Add this all up, and it’s getting hard to avoid the conclusion that Brexit would be a lot easier for the British if Northern Ireland were to vote to break away from the U.K. and rejoin the rest of the island — an eventuality made possible by the Good Friday Agreement, which allows for a so-called border poll, “if at any time it appears likely” that a majority of Northern Ireland would support reunification.[...]
The DUP’s fundamentalist Christian viewpoint also doesn’t sit well with many in the north of Ireland who look to the south and see a modern, pluralist, inclusive society that has passed referendums on marriage equality and reproductive rights; rights opposed by the DUP.[...]
That doesn’t even take into consideration higher economic activity rates, better wages and an industrial output in the Republic that is 10 times that of Northern Ireland. A united Ireland in which the average annual wage is €45,000 rather than €30,000 isn’t looking too shabby to many unionists.[...]
For the first time in 21 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there is neither an Assembly sitting in Stormont, nor are there any talks or political initiatives being pushed by Secretary of State Karen Bradley in order to get the institutions up and running again.
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