Why I'll never vote for a united Ireland

That and this… (£B)

This is a UK problem Ireland doesn’t need.

What’s the context on the graph ?

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Good grief what is all that? And what does the graph show?

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Sorry, it was silly not to add it. The title of chart is “Net fiscal balance by UK nation and regions per capita 2017-2018” Basically what is says is NI is a fiscal black hole.

" In the financial year ending (FYE) 2023, London and the South East were the only UK regions to run a net fiscal surplus. London recorded a surplus of £4,900 per person, while the South East had a surplus of £1,700 per person. Every other UK nation and region ran a deficit, with Wales recording a deficit of £6,888 per person.

The net fiscal balance represents the difference between total public sector spending and revenue raised for each resident. According to the latest available Country and regional public sector finances data from the Office for National Statistics, the net fiscal balance per capita across the UK’s nations and regions was as follows:

Nation / Region Net Fiscal Balance per Head
London -£4,900 (Surplus)
South East -£1,700 (Surplus)
East of England +£1,500 (Deficit)
South West +£3,700 (Deficit)
East Midlands +£4,200 (Deficit)
Yorkshire and The Humber +£4,800 (Deficit)
West Midlands +£5,300 (Deficit)
North West +£5,600 (Deficit)
Scotland +£5,900 (Deficit)
North East +£6,700 (Deficit)
Wales +£6,888 (Deficit)
Northern Ireland +£7,800 (Deficit)
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The annual bonfires celebrating Protestant William of Orange’s defeat of Catholic King James at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. It’s all about intimidation, just like the provocative marches through Catholic areas.

The Barnett Formula has not been as kind to NI as it has to Scotland and Wales.

In an ironic twist of fate, the influx of new arrivals might actually have the NI’s two tribes agreeing on something.

Urgh the 12th yes I hadn’t thought of the date - they are a bit early aren’t they? Or does marching season start a bit before the actual day? Sashes oot for the lads, as they don’t say.

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Yes, we should have though of the old common enemy trick forty years ago.

If the negative figure is the public spending minus each persons ‘revenue raised’ it might suggest the formula is very good for northern ireland?

Unless the revenue raised is so dire that even with a small public sector spend it creates a massive ‘hole’ - which could be the case!

Do we mean the English immigrants to Ireland? :slight_smile:

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No, any manufactured scapegoat would have done.

Aliens would have done :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Weird how having the British Army on the streets for 30 years never quite managed to fully unite the locals in that case.

They were initially brought in to protect the Catholics. Then is all spiralled out of control :slightly_frowning_face:

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Can I point out that, were it not for a small number of US tech and pharmaceutical giants generating the bulk of RoI’s corporate tax revenue, Ireland wouldn’t look nearly so good? Which is why independent organisations talk about uncertainty for the future.

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Oh, it’s off the scale. GDP numbers are ridicules. But I’ve been predicting the merry-go-round would stop for probably fifteen years now, and it hasn’t. Meanwhile a lot of the companies that set up their European “headquarters” there only for tax purposes have actually developed the scope and would find it difficult to leave.

So I don’t think it will crash, but I do think the annual MNC tax windfall hasn’t been put to best use. It’s being used too much for current expenditure, not investment in the future.

That’s because the politicians are still the same type of gombeen that was there before the Celtic Tiger. Client politics is still the norm.

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