MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
EU pledges to keep Ireland and Ulster border “as open as possible”
The EU’s negotiators will work to keep the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland “as open as possible” after Brexit, the President of the bloc, Jean-Claude Juncker, said after meeting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesSeems everybody else is making the rules to suit them , except the people who voted for it.
Feb 26th, 2017 - 07:52 pm - Link - Report abuse +2just a thought.
Hands up anybody in the mainland UK that cares...
Feb 27th, 2017 - 12:31 am - Link - Report abuse -5Just give back northern Ireland and get out of their island
Feb 27th, 2017 - 06:06 am - Link - Report abuse -5Ah Luke. Why don't you nip over to NI and stand with a placard expressing that sentiment on the Falls Road in Belfast. Let us know when you are doing it so we can watch! Bahahahaha…
Feb 27th, 2017 - 09:47 am - Link - Report abuse +1Just give S.America back to it's original population and all you Latinos/Hispanics can go back to YOUR country of origin. Seems fair to me.
Feb 27th, 2017 - 11:30 am - Link - Report abuse +3Falls Road?
Feb 27th, 2017 - 01:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Jog on Luke
Feb 27th, 2017 - 02:28 pm - Link - Report abuse +2LD
Feb 27th, 2017 - 02:36 pm - Link - Report abuse +2You first.
The polling data (LucidTalk) is clear - the proportion of people in NI who want a United Ireland now is in single figures. If you add in those who want it in 30-years it rises to 30%. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement the UK Secretary of State must call a referendum if there is a realistic possibility of unification being desired. Since there isn't then no referendum is can be called. If Brexit is a disaster and Ireland soars then who knows - maybe those numbers will shift. However, if Brexit works out OK and the Eurozone struggles then the numbers will not change. There is already a Catholic majority among the young and yet this has not shifted the Unification numbers. But bear in mind that those born on the island of Ireland have a right to an Irish (and therefore EU) passport so there will still be freedom of movement in the EU for N.Irish young people regardless.
Feb 27th, 2017 - 03:11 pm - Link - Report abuse +3UK and Irish Gov shouldn’t have much trouble coming to an agreement, how far the EU will play along is the question.
Feb 27th, 2017 - 06:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Special arrangements for certain regions is likely to be problematic for the EU, not least where Spain is concerned.
Been no attempt by the EU to give Scotland any breaks at all.
It is looking like The Rep of Ireland is overall going to be one of the hardest hit by a hard Brexit, unfortunately for them.
This is good news. No one wants a return to violence in NI so best to stick to the status quote as far as possible.
Feb 27th, 2017 - 09:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@DT - “continuation of ”Brazilian judge reinstates top ally of Temer....”
Feb 28th, 2017 - 06:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If the revolutionaries had managed to create another Cuba in Brazil, we would have left. Following the news at every instance, we were packed, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. But had they won, and in that case, had we stayed, I doubt I would have been stupid enough to fight it with violence. Considering the (low) number of victims , 400 dead (according to the BBC) plus (a few) thousands tortured (sounds on the high side, but if they say so…) it is still insignificant compared to the deaths in Cuba (re which everyone seems to think was ok ?), during and after the revolution, or even other LatAm countries. According to a 2004 report by a Brazilian economist and member of the Stanford Research Institute, from 1959 to 2004, the numbers in Cuba, are : 5,600 executed for crimes ‘against the State’ (some estimate as high as 17,000), 1,160 assassinated, 1,100 political prisoners died in prison due to maltreatment, 78,000 killed or disappeared while trying to flee the island (says a lot about the 'lovely' system), not to mention deaths caused by Cuban troops in Angola, while exporting their communist revolution - 5,000 civilians from chemical warfare, 9,380 UNITA fighters (opposing the Cubans). During 1976-83 military dictatorship in Argentina, 30,000 were killed, or disappeared ; the Pinochet years in Chile weren’t any better, so in comparison, in Brazil, the military were very much the 'good guys'. While these numbers weren’t available in Brazil at the time, we had a good idea of what was going on, and had no intention of being caught in middle of it. So life carried on, normally.
Regarding the oil crisis in the late 70’s, which country didn’t feel its effects ? Obviously, the weaker economies, were harder hit, so it wasn’t exactly the (exclusive) fault of the military. But I’d hate to imagine what could have happened, had the civilians been in charge at the time.
DemonTree
Mar 01st, 2017 - 02:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Speaking of worries about borders....interesting headline in the Express...to put your mind at rest...
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/773365/nicola-sturgeon-indyref-independence-referendum-scots-sick-tired
Indyref2? https://youtu.be/J1rBZIzr49k
Mar 01st, 2017 - 03:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Without Scotland its said England will be £19 bn per annum better off! Hmmm… Without Northern Ireland? Another £10 bn… That would sort the NHS, the potholes etc and make a dent in the deficit.
Yes, let Scotland have another referendum and another and another until Nicola gets the answer she wants, good luck to them if they think they can survive without UK money.
Mar 01st, 2017 - 04:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Currently Scotland costs, in direct subsidies alone, at least twice as much as being in the EU does.
Mar 01st, 2017 - 05:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although you have to admit that dear Nicola has become increasingly laughable.
“It’s on the table give me what I want or else, it’s now more likely give me something or else, it’s now almost inevitable give me something please, it’s now more likely inevitable give me anything, it’s now almost irretrievably almost more than likely inevitable, help me out or I’ll cry”
In fact she is beginning to sound seriously paranoid, secret plots in Westminster being hatched by closet unionists to undermine/reverse Devolution, really Nicola!!!!!
The woman is clearly cracking up.
She's on too much of this stuff. Action is being taken. ;-)
Mar 01st, 2017 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0AG Barr to halve sugar content in Irn Bru - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-39126970
English speak with fork-ed tongue.
Mar 01st, 2017 - 09:01 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Before the Scottish referendum we were told that if you want to stay in the EU then you have to remain part of the UK. So the vote was to stay.
Now we are outvoted by the English who say, tough titty, you are leaving the EU on our coat tails. So Scotland are out against their wishes and with eff-all chance of rejoining for about a decade. Thanks a heap !
THE VOICE
Without Scotland its said England will be £19 bn per annum better off!
Who says ?
I see that the latent anti-Scottish sentiment is surfacing again. I have been putting up with this all my life.
I have got to the stage now of thinking, lets go for independence. Probably we would be worse off but we would not have to put up with the back stabbing remarks and rely on crumbs from massa's table. I was brought up during the war when things were really tough and did not get better until about 1952 and could do so again.
@Clyde15
Mar 01st, 2017 - 10:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It was the only way of staying in the EU, remaining in the UK, at that time.
Times have changed.
I’m sure you know and understand well that England can always outvote Scotland, a fact of life we don’t feel guilty for, that is the democratic reality, politics is a game of numbers.
I personally think that in a union it is incumbent that you pay proportional to your means, for the good of all.
However listening to an executive in charge of spending money, much of it not theirs, incessantly complaining how everything is the fault of London/England for not giving them enough money, and how much better it would be on their own, wears thin, very thin.
When there is no “probably”, worse off, about it.
No offence meant.
Same old subsidies claptrap...
Mar 01st, 2017 - 11:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The North of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are subsidised far more than Scotland...
...and contribute far less to the economy...FACT!!!
My point was Scots are also sick and tired of Sturgeon, but you all seemed to have ignored that...
We heard Voice, glad to hear it. And, here in the promised land we really are heartily sick of Sturgeon, Robertson and Salmond. The sad fact is that these people have become for us the face of Scotland and it does Scotland no favours at all. Some of us are well aware that Scotland has a large land mass an expensive road system and island lives to maintain and we don't actually begrudge the necessary subsidies to pay for that. But please, get rid of these whingers and lets concentrate on solving our problems together.
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 12:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Same old subsidies claptrap...
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 01:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The North of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are subsidised far more than Scotland...
...and contribute far less to the economy...FACT!!!”
FACTS are great, got any evidence to back up your FACT?
Clyde, you said very much the same thing two years ago.
FACT is that if Scotland had voted for independence Scotland would now be out of the EU and thanks to Spain would have no chance of getting back in.
FACT is that thanks to current price of oil the economic case for Scotland to leave the UK is less convincing that it was at the last independence referendum.
FACT is that the case for independence is based on a narrow nationalistic ideal which I have no problem with at all because if that's what the people want that is what the people should get.
Roll on INDY 2.
Sources Oxford Economics...
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 04:19 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Taxation receipts £ Billion Public Spending
Scotland 50 51
NI 12 18
NorthEast 53 65
NorthWest 51 58
Wales 19 27
Scotland net gain 1 Billion
NI net gain 6 Billion
NorthWest net gain 7 Billion
NorthEast net gain 12 Billion
Wales net gain 8 Billion
https://www.quora.com/Financially-how-much-do-Scotland-Wales-Northern-Ireland-and-England-contribute-to-the-UKs-economy-as-a-whole
Happy now...?
@ McVoicey
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 04:55 pm - Link - Report abuse +2According to Gers:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37167975
Read it and weep.
Official Scottish government statistics showed the country spent £14.8bn more than it raised in taxes in 2015/16, including a share of North Sea revenue.
Scotland's public expenditure 2015-16 = £68.6bn
This is before you add in the costs of running a country like embassies abroad, fisheries protection vessels, EU contributions, pensions etc. etc.
Go Nicola, Tartan Zimbabwe here we come.
Voice
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 05:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Apparently the figures you quote are for 2006/2007 i.e. ten years out of date - a lot has changed since then - for instance oil prices......
Darragh, Voicey is a dab hand at Google, he can prove anything with that. Just watch…
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 05:13 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Figures would all be relative, I'm quite sure the others have not improved...It appears that you would be better off getting rid of NI, Wales the NorthEast and the NorthWest and save 33 Billion...
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 05:34 pm - Link - Report abuse -1I might remind you that Scotland is bigger than all those areas put together...yet costs the least...
Dab hand indeed...;-)))
Typical of Voice /Stink McChimp.
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 07:03 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Publishing figures of 10 years ago and 'thinking' he could get away with it....
Old data from 2006 where England made a positive contribution.
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 07:37 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland didn't
Northern Ireland did especially well back in 2006. Well done them.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Oh dear...I think you are not understanding the figures...
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 08:12 pm - Link - Report abuse -1The net gain is not a gain for the UK Govt...it's a loss...
The higher the figure the greater the loss...
Absolutely, back in 2006 the only contributor was England (see English Regions - London, SE England and Eastern England) Northern Ireland did very well as did the Welsh and Scottish Nations.
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 09:42 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Same as today....London carries the rest of the UK generating about a third of the revenue..
Mar 02nd, 2017 - 11:59 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Theresa is going to give Wee Jimmy a handbagging today. Justly deserved!
Mar 03rd, 2017 - 10:47 am - Link - Report abuse +1@JB
Mar 03rd, 2017 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse +2I didn't know you took the threat so seriously. Were you worried about your own safety, or did you just not want to live in a communist country? And not resisting violently sounds sensible, but would you have protested in any way? You were a student at the time weren't you? Students are often the first to protest things.
As for Cuba, I don't think too many people here believe the deaths were okay, and I don't either. But it seems those who support Castro's aims think they were acceptable collateral damage, as you seem to think those caused by Brazil's military government were worth it to avoid becoming communist. And I guess for those who were happy with their respective governments, it wasn't such a big deal that you had no control over them at all. It's mostly those who aren't happy who demand democracy.
@Voice
I'm not going to believe any opinion given by the Express. And the chorus of whingers here is enough to make ME want to vote for independence. We're going to end up hating each other at this rate, and what's the point of having a union in that case?
@DT
Mar 03rd, 2017 - 07:27 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Being foreigners in Brazil at the time, a bit of both I suppose. We had a large piece of land 50 km from the centre of São Paulo, and it's quite likely a communist govt would have confiscated it, as well as most, if not all private property. Our idea was to sell up and get the hell out, even at a loss. If the commies had taken over, don't think it would have been too wise to get mixed up in protests either, but as it was, under the military, I had no reason to protest.
My point in mentioning the deaths in Cuba, versus the 400 in Brazil, is that while the Brazilian left continues to praise Cuba (and Venezuela, for that matter, refusing to acknowledge the true status-quo in those countries), at every opportunity they get, they condemn the military regime as if 'it' was the most lawless and dangerous regime in Latin America, and use it as if to justify their corrupt populism...which to them is ok, as long as they are the 'elite'....goes without saying, the military handed back power to the civilians peacefully, after 21 years, while Cuba, nearly 60 years later, is still a dictatorship. It's a double standard sustained by the left, made possible by the ignorance of a good part of the population, lies, deceit and lots of propaganda.
“But it seems those who support Castro's aims think they were acceptable collateral damage, as you seem to think those caused by Brazil's military government were worth it to avoid becoming communist.”
Looks like you're getting the gist of it, but those that you describe as “mostly those who aren't happy who demand democracy”, had no popular backing, represented nobody but themselves (a few hundred out of 160 million), and other than the crimes committed by the pseudo freedom-fighters (which strangely enough were peanuts compared to today's level of street crime - and political corruption) and their scuffles with the military, for 99,999 % of the population, the country functioned normally.
DT
Mar 04th, 2017 - 05:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wee man voice has a history of promoting division of the UK.
He does his best to pit the “English” against the Scots, Northern Irish and Welsh.
Outright lying is a hallmark of the “Think” incarnation.
Misrepresenting facts, omission of facts, or quoting out of context, more characterizes the posts of wee man “voice.”
He seems to like the personal attention of being contrarian and faux righteously indignant - recurring themes.
You won't fool DemonTree Troy...
Mar 04th, 2017 - 06:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0He will see through you and your puppet Kanye...
I know that you keep trying to slip in American spellings into your Kanye posts...problem is...you can never remember which account you are using...
You are using the Troy account and it's “characterises” btw...;-)))
I know you have spell check on UK English settings and it would highlight the misspelling...
Things could be worse, during the Cristina F de K regime, Argentina had an entire Government Department dedicated solely to The Malvinas. Despite that government department they managed to raise zero taxes in the region. As well as not raising enough or any taxes to pay for their own government department they made no contribution to Argentina wide services such as defence and embassies. If Argentina had any sense it would cut the Islands loose and let them fend for themselves.
Mar 04th, 2017 - 08:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@JB
Mar 06th, 2017 - 07:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You grew up in Brazil but you weren't a citizen? Couldn't your family have applied for citizenship after living there for a few years? But anyway it explains why you'd be more willing to leave if you didn't feel like it was really your country.
And it is the PT who think the deaths in Cuba were okay then? That does seem hypocritical. It's not surprising that they condemn the military government when some of them suffered personally at its hands, but how do they justify supporting a dictatorship?
How do you know the protesters had no popular backing? There were no elections at the time, so we don't really know who supported what. Plenty of today's Brazilians vote for more-or-less socialist parties, so what makes you think those living 40 years ago wouldn't support the communists if they had the chance?
@TT
I wasn't even talking about Voice, but the real Brits here who are doing a great job of stirring up divisions all by themselves.
You stopped using Troy Tempest because someone copied you, right? So, is Kanye your other account?
@Voice
Wikipedia claims Canadian spelling uses elements from both British and American English; I bet there is a Canadian setting for spellcheck too.
@DT
Mar 06th, 2017 - 11:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Quite frankly, in the 60’s, there was no reason to naturalize ; only later, after the land had been bought, did my old man realize that being a foreigner was an obstacle to register the purchase...I naturalized too, a few years later. The only time we considered leaving was late ’63 / early ’64, due to the situation, which improved when the military took over.
I didn’t say the PT thought the deaths in Cuba were ok, however, since you asked, might be good to remember that many founding members of the PT, other than Lula, were the the commie dregs who’d gone to train urban-guerilla tactics in Cuba, and by defending the Cuban system - while criticizing the military regime for killing their ‘comrades’ - gives one a good indication of how they thought, and still do, today…The more ignorant supporters of the PT (most of them) are unaware of the party’s true mission, but it is spelled-out in a public 'manifesto' known as the “Foro de São Paulo”, in which they state their intention to convert Brazil into a ‘Bolivarian' paradise…you’ve probably realized by now, they expected to be the ruling ‘elite’…anyway, what I implied is that back then, the PT radicals plus the left-wing in general, sold Cuba (and as they do Venezuela, today) as the perfect model for Brazil ; this is confirmed by the PT’s systematic refusal to acknowledge (publicly) the tyrannical dictatorships in the two countries, and the veiled support (even financial) they were given when the PT was in power.
If the population had backed the communists, d’you think the armed ‘uprising’ would have been restricted to the 400 and the alleged few thousand malcontents ? It was easy to see that the average citizen wanted nothing to do with fight and just wanted to get on with their life. Considering it has become the fashion, all parties except one, are either centre or left, and the average Brazilian is not really turned on by ideology, but by the “dolce vita” and the freedom to do want they want.
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