Let’s get real – there won’t be a border poll by 2030 |
FIRST Minister Michelle O’Neill renewed calls for a border poll in 2030 as part of her new year’s message.
As a united Irelander, the possibility of a referendum on the constitutional future is an exciting prospect.
But given the progress made in the nine years since Brexit, I struggle to see four years as a realistic timeframe to prepare the public for a vote of this magnitude.
There is no question that Brexit fundamentally shifted the debate on unification.
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In the years since, what was once a nationalist aspiration has become a mainstream, national question with a growing body of academic reports, public events, books and lengthy catalogue of opinion pieces, amongst which this article now resides.
But what has truly been achieved to prepare for a referendum in 2030?
Political parties continue to work in isolation, public participation remains limited, and the debate is growing stale, circling the same topics and speeches.........