Anna Katharina MANGOLD

Similarities seem to appear everywhere once one starts comparing reunification processes from a constitutional perspective. While recent constitutional developments seem to point in the direction of separation and independence movements rather than reunification, the German example springs to mind…

Cheryl SAUNDERS

All restructuring of the external territorial boundaries of states takes place in a distinctive context, requiring caution in drawing parallels with experiences elsewhere. The case of Ireland is no exception…

Etain TANNAM

The results of the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom immediately placed the issue of Irish unification in the spotlight. This was further highlighted by the success of Sinn Féin in the February 2020 Irish General Election…Even if the Northern Irish electorate voted in favour of unification, under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement there is no obligation for the Irish government to hold a referendum…

Colin HARVEY

The island of Ireland is likely to be heading towards concurrent referendums on its constitutional future in the next decade. Although the outcome of the recent Irish general election has attracted global attention (the electoral success of Sinn Féin in particular), it is Brexit that has prompted intensified interest in Irish reunification. One jurisdiction is now outside the EU, and the other is still a Member State…

David KENNY

Whereas support in Northern Ireland for a united Ireland is modest at present, support for the prospect of unification in the Republic of Ireland (southern Ireland) is relatively robust. A recent general election exit poll showed 57% of voters in favour of a border poll within the next five years.

Brice DICKSON

Assuming that a border poll occurs, and that the vote in both parts of Ireland is in favour of unification, what might unionists in Northern Ireland want to see happen in order to reduce the fears they might have of living in the new State?

Brendan O’LEARY

The specific future is never known, though possible futures can be mapped. In voting for Irish reunification in a future referendum, Northern Irish voters will expressly seek to terminate UK sovereignty in and over any part of Ireland and its territorial waters.

Oran DOYLE

International law, UK law, and Irish law adopt the same substantive position on Irish unification: it requires the consent of a majority of people in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. However, they approach the question from different perspectives and with subtly different emphases. In this post, I explore the issue from the perspective of Irish law to identify what unification processes would be legally effective in Ireland.

Colin MURRAY

The Northern Ireland Act 1998, a statute passed by the Westminster Parliament, implements the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA) within UK law. It declares that Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a referendum…

Aoife O’DONOGHUE

As international law is the arbiter of statehood one would be forgiven for imagining that it delineates the pathways for new/(re)unified/breakaway states. The reality is different.

Oran DOYLE

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA)—the agreement between the parties in Northern Ireland and the related international treaty between the British and Irish Governments that was central to the peace settlement in 1998—built a new model of power-sharing politics on the foundation of a territorial compromise.

Today we launch our first Blog Symposium of 2020, on the potential unification of the island of Ireland, which until recently seemed a distant prospect. Designed by Guest Editor Prof. Oran Doyle, the Symposium will aim to think through the constitutional implications of unification, with sections devoted to processes, substantive issues, and external perspectives ... The full publication schedule is provided at the end of this post.