Sinn Féin’s new policy document “International Protection, A fair system that works” is a substantial contribution to the national debate in Ireland on the issue of political asylum and protection of refugees. It was drawn up in response to the widespread perception that the party’s steep decline in the polls was due to getting out […]

Irish Unity has been the foremost issue in my mind since becoming even primitively politically literate.  Browsing maps to find the Union Jack emblazoned over the north eastern corner of the proud & ever emerging island nation of Ireland, seemed both jarring & absurd to my young mind, particularly when juxtaposed against the Irish tricolour […]

In a Border Poll Will people vote with the head or heart? Thursday August 1st, 1 pm. St. Mary’s College. Falls Road. Speakers Andree Murphy, Alex Kane, Kevin Meagher, Ben Collins. While I was brought up in a strongly pro-British and pro-Unionist household, I have wanted to see a United Ireland since the Good Friday […]

Welcome to irishborderpoll.com’s fourth ‘Border Poll Conversations’ video podcast. We chat to interesting people with interesting things to say about constitutional change, border polls, the future of the Union and a United Ireland. In this podcast we chat with the most famous and respected of all unionist commentators, Alex Kane. He talks about his early […]

The ‘11th Night’ is here and that means controversy follows. Huge bonfires placed too close to people’s houses. Sinn Fein, SDLP election posters and Tricolours burnt on the pyre. The negative environmental impact of the bonfires. And what about the potential for sectarian songs, the blue bag brigade and drunk and disorderly behaviour? There’s no […]

The Westminster elections have delivered an extraordinary result for British politics. But their impact for Northern Ireland is also going to be significant. The DUP knew that this was going to be a difficult election for several reasons but the loss of three of the eight seats they held before the election will still be […]

In the mouth of the Westminster election the issue of whether elected MPs from this part of Ireland should take their seats or not inevitably arises. Republican parties are the only ones that run on an abstentionist ticket. Their logic is simple: ‘why we would want to be part of the parliament we’re trying to […]

At a U.K. level the Conservatives own Brexit and its downsides, just as the DUP own Brexit more than any other party in Northern Ireland. They campaigned for it and signed up to a confidence and supply agreement with the Conservatives where they could influence the type of Brexit which was delivered. By voting against […]

‘The SDLP’s nationalist, no question about,’ said the party’s South Belfast MP, Claire Hanna, responding to this website’s editor at an ‘Ireland’s Future’ event in the House of Commons last night. Kevin Rooney asked if it was still accurate to include them in a tally of parties committed to Irish unity. A reasonable question, given […]