A new border poll on a united Ireland is top of Sinn Fein’s wish list for 2013, party president Gerry Adams said in a New Year’s message.
“The North is no longer a unionist fiefdom and must reflect Irishness and Britishness with equality of treatment as envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement. Equality also means freedom to pursue political objectives peacefully and democratically. In the coming weeks, Sinn Fein will launch a campaign to secure a border poll,” Adams said in the message.
However, the North’s first minister Peter Robinson, in a New Year’s message of his own, says that the union with Britain remains strong, rendering calls for a border poll unjustified.
“I’m proud of my British heritage. I’m proud to be part of the United Kingdom. I’m glad that support for the union in Northern Ireland is at its highest level with recent polls showing less than 10 percent supporting a united-Ireland now,” Robinson said, adding that Catholics are “content with the constitutional status quo.”
Robinson also touched on the contentious Union flag issue which caused outbreaks of violence late last year, after Belfast City Council slashed the number of days the Union flag could fly over City Hall from 365 to 15.
While Robinson called the vote to remove the flag provocative, he said violence was the wrong response.
“People are entitled – even justified in protesting – but nobody can justify threats, acts of violence or other unlawful behavior. Right-thinking unionists will want to channel their opposition to this, and similar decisions, into political activity aimed at strengthening our British culture and identity,” he said.
The North’s deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, said he was hopeful that the year ahead would bring further reconciliation between nationalists and unionists.
“I earnestly hope that we will continue to move towards the development of a new phase in our peace process in 2013, and that the seeds of reconciliation among and between all our people will grow. My decision to meet Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Belfast earlier this year was a sincere effort on my behalf to advance reconciliation between republicans and unionists and consolidate our peace process,” he said.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seamus60 | Jan 05, 2013, 08:21 AM EST
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.
MacGiobuinR | Jan 04, 2013, 08:22 PM EST
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!
seamus60 | Jan 04, 2013, 07:32 PM EST
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.
IrelandNorth | Jan 04, 2013, 02:40 PM EST
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.
ancavker | Jan 04, 2013, 12:56 PM EST
Will: True: SO they can stay in their own little mini quagmire funded by the English taxpayer.
curtisjohnson | Jan 03, 2013, 11:38 PM EST
@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.
seamus60 | Jan 03, 2013, 06:57 PM EST
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".
FallsRNat | Jan 03, 2013, 06:16 PM EST
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.
seamus60 | Jan 03, 2013, 06:13 PM EST
Will what of the people in three of those counties that have no choice in the matter. lol
Will Hamilton | Jan 03, 2013, 03:14 PM EST
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.
seamus60 | Jan 03, 2013, 01:57 PM EST
STEVENSTAR. Agreed.
STEVENSTAR | Jan 03, 2013, 01:24 PM EST
@@@@@@@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..
seamus60 | Jan 03, 2013, 01:18 PM EST
Darragh S We already have more than enough enclaves belonging to both sides.
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.
darragh S | Jan 02, 2013, 09:35 PM EST
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.
curtisjohnson | Jan 02, 2013, 09:09 PM EST
STEVENSTAR - are you 7 years old?
STEVENSTAR | Jan 02, 2013, 07:54 PM EST
FUNNY HOW WHEN EVER I WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT GERRY ADAMS I HAVE TO COME ON HERE AND READ IT.... IM IRISH I LIVE HERE IN IRELAND AND I WAS BORN HERE ... BELIEVE ME GERRY ADAMS HAS ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICAL CLOUT OVER HERE AND IS NOT POPULAR... WE HAVE PEACE NOW IN THE YEAR 2012 AND ITS NO THANKS TO THIS IDIOT ... IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO EXPORT HIM TO AMERICA OVER TO HIS REAL FOLLOWERS WHO HE PLAYS TO THEN ID SEND HIM OVER ON THE NEXT FERRY OR CARGO SHOW BECAUSE HIS NOTHING BUT A WASTE OF SPACE AND IS LIKE A BAD SMELL WHICH WONT GO AWAY ....
IrelandNorth | Jan 02, 2013, 02:10 PM EST
As the largest of three minorities in the currently constituted Northern Ireland (NI), those who identify as British only (40%) will sooner rather than later have to reconcile themselves with the other two minorities there - Irish only (25%) and Northern Irish only (21%) - totalling 46% (with 14% none/neither/not stated). (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NIS&RA) Household Survey, 2011). These quite probable 40% British unionists, (as a larger percentage of the Island of Ireland's population than they are of the Island of Great Britain's), need to ally themselves with a combined 25% Irish unionist and 21% Northern Irish secessionist to discuss terms of how to cohabit this beautiful Island that is our rightful inheritance proportionately. Rather than British culture being diluted in an Agreed Ireland (AI), it's existence can be enshrined in a renegotiated constitution at the convention they should be attending. A "... partnership of equals ..." (EIIR, Dublin Castle, 2011) between the British and/or Irish Isles, in a strategic (anglophonic) alliance within the European Union (EU), (and quite possibly back in the Commonwealth of Nations (CoN)), can underwrite British identity within a reintegrated Ireland. (NB European national flags (incl the British union flag) currently fly outside Dublin City Council (DCC) offices on Essex Quay for Ireland's EU Presidency, which should assuage fears of British unionists/loyalists outside Belfast City Hall.)
seamus60 | Jan 02, 2013, 01:14 PM EST
ReturnedYank. Adams makes a mockery with this at the top of his partys wish list. People going hungry and being put out of their homes should be at the top of any right thinking person or partys list. How much would any such poll cost whilst his party inflict cuts on the most vunerable in the North ? How much has his partys abuse of the system they have signed up to cost the tax payer last year ? We still have Nationalists being discriminated against at the hands of his party working in tandem with the DUP. We are ten years into a laughing stock of an education system since Martin got his hands on it. The one thing you can bet is that should any such border poll take place at this time loyalists will make sure to be heard, whilst a lot of Nationalists have lost all heart in who represents them and what differance their vote would really make. But one thing is for sure, should the poll come out bad for Nationalists, it would be used to invoke the status quo for a long time to come. Looks like Gerry is desperate to re affirm his long lost Republican credentials to the ever growing number of doubters.
pilib04 | Jan 02, 2013, 01:11 PM EST
Often I find myself defending Peter Robinson. In this case he is simply wrong. Adams succinctly explains the reason for the border poll. There has NEVER been a vote! So called polls by news services are irrelevant and most often the methodology is faulty. Also, a plebiscite or vote is the only democratic way to determine the will of the majority. Even if Adams does not get the vote, it remains in the public eye that there never has been a democratic vote regarding partition and/or reunification.
ReturnedYank | Jan 02, 2013, 11:48 AM EST
@mastersonjp "Most Catholics," as you put it, saw the thuggish flag protests and were reminded of what life in the North is like under Unionist rule. Claiming they will vote against re-unification is wishful thinking at best.
mastersonjp | Jan 02, 2013, 08:40 AM EST
The shops in Belfast are empty over Christmas due to silly protests over flags. Most responsible leaders are trying to defuse the tension bu Adams come up with this gem to increase tension. Did he not read recent poll which found that most Catholics are against United Ireland