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Taint ABird
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Comments by "Taint ABird" (@taintabird23) on "What will post-Brexit Ireland look like?" video.

@chunkybuster7203 It is. The place is full of Brits
18
@Porkcylinder Ireland, unfortunately, is not 'just another country like Poland or Slovakia'. You have a land border with Ireland, in Ireland and you are committed to a peace process in NI alongside Dublin. So therefore, Ireland is indeed the centre of your world. Every decision you make that concerns Ireland will mean that it becomes the centre of your world, just as it did between 2017- 2019. Get used to it, it's what you voted for.
18
@Porkcylinder Well...Ireland has a higher standard of living now, than it did in the past. Irish people are very mobile and most graduates move abroad for work experience, adventure and to broaden their minds. Most return and help to make the Irish economy very innovative and dynamic. Too many British people wait for jobs to come to them and blame the EU for failed domestic policies.
13
@Porkcylinder There are more Irish in the UK than there are Brits in Ireland, that is for sure. However as a percentage of the population, there are far more Brits in Ireland than there are Irish in the UK.
12
@Porkcylinder It looks like my post did not go down well. Hold a mirror up to certain English and this is the kind of response you are going to get. Let's take a look: 'yes that’s right if you want to play semantics and skew the facts you can make figures say anything you want but I thought you were a real person not some c*nting robot or politician.' You think I'm a bot? Facts are fact mate, the proportion of the Irish population that was born in Britain (mainly England) is higher than the proportion of the UK population that was born in Ireland. It was not always like that, but is has been since about 2000. It has been increasing since Brexit. 'You’re in no position to make your sneaky thinly veiled threats anymore Great Britain is leaving and if need be on WTO' Nobody cares. Seriously, since Ireland won on the backstop issue, nobody cares what the English do to themselves, it is not our issue. You voted for it, you live by it. 'We don’t need to take advice from anyone least of all the Irish.' You badly need advising, but England is in the thrall of an incoherent nationalism that makes it think it needs nobody. We will be there to pick you up when the penny drops. 'We know you’re just trying to agitate to break up the UK along with you spiteful chums in Brussels . ' Oh please, the English are doing that by themselves. The British Demos is in decline, and we know from the last GE in December that it was won by English, Scottish and Irish nationalisms. With the English dictating the futures of the Scots and the Irish because they are comfortable with democratic deficits when it suits them, it will in time lead to the break up of the UK. People just aren't into that level of weapons-grade hypocrisy anymore. The English need to grow a pair, admit they are a nation, and become independent of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You cannot hide behind your neighbour's forever. Think of how much money you would save!! 'Sorry boys it ain’t happening get used to it.' It started with devolution over 20 years ago. Brexit is just the second stage, the English acting out in response.
12
Agreed. It's the best I've seen.
6
@Porkcylinder 'very sorry old chap I’m not actually that interested in your opinions.' Oh but you are interested in my opinions - you just can cope with them. You have no coherent argument. 'We’ve had four years of your bawling and whining...' Actually, the bawling whining has been coming from the Brexiter side. It has been chaos, as the UK tries to grapple with the reality that it cannot have its cake and eat it, and its has overplayed its importance to the EU. Ireland has been calm, firm and coherent. 'Btw did you pay back that £10 billion... It was three billion. We tried, but the UK refused one final lump sum payment back in December 2017. In any case, it will be paid off in March 2021. The Irish did not ask for any money from the UK - Osborne stumped up a term loan in order to protect the UKs fifth largest export market and to help insulate British banks from their exposure to bad investments in Irish banks. The UK was looking after its own national interests, which it is entitled to do.
6
@EamonnKee Indeed, there are more people living in Leinster than there are in Northern Ireland.
4
Three counties of Ulster are already in the republic. Four Ulster counties in NI have Irish majorities. The demographics are against you.
4
One day, the English will grow a pair and become an ordinary independent nation like their neighbours. In the meantime, it will continue to hide behind the Celts...
4
Nick Nack Absolutely not. And why should he or any Irish politician? Explain why Ireland should take a neutral stance in the face of a British decision that is contrary to Irish national interests? I can't wait.
4
On the contrary, I don't believe that Ireland will become eurosceptic. It may well assert itself in relation to the bloc, but the EU is by any measure essential to small countries like Ireland. The New Hansiatic League has already replaced the UKs influential role within the EU. The key question will be at what point will the English realise the value of the EU, and the limitations of their new found 'sovereignty' in a world dominated in the years ahead by the USA, China, Russia, the African Union and MERCOSUR.
4
@IrishFrank22 The bloc was never just an economic trading bloc, as the Treaty of Rome indicates. Look it up yourself, and ask, why do the English and yourself convince yourselves that the EEC ever 'only a trading a bloc'? Equally, there is no evidence that the EU will collapse or fall apart. The British have been predicting the end of the bloc since the 1950s, and Brexiters fetishise about it, but there is no actual evidence that it is likely to happen. The UK on the other hand.... I don't see the EU becoming a federal state, I think the EU is close to the limits of integration and the idea that you can get 27 different countries and economies to merge into a federation seems ridiculous. Nobody wants it, but the English love pretending that it is both inevitable in the future, AND that the EU will collapse once it leaves - two mutually opposing views.
4
Sounds Irish to me...middle class, probably Trinity educated.
3
What a ridiculous statement.
3
@frankyfourfingers8913 They are the two countries in the world that embraced 'trickle-down economics' and it did not work. Keep your insecurities to yourself.
3
@randomshorts739 No, that was the IMF and the ECB. The UK piled in at the end with a small loan to cover their banks exposure to the Irish bank collapse. It will be paid of in 13 months time Ireland is not a shitty little country, and is ranked third in the United Nations Human Development Index. I won't embarrass you regarding the UKs position. The UK is only the 5th biggest economy because of its membership of the EU.
3
@IrishFrank22 There are always issues in the EU. The UK is one on bad shape. If it does not federalise soon it will simlpy crumble over the next decade. The EU will continue to evolve, but I suspect it will be towards a multi speed or two tier bloc. The loss of the UKs contribution will be made up through increased contributions by member states and by cutbacks where necessary. Its no biggy.
3
@anneclarke3905 With respect, for me, your post seems to be rather incoherent. It makes no sense. The UK voted to leave the EU, and that includes its trade deals. It cannot follow surely that the decision to exclude Northern Ireland from EU trade deals is 'punishment' for the UKs vote to leave...because the UK voted leave, it was what it wanted even if Northern Ireland voted to remain. Northern Ireland is still part of the UK. Would the Unionists not feel that they were being 'pushed' into a united Ireland against their will if they were included in EU Trade deals and Britain was not? After all, the Irish government wanted NI to remain in EU trade deals too and I remember that being said when NI was allowed to remain in the customs union. The UK voted to leave, Brexiters tell us, because they did not need the EU. I don't understand why Brexiters voted to leave the EU and then expected to be able to have all the things they liked about it, and then claim 'punishment' if they don't get it. When humans behave like that we consider them to be spoiled, don't we? You don't like unelected people who run the EU, but you want to benefit from the parts of their work that you like. I can't understand that. It is also difficult for me to see how the EU 'weaponised' the border issue when Brexiters had no response to the problem to begin with. [It seems to me now that the assumption was that Dublin would leave the EU with the UK, because there is a widespread belief among Brexiters that the Republic totally depends on the UK economically. This only occurred to me recently and I think this is the root of the problem. The understanding of the Republics economy among British based Brexiters is about 50 years out of date.] In frustration, the Brexiters decided it was being 'weaponised' against Brexit. It was an explanation for the failure of the EU to come to heel as the Brexiters assumed they would and it is hugely regrettable - they cannot accept their miscalculation. It is difficult for me to see how keeping NI out of EU trade deals is pushing for a united Ireland when it is keeping the NI in UK trade deals only. Do you understand what I mean? It seems to me that the biggest threat to NI remaining in the UK comes from the Tory party and the SNP. The Tory party could possibly have tried to discard NI in order to get Brexit but for the GFA is preventing them from doing so and we know from how the Tories treated the DUP and from polls within the membership of the party that they don't really care about NI or Scotland. Brexit has also raised the prospect of the Scottish leaving the UK in a referendum in a few years time. None of us on this island, north or south, seem to have any control on what is going on in Britain. It's not about us, for once! As for the security at the border, I assume this has to do with COVID-19? It is obviously a temporary thing and not permanent as Brexit is. Brexit is bad for all of us. You and I voted in a referendum to bring peace to this island back in 1998 and everything was working out fine. The Queen came to visit Dublin and Cork in 2011, I wasn't all that interested in the historic relevance of it, but I was surprised when I actually found the visit really moving. There were excellent relations North and South, East and West. We in the south have evolved and changed to become a more inclusive country, being more inclusive of the British part of our history and being more questioning of the sacred cows of our culture. In the south we evolved to embrace a civic nationalism rather than the binary type of nationalism that fuels Brexit and are all the more confident for it. Then Brexit happened and we in the south discovered that no such changes were happening among the English outside London. They know nothing about us, north or south, and care even less. That was a genuine shock down here I can tell you, it was like being thrust into a cold shower. Anyway, here is hoping that the outcome of the negotiations are not too severe for any of us and that we can make the best of a bad situation, whatever the outcome.
3
Well, unlike the UK, Ireland has implemented its immigration policy and so the EU does not tell it what non-EU immigrants it can take in or not. It will take in about 4,000 refugees. Immigration from Britain is likely to increase though.
2
'the UK and Ireland need to be in the same trading block as they have complementary economies and geographically close, which makes them natural trading partners.' The UK needs to rejoin the EU, so.
2
@henrybn14ar Why? Because the UK left? I doubt it. Brexit has made support for membership of the EU increase across the bloc.
2
The government did not forget to build houses, it was ideologically opposed to building them. Any future Irish unified state will be agreed and negotiated, and account will have to be taken for the integration of the two economies. I wouldn't worry too much about income and taxation in your case in that context. I suspect any united Ireland will be gradual and take several referenda. It will be quite different to either of us could imagine now, I'm sure.
2
@levitate1078 Sorry, but from an Irish perspective the Union that is failing is the UK No Irish person with any sense would contemplate imitating the contortions of Irelands imperial master. Support for EU membership is running at 90%...
2
Its true. Only 3% of voters think Brexit is a concern.
2
I disagree. As an Irishman, I think all of these nations are great. They just need to acknowledge themselves as such. I do agree that it is better to manage the change and let it take its own time, rather than have it all come at once.
2
There is no interest in an independent Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland. It is also an economic basket-case.
2
One of the more stupid comments in the thread.
2
Is the Irish election getting a lot of coverage in your country?
2
@:: famine? You're facing the worst economic recession in 300 years...at least Ireland feed itself! 😁
2
'How many times the UK has helped Ireland in the past during the difficult time?' Once. 'Good to see what Varadkar and Coveney will do if the UK block its access for using the UK ports as the price to pay for stabbing the UK from back, for become betrayers in the no-deal scenario.' Isn't it though? New 'Brexit-buster' ferries, expanded port facilities at Rosslare Harbour and Cork. In a few years time, the UK will be bypassed. In the long run, Brexit will be good for Ireland.
2
@robw7676 Your analysis with the United States is simplistic. In the Italian case, just like the that of Greece, economic problems are essentially structural. The Greeks only export feta and olives, while the Italians are excellent entrepreneurs and useless innovators - they cannot seem to respond to changing international economy. It is also a notoriously unstable political entity. It is easier to blame Brussels and the Euro than deal with some hard political and economic realities. The Anglo-sphere (Empire 2.0) is a product of the English imagination, and if it were ever to come to pass, it's centre of gravity would not be in London but Washington DC. The American's only care about themselves, and will devour the UK in any trade negotiations as it is, and they don't need any 'Anglosphere'. In the antipodes the Aussies are on record as saying their priority is with an EU trade deal and both they and the Kiwis are strengthening their economic ties with south an east Asian economies. In any case, Brexit Britain voted to leave the EU with no policy on where it was going next and they are just making it up as they go along. In this context kites like the Anglosphere get flown. There is no evidence of an interest in an Anglosphere with the other required component countries. The Anglosphere is a fantasy of a country that is insecure about its place in the world. It does indeed suit Ireland to stay in the EU. It will continue as a trading entrepot between the United States and the European Union. EU membership will come with increasing power, amplified through the bloc, agreed by consensus between all of the EU's member states. In the modern world, the Irish understand that sovereignty judiciously shared is more effective than the British choice of hording it away in an ivory tower. It gives Ireland more control: in Ireland we understand that if we want to maximise control over the important issues which by definition do not stop at borders – from trade to energy to international crime – these must be addressed on a cross-border basis; and we know the EU remains the most effective cross-border mechanism in the world. Brexiteers are driven by the idea that they are putting their country first. But so, of course, do the Irish. The real issue is whether national interests are to be defined narrowly and pursued as if the aim is to be masters of our own little world or whether, as we believe in Ireland, those interests should be defined broadly and pursued in the knowledge that the real world is necessarily one of interdependence, compromise and shared interests. In Appalachia and the mid-west US, industries failed to innovate and there is culturally little value, quite often, in educational attainment. This contrasts with the east and west coast which remained dynamic and innovative fueled by new ideas that resulted from exposure to outside influences. Furthermore, the trickle-down economics of the Reagan era never happened for those in the rust-belt and instead these people saw their jobs flee from the mid-west and Appalachia to cheaper manufacturing centres in Mexico and Asia and so on. Finally, since Brexit, support for membership of the EU has actually risen across the bloc. There is an increasing appreciation and understanding for the benefits it brings, alongside each the issues that every country has with it. These are the challenges for the EU in the immediate and long term future, and not a death sentence for the bloc.
2
@stringer-ik1pc Oh we owe much more that - some €65 billion apparently - and we are paying it back because we are growing our economy. Britain has not been Ireland's largest trading partner for many years - the rest of the EU received about 45% of Irish exports, the United States takes some 25% and the UK about 11% (and its declining). Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU and the Irish are proud of that fact. Ireland has made a success of EU membership, diversifying its economy, while the UK according to Brexiters has made a pigs-ear of it. Ireland is a dynamic, highly productive, open economy. The average Irish person earns at least 25% more than their British counterparts, is better educated, lives longer and is considerably more productive. Ireland is not without its problems, but at least it knows its place, which is more than can be said for an English dominated UK.
2
@robw7676 Oh please. The idea that fate will deal Ireland a cruel hand for holding a mirror up the faces of neighbour is beyond ridiculous. Ireland disputes that it is a tax haven, and even if it was it does not change the facts: Irish people earn more on average and are considerably more productive than the British. Irish people are better educated, live longer, have a freer press, and live in a more democratic society. I'm sorry, but its the truth.
2
@stringer-ik1pc The Irish government declare a neutral position in WW2 in keeping with the will of the Irish people. I thought the English of all people would value that democratic decision, but such is the incoherence of English nationalist. There was no way the Irish were ever going to fight alongside the British if they weren't attacked by the Germans first. Indeed, contrary to your claim, it is mark of the courage of that generation that they stood up to threats of invasion from both Germany and Britian. As for the Soviets, they blocked Irish entry to the UN for spiteful reasons: throughout WW2 and afterwards the Irish media constantly criticized Stalin and atheistic communism. They used neutrality as an excuse. Given that the EU comprises members of the Axis, the idea that a neutral country could not be a member of a post-war peace project which the reason for the bloc is beyond stupid and fitting for you. Get back in your box, ignoramus.
2
@robw7676 I'm not sorry about anything. Ireland is happy to change its Corporation Tax rate provided all countries jump together, and for that reason the Irish, Dutch, and others in the New Hansiatic League are awaiting a decision from the OECD. The EU Commission does not agree, but has no power over taxation in member states. Once there is a level playing field, other advantages Ireland possesses will keep investment coming in: these included excellent universities producing excellent graduates, freedom of movement, climate (believe it or not), a well-educated workforce, a culture of high-productivity and the fact that Ireland is considered a welcoming and cool place to live. Brexit has presented Ireland with an unexpected advantage: it will be the only English speaking country in the EU and the focus of investment into the EU from places like Canada, New Zealand and Australia that might have otherwise gone to the UK. Irish third-level institutions and language schools are already experiencing a bounce from Brexit, as students from across the EU are being diverted to Ireland. It will be interesting to see how long the British universities maintain their rankings post-Brexit, and the ranking for tech start ups applies to London which is where the remainers live. It is difficult to find any independent economist who thinks the UK will be better off after Brexit - you don;t up barriers with your neighbours and thrive. I have no doubt some aspects of the British economy will do better than others, but I seriously doubt that the vast majority of the people of England will be better off. Those who voted for Brexit will be worse off than they ever were and the reputation of the UK be diminished. And it will have been entirely self-inflicted.
2
@anneclarke3905 How did he blackmail them? How was he not showing what it used to be like before the GFA in comparison to how it is now? If he is only in interested in himself, how come nationalists in Northern Ireland, and particularly on both sides of the border, congratulated him for it? You sound like one of those people who blames COVID-19 tests for the high numbers of people with the virus. Are you one of those people? The logic sounds the same. After all, if he did not show bombings then we can almost pretend that there were never any Troubles at all.... I'm not fan of Varadkar, but on Brexit, he nailed it.
2
@anneclarke3905 Many in Europe don't remember the Troubles - we do. Here in the Republic and along the border, the fear is real. You have a British government that lied to its own people talking about 'taking back control' of their borders but were unable to articulate what that meant in relation to the border in Ireland. We were all happy with the status quo as it was, nobody wanted to change it. Furthermore, there were no dissenting voices in the Republic on the issue, and nationalists in Northern Ireland recognised that Varadkar was speaking for them too. The DUP certainly were not, and that is the reason Varadkar had to speak up. The fact is, there is no majority support for Brexit in either part of Ireland and it was Varadkars duty to represent the people who pay his considerable salary, and, under the GFA, the voiceless civic nationalists north of the border. He used Irish membership of the EU as leverage over a British government that thought small countries don't matter, it just needed to strike a deal with the Germans. It was all he or any Taoiseach could have done. Now Northern Ireland has the best of all worlds. The GFA remains intact, nationalists are happy, moderate unionists seem happy enough, Northern Ireland remains in the UK and its businesses have access to both the UK and EU markets. This should be a tremendous shot in the arm for the Northern Ireland economy. How many US or Asian companies will look to Northern Ireland as a base for their investments which would be both in the UK and the EU? It could transform Northern Ireland. I have a friend who is a Unionist from County Down, she has a close friend whose husband is an Orangeman. My friend tells me that the Orangeman saw no future for his business because of Brexit and he told his wife that he could for the first time see a benefit in Irish unity. That was in two years ago, before the Irish protocol, and I have no idea what that man feels now. But I was quite surprised. As for the virus, the reason the death rate is so low is because of restrictions. A British study indicates that 1 in 20 people who contract it end up with long-term health problems, regardless of their age, many of them with permanent organ damage. I trust the science.
2
@anneclarke3905 Well, there is no border in my jurisdiction in relation to the virus. The border remains open, people can still go to work or school from either side, depending on what the restrictions are. One the reasons the virus infections are so high in Donegal, Monaghan, Cavan and Louth is because when the pubs were closed in the south, people just nipped over the border to the north to socialise there, and vice versa. I'm not sure what you mean about refusing to put u a border to protect families from food price increases. My understanding about milk in the north coming south etc is in relation to the integrated economy, which is something Varadkar was trying to protect by making his stand. A cousin of a friend of mine contracted COVID-19 in March. She's 30 years old and now has only 30% lung capacity too, and oddly, is only slowly getting the use back in her right arm. For months she could not hold a cup in her right hand. Looks like the lung issue is permanent too. So, can I ask you, do you think Northern Ireland remaining in the EU Customs Union is a good thing or a bad thing?
2
It depends on how it is paid for.
1
@:: Ireland is a net contributor.
1
@petercarroll9167 Fine Gael expect the market to fix the problem.
1
@levitate1078 The English have a very selective knowledge of their history and many have no real grasp of their place in the modern world or just refuse to accept it. The Irish separated from the UK 98 years ago, although we have discovered since 2016 that is news to many across the Irish Sea. The UK and 'Britishness' was only ever going to work inside a shared imperial project between the Scots and the English. The empire came to an end in the late forties into the early sixties and the English in particular have suffered a crisis of identity ever since. 'Britishness' has declined and Rule Britannia is an empty slogan. The Scots have things figured out, as have the Irish. There is no point in staying in the UK just to facilitate the English feeling good about themselves. The English are thin skinned and many don't do rejection well. We know from the rise in racist attacks just how open minded and welcoming many, though not all, English actually are. At some point the English will grow a pair, admit they are a nation, and become an independent country.
1
@levitate1078 The Commonwealth is not a trading bloc and in April 2018 the Commonwealth told the UK that it is not interested in 'Empire 2.0'. Most of the Commonwealth are small countries, islands in the Indian ocean and the Caribbean and so on, poor, and unable to afford much of what your country sells. It is also the case that Australia and others have told the UK that they giving priority to their future deal with the EU. It is true that the UK has been in decline since before joining the bloc. In fact, the UK has been in decline since 1945 when it won the war but lost its empire. Of course it is well worth doing business with Britain, but not at any price. The UK cannot have its cake and eat it, it cannot have the enjoy the favourable trading imbalances it had when it had an empire - so says the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth can trade with whom ever they like, even the EU, and the UK does not own it. It is ironic that the UK still celebrates its empire but accuses the EU of turning into one and that its a bad thing. The EU is a force for good, so much so that the bloc was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1
I didn't vote for Sinn Féin, but it appears that others did because they were fed up of the same two centre-left parties letting them down in relation to the health service and housing.
1
@NegativeAccelerate No, they are a left wing party. Free stuff for everybody.
1
@NegativeAccelerate No, not communism, social democracy. Communism requires the destruction of the capitalist system; socialism needs the capitalist system in order to generate the revenue to provide a safety net beyond which citizens will not fall. It is quite different.
1
Bang on.
1
@Pocko213 SF view Brexit as a British matter. Their concern is Brexiter attitude to Ireland as collateral damage.
1
Train Crash Ahead This is true. In international trade it is size that matters, and the simple fact is the EU is a bigger market for Japan than the UK is. Brexiters need to understand that WW2, having a seat on the UN Security Council, a nuclear deterrent, air craft carriers, the 5th largest economy in the world etc, matter not at all when it comes to trade deals.
1
Train Crash Ahead What? You mean UK trade while part of the European Union?
1
@dutchuncle3310 Nothing becomes fluid in Northern Ireland. It is defined by its ability to remain fossilized when all around it is evolves and changes. Its economy is ideally positioned to exploit the situation Brexit has put it in, but it is culturally deeply divided. Unionism is under pressure, as they know the 'mainland UK' has no interest in it. Furthermore, the demographics indicate that between 2021 and 2031 there will be a nationalist majority in Northern Ireland and this majority might agitate for a border poll; if by the then Sinn Féin find themselves in power in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, the possibility is for unity is a real one. The NI economy is decades behind the Republic of Ireland or the UK and there is not the slightest hint of either side there considering independence.
1
@dutchuncle3310 There is no requirement for the republic to integrate NI as it stands. However, the backstop will gradually enhance the 'All-Ireland economy' and NI will increasingly pivot away economically from the UK towards the republic and the EU. The UKs lack of investment in NI will only encourage unity, as the economic well-being of the whole island will increasingly depend on it. It will also be crucial in influencing moderate unionists into considering their options with the south. A Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael government in Dublin would be moderate enough to accommodate them. I doubt the UK will tinker with the backstop, it is signed into international law.
1
@dutchuncle3310 I agree with your opening sentence. However, in relation to the all-Ireland economy, there is another variable you have not taken into account: the UK is breaking up. The Scots are certain to leave the UK, the only question is when. How long with the English appetite for the UK continue? The future of the UK is in serious doubt, and this will likely prompt unification. There is no appetite for an independent NI among unionists. The EU has demonstrated great imagination when required and sees the NI issue as an EU one. I see no reason why an imaginative constitutional arrangement for NI and the Republic would be a problem with the bloc.
1
Nick Nack I wish I could say the same for you. People in NI can only see things from the perspective of sectarianism advantage/disadvantage.
1
How is he 'two faced'? What sneaky stuff did he do?
1