Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
I think a lot of people wilfully ignore the somewhat difficult circumstances in which the Irish Republic was founded, the partition of the island and the many cross-border institutions and arrangements, both formal and informal, which exist.
To repeat the obvious, this referendum campaign is not an argument over whether it is possible for Scotland to be independent. It is an argument over whether it is desirable.
And in the realm of scientific research, as with so many others, the nationalist case seems to be to tear up arrangements that just work because they exist within the context of a unified nation state, and replace them with cross-border agreements between sovereign states. With all the goodwill in the world, agreements between separate, sovereign governments are never going to be as easy to set up and operate as those that are made in a domestic context.
|
I think we get that.
However, we are where we are as far as the UK and ROI are concerned and, irrespective of the "difficult circumstances", the cross border institutions work and as such it is a perfectly bonafide comparator.
It is obvious that independence can work. From what I've seen it is the "NO" campaign which appears to consistently paint a picture of doom.
What the nationalists might deem to do post referendum is anyones guess but, as has been stated before, it will be a negotiated basis from which to begin.
That was always the deal.