Letter: Focus of unionists should be on securing fair terms for a border poll
A letter from R G McDowell:
Recent calls for a border poll within the next five years often get dismissed by unionists but I feel we have the wrong focus.
I think unionists who feel a united Ireland is out of sight or off the table simply because we have returned to Stormont are misjudging the level of threat to the Union.
The unionist focus in my opinion should not be on preventing a border poll but rather in securing fair terms for a border poll.
What does it matter if unionists can win a border poll or not when the two governments have already proved they can alter NI’s constitutional position by imposing a form of joint authority which the operation of the Irish Sea border clearly is.
Instead of opposing a border poll, unionists should be advocating for a border poll that allows for at least two outcomes.
The present demands for a border poll seem to presume that republicans can win a united Ireland but if they lose, the present undemocratic and illegitimate arrangement of a form of joint authority is some kind of a floor that can stay in place until their next attempt at a referendum.
The Irish Sea border clearly creates momentum for Irish unification so there is every reason to believe a border poll will come at some point.
Unionism’s focus should be on securing reasonable terms as to when subsequent referendums would take place - in other words, you don’t just keep having referendum after referendum; and most importantly that if a border poll is called and unionists win then it must be full reunification of the UK with no Irish Sea border.
If a border poll can create a united Ireland it must also have the choice to recreate a United Kingdom.
R G McDowell, Belfast BT5