Is the Great British Public getting súcked dry by Northern Ireland........

spending on public-sector services per head is highest in Northern Ireland, £10,900 and it is lowest in England, at £8,500.

So expenditure on public services in Scotland is a fifth higher per person than south of the border, and it is 28% higher in Northern Ireland.

between northern ireland and the imigrant problem you seen to have.....you won't have 2 pennies to rub togather....tumbleweed...

The British Government have put NI in the position they are in today so are happy to absorb like a sponge....

The British Government have put NI in the position they are in today so are happy to absorb like a sponge....



sometimes enough is enough....................not as happy as many thinks,how long do they absorb.

Has he been an actor in an American film?

Has he been an actor in an American film?...............



the thing about the quizzes is no-one takes you seriously.....if you want to debate....

Labour Productivity - NI is last of the 12 UK regions ( LON, SE, SCO, E, SW, NW, NE, EM, WM, Y&H, WAL then NI is the ONS ranking )

Reduction in CO2 emissions - NI last again

Economic inactivity rate ( aged 16-64 ) - NI is top on this one ( although their average age is the lowest )

You can't get an abortion, and pretty soon you won't be permitted to pay for sex in private with another adult who agrees to roger with you but wants paying for it.

I think Kweeveen has made good points, but what would be the consequences and cost of NI being set free?

Leopard

NI is a monkey on GBs back.....they would cut NI adrift in the morning if they think they could get away with it peacefully....unfortunately the political situation here would never alow that to happen....so in the meantime ...TAKE TAKE TAKE

Euro -----------------lashings to come from the South (Loans4u.com)

No more a Monkey than the North London suburbs imo

^^^^^^^

The point is that as and when there is an English parliament for English people - of the sort that the former Tory minister John Redwood has been demanding, and David Cameron seemed to concede today - the financial transfer from England to the rest of the UK may be harder to sustain.


Taken from bbc Economics editor

Do you have a large Polish contingent in NI..?

Do you have a large Polish contingent in NI..?......we do have polish,wouldn't call them large contingent through...

Not that Kweeveen is biased with his post

yes enough is enough. need to have a vote like scottish and hopefully the vote to go with ireland and kill 2 birds with one stone.

Ethnic groups    
98.28% White
1.06% Asian
0.20% Black
0.46% Other



found this stat....98.28% white,the massive majority would be british/irish...............as i said before,i live in a 100% white neighbourhood.....immigrants never came here because of the war/troubles that was happening here......its just lately that you see a small influx...not many mix in settled neighbourhoods...........

If Fermanagh, Tyrone, Foyle, Newry and South Down could vote in a referendum to join with the Republic would they vote YES despite it meaning they immediately become some of the poorest areas in a new country and if so,
-would the rest of NI let them go peaceably?
-and would the Republic accept them?

Fiscal deficit is now 9bn a year

Joined: 29 Nov 02 | Topic/replies: 12,329 | Blogger: Ovalman.'s blog
Not that Kweeveen is biased with his post....



Ovalman your a good guy,i respect where you come from,most of us from here are the only ones that understood it all...but its a good debate no matter what side you come from...no harm done done and no bóllix about them and us.............

If Fermanagh, Tyrone, Foyle, Newry and South Down could vote in a referendum to join with the Republic would they vote YES despite it meaning they immediately become some of the poorest areas in a new country and if so,
-would the rest of NI let them go peaceably?
-and would the Republic accept them?



2 great questions......let go peacefully.no chance.....republic accept them...i would like to think so,,with open arms.....

just look at the reunification of Germany, no party in Ireland could survive if they said no to reunification with the northern part.

just look at the reunification of Germany, no party in Ireland could survive if they said no to reunification with the northern part.


exactly brendan...which answers one of Bongo's questions and would the Republic accept them?

If the politicians started to act for the benefit of both sides then we could straighten our problems out tomorrow. Think of the money wasted on the Maze Stadium, School Transfers, Hospital decisions etc etc. and we would be less in the red. I think water charges will have to be brought in and free prescriptions stopped BTW but no right thinking politician would ever agree to that as it's a vote loser.

Unfortunately we vote them in so we only have ourselves to blame.

I think we'll always be net EV for the economy but there are other parts of the UK that would be similar. As you know I'm deeply Unionist and don't want a United Ireland but I don't think it would be in the republics interests to have us either.

Maybe if balloon heads stopped fighting over a fleg and just got on with life as me and my kids do our wee country would be a better place.

"Around one in ten of the working-age population in Northern Ireland is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  This rate is twice that for Great Britain." From the poverty.org web-site.

I can accept it would be a bit higher, mental health problems are officially very high in NI, but you can't help wondering how much of the excess over the rest of the Union is genuine. You also can't help wondering if ahem some kind of pressure involving reminders about knee-caps being painful is applied to GPs and other medical pros to make the right assessment for borderline cases.

Ovalman...........


for what it's worth ovalman....2 parties i detest....the fecking shinners and dup........


also not related to this debate........i detest celtic and rangers..................one love you reds ....

No doubt the money will come to an end....as they say we (GB) are the country that just keeps giving...but not to our own ..

banter^^^^^^^

You also can't help wondering if ahem some kind of pressure involving reminders about knee-caps being painful is applied to GPs and other medical pros to make the right assessment for borderline cases.

Its just a culture of claiming and people knowing what they need to do to have successful claim. People will happily chat to you about what they claim and how they got it. Which i have not seen to same extent in england. Government not really interested in stopping it, just turns a blind eye. part of the cost of keeping NI as part of the UK.

100% brendan.......a culture of claiming....MLAs on both sides are shítting themselves incase they upset the natives and will not take any responsibilty for big decisions that have to be made,thus keep getting bailed out by GB...

i dont think the GBP really get this place..if they were told about half the shít that went on ,they would dump us in the morning...

Thanks for the explanation brendan that it's more down to a culture of claiming and knowing what you're entitled to.

There is a positive:
about 6% of people eligible to do so in NI give blood, higher than the UK average.

I have both friends and relatives in the North and they tell me that the appetite for a united Ireland has lessened in recent years.
They also say that unification or even a move towards it would in all probability result in a return to the troubles but with the Unionist playing the role of the ira.
The North is a drain on cash and everybody but the most staunchest republicans are mindful of this and would settle for the status quo although would not fight against a united Ireland should it become a possibility.
I also know that despite appearing to work together Sinn Fein and the unionist parties are as far apart as ever. 
Employing known murderers as advisers and supporting riots over flags doesn't help either.
Anyways the people will decide.

Households in n.ireland do pay for water as part of their rates.

No poll/community tax?  Do you mean council tax?  Are you saying they dont pay council tax?  If SO, then.... FFS

rob_dylan
No poll/community tax?  Do you mean council tax?  Are you saying they dont pay council tax?  If SO, then.... FFS

The old system still in place so they do pay it in the form of rates. Same total different distribution of charges.

council tax is paid - just under a different name. Its called rates. I think my rates are around £15 for week for a house with a capital value of £150,000.

We pay rates which is our form of council tax. I think it was the system the rest of the UK used before the ?Tories? introduced it. It pays for the same services.

Sounds like rates are less than half what we pay in council tax and you get your water thrown in.  A vote here for NI independence.

Northern Ireland’s average household rate bills will be around half those in England

Local ratepayers are benefiting from a three-year freeze on the regional rate

“The news that the average Council Tax bill in England will now be almost double that in Northern Ireland is further evidence of how the Executive is supporting local households through the recession

In Northern Ireland, the Executive has decided to freeze regional rate

“This is just one example of how the Executive is working to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. Unlike England, where the average water bill is around £330 this year, the Executive has deferred water charges.

these are statements from five years ago....nothing has moved on or changed we are still bailed out by the GBP.......


all this money comes from the GBP......

Most houses in n.ireland except some in Belfast have oil central heating which is more expensive than gas so that levels out the running costs of the main household bills.

Are you saying the difference between oil and gas is the same as 50% of our council tax plus water rates.

Electricity costs are also more expensive in n.ireland - unless you use a magnet which quite a few people do!

In the winter I probably use about £70 of oil central heating a week. How would that compare to gas?

This note gives figures on the level of public expenditure in England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. It also gives figures for the English regions. The data shown are for public
expenditure per head and are taken from HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical
Analyses 2014. This contains more detailed information including spending by function
(health, education etc).
In 2012/13, public spending per head in the UK as a whole was £8,788. In England, it was
£8,529 (3% below the UK average). This compares with
 Northern Ireland £10,876 (24% above the UK average).
Among the English regions, public spending per head was lowest in the South East at £7,638
(13% below the UK average) and highest in London at £9,435 (7% higher than the UK
average).



members of the jury i rest my case.........................

Been a 6 year freeze in Scotland on council taxes and we also have free prescriptions.

B.ollox I want rid of all of them...NI, scotland and wales.  We cant even use their footballers because we have separate teams.  Totally pointless having separate parliaments in these places, and then the still have MPs in westminster, just another layer of beurocracy and more MPs and more money squandered.

£70/week?  Ffs you could just use electric heaters for cheaper.

highest in London at £9,435 more scroungers there aswell

Been a 6 year freeze in Scotland on council taxes and we also have free prescriptions.AKA IF WE WORK AS A TEAM WE COULD LEAVE THEM WITHOUT A POT TO PÍSS IN..............

We also have free university places for all Scots but, because if the ageing population, we were told that we need an extra 20,000 immigrants a year to sustain our spending and pay for pensions.

I definitely don't think the mainland british parties would fight to keep n.ireland in the same way they fought to keep Scotland in the union. Without Scotland there would affectively be no union at all. Losing n.ireland and its relatively small population would still keep the union practically the same as it is. Plus n.ireland is not connected geographically in the same way as Scotland.

It's a catch 22 situation paddletoe. Any moves in that direction will set off riots.

I don't think there is a single person in England who could care less about Northern Ireland being aprt of Britain, why some are so passionate about the queen is laughable

this is your hardest quiz yet.

aka 100% right....the place would implode.......its sitting on a tender hook at the minute,because of all the bóllix that's happening..



half of us want a united ireland and the other half dosen't.....................

this is your hardest quiz yet...............i wish i knew the answer..

Why did we fight it so long?  Was it because it would have looked weak to just give in to the IRA or out of a sense of loyalty to the loyalist majority there.  SH is right, most people in England couldnt care less and just wanted the troubles to go away as painlessly as possible.

Maybe the way forward is an independent NI.
I would have a tit-for-tat policy in both the North and the Republic.
Start with the flags, or the flegs , and adopt an all-Irish one.
Get rid of The Soldiers Song and GSTQ and adopt Irelands call
Two small things maybe in our minds but the catalyst for murder and mayhem in others minds.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE49ca6j754     Irelands Call.

half our ministers call it The North of Ireland and the other half call it Northern Ireland...............


Shinners and DUP hate each other ...and they are the government.....wont make any decisions togather,spend all the money and as the GBP for more and get it..................you couldn't make it up..

Britain has said it has no strategic or economics self interest in n.ireland. Reading between the lines they would not be disappointed to lose n.ireland but I think its right they give the unionists in n.ireland the security of a referendum to decide their future which at present they would probably comfortably win.

Get rid of The Soldiers Song and GSTQ and adopt Irelands call....could be a starter for ten as they say....


independant NI.........ffs you would end up six small countries..and ROI makes 7....

Britain has said it has no strategic or economics self interest in n.ireland. Reading between the lines they would not be disappointed to lose n.ireland but I think its right they give the unionists in n.ireland the security of a referendum to decide their future which at present they would probably comfortably win.




correct unionists would win.........now......................but,,,,,,,,,,there are more old british than old irish.......but more young irish than british according to stats.............so alledgely by 2026 more irish than british in NI.......SO?????????????????...............

independant NI.....LaughLaughLaugh....ffs you would end up six small countries..and ROI makes 7....LaughLaugh

Well we have North and South Korea and look how they get on.
There's a thought Kim Jong-Un as the mediator.

Probably went unnoticed by most people but at the recent commonwealth games the majority of n.ireland medal winners in boxing respectfully refused to look up at the n.ireland flag at the medal ceremonies.

correct unionists would win.........now......................but,,,,,,,,,,there are more old british than old irish.......but more young irish than british according to stats.............so alledgely by 2026 more irish than british in NI.......SO?????????????????...............

The Republicans will have to change their slogan from Our Day Will Come to We Sh4gged Our Way to Victory.

I think kweeven is being a bit simplistic in his analysis of a cathlolic majority meaning the end of the union in any referendum. It underestimates the protestant ideological connection with the union which and over estimates the catholic connection with a united Ireland at all costs. Few protestants will ever vote for a united Ireland while a small but sizeable minority of cathlolics will vote on economic and some other factors over ideological reasons. A 51% catholic majority in n.ireland will never result in the end of the union.

just a matter of time and everyone knows it. Best if unionists get on the right side of history

Rep.of Ireland has never voted for independence from the UK and has
never been independent. Since the free state was set up in the 1920s
more young people have had to leave to find work in England than ever
before because the English allowed an open border policy and the right
to settle in England remained.
Without England they could not maintain the pretence of being an independent state.

If there was a vote north and south of the border on a united Ireland,
or Ireland north and south becoming part of the UK with the proviso that
independence would mean losing the right to live and work in Englasnd
then most people would opt to be part of the union.

Your ignorance is staggering.

Your ignorance is staggering...............



i would bet my house on it being a united Ireland..............................brendanuk1.......

yeah but UK, cunning bunch that they are, would change european treaties so that freedom of movement would not apply to irish in UK

Its a mistake to view something which might happen in 50 years time with the eyes of today. A break away of n.ireland from the union with Britain might take on a different shape in 50 years time to what it would be today if it ever does happen.

I think kweeven is being a bit simplistic in his analysis of a cathlolic majority meaning the end of the union in any referendum. It underestimates the protestant ideological connection with the union which and over estimates the catholic connection with a united Ireland at all costs. Few protestants will ever vote for a united Ireland while a small but sizeable minority of cathlolics will vote on economic and some other factors over ideological reasons. A 51% catholic majority in n.ireland will never result in the end of the union......


Absolute red herring paddletoe....catholic/protestant................its irish v british....religion does not come into it.....it just so happens most british are protestant,while most irish are catholic.....but you get irish protestants and british catholics....it will not be like scotland vote, the irish will vote for one Island no matter what hardship what may or may not come.....imvho

Its a mistake to view something which might happen in 50 years time with the eyes of today. A break away of n.ireland from the union with Britain might take on a different shape in 50 years time to what it would be today if it ever does happen.




a great post paddletoe.................

lfc1971     01 Dec 14 10:12 
If there was a vote north and south of the border on a united Ireland,
or Ireland north and south becoming part of the UK with the proviso that
independence would mean losing the right to live and work in Englasnd
then most people would opt to be part of the union.

Lithuanians, Poles and Romanians can come and go at will. How do you propose the British govt stops the Irish doing the same? Vote UKIP?

Its true if you look back on history some of the greatest irish men were from the protestant faith from Wolfe Tonne to the protestant pastor who fought with the irish international brigade in the Spanish civil war. But the protestant people of today value their flegs and love of their queen more than catholics value their flag and their republic. I personally think the protestant people are wrong to love a flag so much and for working class protestants in particular to love their queen in the way they do.

I don't mean to say catholic nationalists from the north of Ireland would not vote in a big majority for a united Ireland. They will. Its just they don't put their flag before everything else and will not be happy if the only thing they are changing is the colour of their flag. They want an inclusive and fair society more than they need a flag to tell them who they are.

Mikael D'Haguenet ..there is a couple of ukip punters over here,not a cat's chance in hell of getting anywhere...the lunatic's over here vote tribal..they don't give a fúck how bad they are as long as it's not one of the other mob....




anyhow ive went and gone of topic ffs,i knew it would happen..(good points through paddletoe)...............Back on topic, just keep pumping the money in and we will gladly take it....

Some people use the phrase practical republicanism when it comes to taking British money while at the same time calling themselves a fervent irish nationalist.

do the irish still believe in god??

It's beginning to happen now in Dublin pub conversation:
'Do you believe in an Almighty God?'
'My dear beloved fellow, of course not, I'm Roman Catholic'

Ok, I only heard it the once, it's basically a reworking of an older CofE joke.

Kweeveen     01 Dec 14 19:40 
Mikael D'Haguenet ..there is a couple of ukip punters over here,not a cat's chance in hell of getting anywhere...the lunatic's over here vote tribal..they don't give a fúck how bad they are as long as it's not one of the other mob....

I know all that, Kwee. I was responding to LFC's hypothetical of not allowing Irish into Britain, which would be against EU law. The only way around that is to leave the EU, hence voting UKIP. I've said for a long time that a Catholic majority in NI would NOT result in a majority vote wishing to leave the UK, as too many Catholics would be voting based on their own economic interests. A similar thing happened with the reunification of Germany, with many in the West reluctant to absorb the East, for purely selfish reasons. It will happen eventually.

There was a group of lads in Magaluf recently that got sucked dry by Northern Ireland

My boy (lives in Ireland) recently had a rugby match against the Garda called off as they were in attendance of a "water meter protest"

     being installed ?

Northern Ireland wants 1 billion in cash shocker

The protesters seem to think that because water falls from the sky it should be free.......well get a bucket and collected your own.

the shinner's want another £200mil/£300mil....or the deal's off.....time to milk the GBP again....

time to get rid of us....


its to pay everyone their benefits in full.....no one will lose anything during the tory cuts......don't you just love it...

DUP names its price for electoral deal with Tories or Labour: £1bn for Northern Ireland..



The Democratic Unionist Party will seek up to a billion pounds more funding for Northern Ireland as the price of keeping a Tory or Labour government in power, according to one of its leading MPs.

Ian Paisley, son of the party’s founder, told The Independent he would be open to a deal with either main party in return for “hundreds of millions” extra for the province.


GTFI........

The DUP currently holds eight of Northern Ireland’s 18 Parliamentary seats; Northern Ireland gets just under £13bn a year from Westminster.....


While the DUP, a socially conservative and Eurosceptic party, is generally considered closer to the Tories, Mr Paisley indicated it would be prepared to support a Labour administration if a favourable arrangement could be struck.

Asked precisely how much extra the DUP would be seeking, he replied: “We’d have to work that out. But it would be hundreds of millions; it wouldn’t be a paltry sum. It would be something that would ease burdens in Northern Ireland.

In return, he said the DUP could offer an arrangement which could provide stability to either Labour or the Tories.


...Don't give a feck just show me the money...



sucked dry...

The DUP has also been holding talks with Ukip with a view to working together in the next parliament. Speaking after a meeting with Mr Robinson in Belfast last week, Ukip’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall pointed out that the two parties combined could have more seats than the Liberal Democrats after 7 May – “which then could change the dynamic in Westminster altogether”.

Mr Paisley said working alongside Ukip would not pose problems for the DUP. “If this is the shape of things to come in the UK – that coalition government is the nature of the game – then I think we have to bite our lip at some of these things and accept that we’ll have to make difficult agreements.”...

Not sure if that would be better or worse than the SNP being involved.
Whatever happens either NI or Scotland will be holding their hands out.
More, more and then some more and not a please in sight.

BTW Kweeveen your post at 22.14 quoting a price of £1b.
That's chickenfeed compared to what the SNP want.
It's the Welsh I feel sorry for.

BTW Kweeveen your post at 22.14 quoting a price of £1b.
That's chickenfeed compared to what the SNP want.



yeah but the north of ireland is only the size of alex salmond's back garden.....

years and years of horse trading not going to waste