TUV: report gives 'cold hard financial reality' to those pushing all-Ireland state

​The report by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) said Irish taxpayers could pay between €8bn and €20bn in the event Northern Ireland left the UK – and that removing the province from the Union would “involve major costs” for people here.

TUV Carrick Castle Councillor David Clarke said: “Repeatedly polls in the Republic have shown that the public have no interest in accommodating changes to facilitate an all-Ireland.

“When they read this report warning of a £6.86bn annual cost rising to £17.15bn a year and an ‘immediate, major reduction’ in living standards they are unlikely to change their minds.

“Repeatedly we hear complaints from Republicans - frequently echoed by little Ulster nationalists - that Northern Ireland is shortchanged by HM Treasury.

“The reality is, as this report shows, that we are much better off being British.

“Today’s report is a welcome corrective to the propaganda from those who spend their lives seeking to break up the UK.

“Regardless of one’s background the facts are clear. We all benefit from an NHS free at the point of use and have no desire to pay €80 a day for inpatient services at hospital, a €100 charge for attending accident and emergency and a charge of up to €65 to see a GP as happens in the Republic.

“Why would we aspire to surrender our £12,500 personal tax free allowance so we can pay tax on all income?

“Why would we want to give up our £10 billion annual subvension from Westminster in order to become part of a Republic where everyone would be poorer and worse off?”

The IIEA report also said that given the “very detailed integration of the Northern Ireland economy into that of the UK, separating the two economies, as would occur under a United Ireland, would involve major costs for Northern Ireland.

“While some of these costs would eventually be offset by the wider benefits of integration into the wider EU economy, this would take some considerable time”.