Die irische Einheit muss es den Protestanten ermöglichen, britisch zu bleiben, wenn sie wollen, sagt der GAA-Präsident
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/04/17/irish-unity-must-let-protestants-stay-british-if-they-want-says-gaa-president
Von EnvironmentalShift25
34 Kommentare
“ let protestants stay British if they want “
i mean you can call yourself British if you want no one’s gonna stop you
hang on does anyone in NI actually believe in a United Ireland they will be arrested if they call themselves British ???
considering how deranged the DUP is maybe
Sure, then will the orange hate parades stop?
I think we should make them Chinese for a laugh.
I kinda thought that would be the case
The fact that we even need to say this shows that we are not mature enough for unity at the moment. There will have to be compromises that are not currently acceptable to many Irish people
His comments about the Orange Order are interesting because some people think the challenge to a United Ireland is getting Unionists to accept it, without realising we will have to accept parts of the Unionist community like the Orange Order.
Shhhh! The Govt don’t want us discussing Irish unity!
> The “easy thing for us to” is “to tar the whole Orange Order when controversial remarks are made and say it is sectarian and bigoted”, he said.
Well, he’s not wrong. It is very easy to do that.
Ok, that was always allowed.
Ireland is equal, you will not be discriminated against or murdered like the apartheid state did.
The GFA also allows you to be Irish, British, etc. The problem I can see here though is that the handing out of British citizenship is not something Ireland can do, that’s under the control of the British government.
It’s a small thing but really bad form of the Irish Times to bury where these remakes were made (the How to Gael podcast)
There is nothing new here.
Up until 1948, anyone born on the island was able to claim British citizenship if they wished. That’s 26 years after independence. The only reason it changed was because we were expelled from the Commonwealth for becoming a republic. No one was stripped of their British citizenship at independence if they chose to keep it, so why would it be any different for reunification? If they claimed it before 1949, then they got to keep it, and could pass it to their children as well, but not to grandchildren.
British law prevents citizenship from being passed on more than one generation, unlike Irish citizenship which can be passed on indefinitely. But that’s on the British to fix if they want Unionists to keep their citizenship for generations into the future. We cannot change their citizenship laws for them.
If reunification happens, no one is going to strip Unionists of their citizenship. The precedent was already there for Unionists in the south. In any case, I don’t think it was ever on the cards in any way to stop Unionists in the North from being British.
It’s quite the non-statement to be making. „Irish unity must let people continue to choose Lidl over Aldi if they want.“
Alright, but that’s up to Britain to let them stay British, not us. We can’t declare people citizens of another country.
„We must respect all minorities and cultures“
Oh wait. Not that one and not like that.
What about Protestants in the south? Are they allowed to say they are British?
Nothing in that sense needs to change from the current position, the biggest diaspora living in the republic is from the UK, and no one is asking them or any other nationality to give up theirs.
I don’t want any kind of ne work united Ireland where we make life worse or more restrictive for the people who have to live in it, government and currencies, organisations can change if people consent to it, but the person is who they want to be, as long as it’s celebrated and not used to persecute the people who don’t agree with it.
Nobody said they couldn’t be
I always assumed that was going to be the case.
Prominent unionists like Arlene Foster have said in the case on a united Ireland, she will leave Northern Ireland as she feels it means her community is gone.
I always read that as a threat to the unionist community that if they soften their approach more will leave.
But I always took it as another great reason to push for a united ireland.
Edit: I should clarify that it meant she and others like her would leave. Apparently their sense of community is bound up with being in control.
Of course they can, no one ever said otherwise. It’s their birthright under GFA to have either British / Irish or both.
This is a bit behind the curve. Why not say something that leads opinion instead of just confirming something that is now pretty much settled?
Maybe they can make a little breakaway state within the island of Ireland? „Really Northern Northern Ireland“
In all seriousness, I think this would be largely up to the UK, and how they want to deal with citizenship etc..
Isn’t that up to the British?
How would we feel if Westminster started handing out Irish passports?
Ok, but will the be a clamp down on toasters in presses?
Loyalists rather than Protestants. Typical of the subtle sectarianism of many people north of the border. What church someone attends has nothing to do with their politics. There are Republican, nationalist, loyalist , unionist and ambivalent Protestants. Burns of course is angling for a political future. Maybe he fancies himself as a President.
As an Irish protestant, can we please stop tying Irishness to religion? I am not somehow less Irish (or even slightly British) because I hold a different theological position to someone who goes to mass.
And what if the real British decide that they can’t? What if the British government just says ‚Nope. You’re Irish now. Deal with it‘?
No. They must become Muslim and that’s a nonnegotiable
Weird article. He’s addressing nationalists but is speaking about UK citizenship rights which are entirely a matter for Westminster.
Obviously, there are no plans for a dual citizenship ban, which is the only way that an Irish government could stop NI unionists being British. The UK will have the right to extend citizenship rights to NI, just as any sovereign nation has the right to extend citizenship rights however they please.
Unless he’s advocating for the citizenship protocol from the GFA to be preserved in full, which would require negotiations, this is not remotely a matter for nationalists or a united Irish government. If he is advocating for the GFA protocol, then why is he dancing around the point?
The whitewashing of the orange order and sectarian unionism by these west Brits needs to stop. You won’t get a united Ireland by pretending otherwise.
On one level, yeah, of course.
But on another level, it does make it that bit more difficult for loyalist loons to claim they’d be some sort of oppressed minority when you can point to things like the head of „the sporting wing of the IRA“ saying things like this.
Can’t they be whatever they want?
And wouldn’t they be British immigrants if they are living in a united Ireland?
Grandfather rule ish? Anyone born in Northern Island before any prospective unification has the option of both nationalities, but post unification, anyone born on the island is Irish only
Hot take.