O’Toole & McBride’s (2026) For and Against a United Ireland is well worth reading – it is quick and easy read that draws a lot of different work on the Irish Unity together. I learnt a lot from it and would think even those more familiar with the topic would get something from it.
What the book makes clear is that preparation for any referenum is vital. A lesson from the UK’s 2016 Brexit referundum is that unless it is clear what you are voting, the execution of whatever decision is made is going to be difficult. This insight means that an underlying shared assumption of the book, and indeed the public discourse about Irish unity is about how a model of a new United Ireland must be developed before any vote.
There are positive consequences to this. The public discourse’s attention is focused on what kind of Ireland we want in a more long-term way. Even those like myself, who do not see Irish Unity as the top politicial priority, can enter with enthusiasm on this project, working enthusiastically with my more nationalistic compatriots and those British Irish that want to have better ‘downside’ options that help all our diverse priorities. We should not stop this productive discourse.
There are difficulties with this process of developing of a model prior to any unity referundum. One is that the project lacks any sense of urgency and while this allows more creative consideration it has the downside that is that reality can fade into the background a little too much. The other problem is more serious if unity happens: those who are opposed to unity are tempted to absent themsevles from the conversation so any ‘model’ that emerges is one that is weaker in insights from them. It is easy to point out that that will be their own fault for not engaging but we will all live with the consequences.
An alternative might be that the unity referendum might specify that unity will come into force, say 3 years from unity vote in that referendum following a constitutional convention that will develope the new entity’s model from the one propose. There would be then a referendum at the end of the convention whereby any new developments in the model could be put to the people. If none of the new model gets approval the default would be the model contained in the referendum that won three years previously.
Some might argue that such a second stage would discourage any one opposed to Irish unity not to engage in the development of the initial model. That is a possibility but those who are wise enough to be engaged now Iwould see good advantage in staying engaged even if it is seen more as the first round. While the second round would have an urgency and a reality that would engage a much greater participation of any new united Ireland.
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