New Ireland, Éire Nua, Airlan’, Anew United Ireland – However Written, Unification Drives are Untimely and Unwise

If you follow mainstream Irish and Northern Irish press, you may have noticed an uptick this past year in articles referencing “Irish reunification” or “border poll”. There is a push by aligned Irish nationalist parties, academics, and VCS groups for a border poll as soon as possible. 

Some supporting arguments have been opportunistic – members of the SDLP argued during last year’s “Reform-o-mania” that Northern Ireland needed to exit the UK to escape the prospect of a Farage premiership. 

More enduring arguments for reunification revolve around greater all-island economic integration; greater political participation of Ulster British communities in an all-island unitary state; and greater reconciliation between previously conflicting communities.

Integration dividends are to come from reducing regulatory differences between the two regions, more efficient co-ordination, and “joined-up planning”. An exemplar of this thinking is the 2025 healthcare policy brief from Sinn Féin, which proposes community-based health systems centrally administered in a “new Irish national health system”. 

The argument is well written, but the central point – extending the Irish constitutional framework across the island ensures better healthcare delivery – is not adequately supported enough to completely abandon simply increasing work frequency and alignment in the North-South Ministerial Council, and relevant cross-border agencies. 

The Irish government is currently grappling to fix unequal provision in rural regions and long waiting times inside Dublin. There is no evidence that more support can be given to the HSCNI via the Irish health budget than at present. Instead, it is as likely that the Irish government is forced to devote limited resources on administratively reconstituting HSCNI trusts into an Irish regional health structure, implemented only last year. 

There is also no evidence that political participation would be greater for Ulster British communities under reunification. Instead, were current unionist politicians to sit in the Oireachtas alongside other TDs as equals, and with more seats than in Westminster, Ireland becomes exposed to a consolidation of legislative control by anti-rights and authoritarian-leaning factions. 

Indeed, it is because of the current unionist parties that reconciliation between communities is at an impasse. Ulster British communities are increasingly fed up with the DUP and UUP, either believing they offer divisive politics without substance, or that these parties have “betrayed” Northern Ireland by agreeing to the Irish Sea Customs Border.  

Without real representation, Ulster British communities are in a malaise of weakened identity. This does not mean that Irish nationalists can persuade them into the New Ireland easily. In fact, Ulster British are frustrated or threatened by their experiences of being sidelined in everyday settings by Irish nationalists, or their refusal to acknowledge past faults. 

Without acknowledgement of past wrongs, or even that Ulster British communities have their own cultural production beyond Orangeism and Loyalism and aren’t just waiting eagerly to embrace their “true Irishness”, there can be no reconciliation. A new constitutional arrangement would not remove the need for the legwork of reconciliation, unfortunately. 

Instead, the accelerated reunification attempts promise only greater instability in the British/Irish Isles. There is a small but very real threat of violence inside Northern Ireland from Loyalist and Republican Paramilitaries. It doesn’t seem quite so small when it is a few doors down from where you live, mind you.  

Giving the DUP/TUV/UUP a say in the New Ireland only threatens to undermine gains made in the Republic on minoritised groups and women’s rights. Despite the narrative that no one wants us, there is a risk of union collapse in Great Britain if Northern Ireland leaves, leaving a vacuum for a violent, far-right, and offshore owned “Greater England” to emerge. 

Instead of pursuing the New Ireland dream, Irish nationalists must urgently wake up to our most critical priorities as a geographic space. Flooding and food shortages are already starting to appear. Wars in Ukraine and Iran have choked supply chains, pushing up inflation and causing untenable living cost rises. Unemployment is rising, and employment has become precarious. All of our communities have serious uncertainty about their fundamental needs. 

An approach which Irish nationalists could truly be proud of involves more working within the union, not less. They must support Ulster British communities in finding a new British voice delivering rights, empathy, rule of law, and democracy. A wise approach would put aside irredentist ideology and prioritise real collaboration between all nations in our shared archipelago to effectively meet the biggest threats of our time.

Image: Flickr/rovingl

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