worked out. Time is not on the people of Ulster side, Great Britain is being pressed financially on a number of issues. To many of the political leaders in London, Northern Ireland is a "money pit" which produces little for England. As time goes on I believe that their choices will be fewer and harder. Procrastination is not something Ulster should be using as a viable policy alternative. If you listen very carefully you can hear time marching on, and it waits for no one!

IrelandNorth. I`ll rephrase for you intellects " eating any flag won`t cure your hunger". You`re on the wrong site to express Adams the great liar is being victimised by the media. Hard to read anything negative about him here. Perhaps you would like to list his great achievements for so long in the political game.

John Hume's quote related to both flags, not one. Nice misquote! Political economy trumps political ideology every time. Looks to me like the ragged trousered philanthropists of the British Exchequer are a tad fatigued subsidising the inevitable political dysfunction of a gerrymandered statelet. If they wish to take a closer look at loss making subsidiaries on the balance sheet of Britannia Ltd, who can blame them during periods of austerity. And if the Rt Hon Dep Adams TD/SF doesn't get as much press/media coverage as he deserves, it's more to do with journalistic conservatism and editorial censorship than personal political gravitas on his part. It's regrettable how some posters have nothing more substantial to offer than highly subjective personalised attacks which exposes their intellectual vacuousness.

Will: True: SO they can stay in their own little mini quagmire funded by the English taxpayer.

@swillhamilton "For anyone in Ulster to vote themselves into the quagmire of incompetence and corruption the South became since 1922 they'd have to be mental. It would be like voting for bankruptcy and getting your pockets picked on a weekly basis." Please have them hold off on your crack shipments for awhile - the occupied statelet is one of the worst examples in political economy in the history of the world. The same goes for nearly every portion of the globe suffering from residuals of toxic anglo nation mugging and grotesque mismanagement - Afghanistan/Pakistan, Israel/Gaza, Iraq, Iran, etc. The terror state itself would be completely insolvent but for it's continued larceny.

Fallsnat. Lets not forget the veto available regardless to the outcome of any such vote that may or may not ever follow a poll that Gerry seeks. Like I said the man is desperate to reinstate his long lost perception as a Republican. Like John Hume said " eating a tricolour won`t save you from hunger".

SF can run a poll in SI if they get into power , unfortunately for them, what the SI vote for is irrelevant as the GFA, Anglo-Irish agreements explicitly state that only the people of Ulster can decide their own future, SF are good at wasting the taxpayers money, however, as the Reichstag is now running the Catholic Free State these days, I can't see Herr Merkel agreeing to pouring more € down the drain on a wasted vote.

Will what of the people in three of those counties that have no choice in the matter. lol

For anyone in Ulster to vote themselves into the quagmire of incompetence and corruption the South became since 1922 they'd have to be mental. It would be like voting for bankruptcy and getting your pockets picked on a weekly basis.

STEVENSTAR. Agreed.

@@@@@@@seamus60 | Jan 03, 2013, 01:12 PM EST Stevenstar. The problem is he actually has political clout. What he will do with it is some thing else. He has always been fortunate at having things handed to him on a platter. Internment, Bloody Sunday and the Hungerstrikes to name 3. The sham of the political partys and their successive gov`s in the 26 have now handed him another free run. After all you are burdened with the fact that it would be hard for ANYONE else to do much worse. He has left West Belfast worse off than when he entered politics there with nothing new to his cv other than the admission he sheltered a peadophile for decades. We won`t even go into his endorsements of the same. Worse than that, the fact he has so much control over the party and the many good people within. >>>>>>> MATE IM A CORKMAN AND U SEEM TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GERRY THEN I DO.. I JUST MERELY POINTED OUT THAT WE HEAR SO LITTLE OF HIM IN THE IRISH MEDIA BUT IF YOU COME ON THIS NEWSPAPER WEBSITE HIS LIKE A LITTLE MINI HERO TO ALL THESE AMERICANS WHO ARE OBSESSED WITH IRISH ... ITS LIKE THEY TREAT GERRY ADAMS AS SOME SORT OF MODERN JAMES BOND..WHICH HIS NOW.. I FEEL HE'D BE MUCH BETTER SUITED TO MOVIN TO AMERICA AND HANGING OUT WITH THE YANKS AS HIS DONT NOTHING FOR MY COUNTRY AND HAS DONE NOTHING FOR THE PEACE PROCESS.. THE MAN IS A TOTAL WASTE OF SPACE..

Darragh S We already have more than enough enclaves belonging to both sides.

Stevenstar. The problem is he actually has political clout. What he will do with it is some thing else. He has always been fortunate at having things handed to him on a platter. Internment, Bloody Sunday and the Hungerstrikes to name 3. The sham of the political partys and their successive gov`s in the 26 have now handed him another free run. After all you are burdened with the fact that it would be hard for ANYONE else to do much worse. He has left West Belfast worse off than when he entered politics there with nothing new to his cv other than the admission he sheltered a peadophile for decades. We won`t even go into his endorsements of the same. Worse than that, the fact he has so much control over the party and the many good people within.

If a Border Poll was to exclude those near the Scottish Border and only include those in the Republic of Ireland and the Ulster Border regions that would be worth while. Same questions as last time? The Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum of 1973 The electorate were asked to indicate: "Do you want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom?" or "Do you want Northern Ireland to be joined with the Republic of Ireland outside the United Kingdom?" 57% Voter Turnout Boycot by Nationals. 99% no to question 1. & 1% wanted Ireland to join the United Kingdom. I think the real question should be put in a Border Poll for the communities along the Land Border asking them if they wish to Secede from the UK and Join the Republic of Ireland. The UK would be left mainly with Antrim and part of Down. Then through UK immigration the Republic of Ireland could move people through the UK and back into Antrim and then reverse Gerrymander Antrim. Sounds good and the Northern Ireland Problem solved. Why did the Catholics boycott the last Border Poll.