"Scotland has a conservative heart"
Has it really? The Conservative Party began to lose support in Scotland in the early 1960s, a decline that has continued til the present day

the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement does not allow for re-partition.
It's the status quo until the UK Secretary of State decides to call for a Border Poll (Referendum).
According to the Agreement, the only 2 options on the ballot paper will be: Does Northern Ireland stay in the UK or join the Republic of Ireland?

Citing true Wikipedia info about roger casement as background to a dream/vision story indicates what?

We can trade stories about our ancestors for as long as you want
As a Londoner I can honestly say my g-grandfather served in the South African War, India and WWI. He was awarded medals and survived all his campiagns in good health. So?

We are not our ancestors.

We are living in today's world. And today's world includes Brexit. Better to try and understand what the DUP want - rather than attempting to shoot down the messenger. Or not?

Thanks for the ref. Ms barbara Sinead kelly wrote that comment. ben madigan didn't .
people are free to comment as you say and other people are free to thank them for commenting.
perhaps you would care to explain what you think the "underlying agenda" of the site is?

@ David MacD
I notice you didn't comment on the post I cited about the DUP's game-plan or the comments I made on the article in this post on Conservative Home.

You produced some citation with no reference as to where you found it beyond saying "from your linked website"

Sorry mate but without a specific link and reference, your citation could have come from anywhere

There's so much to take issue with in this article that I hardly know where to start.

I'll just pick out a few key concepts -

"As the new Fine Gael government team led by Leo Varadkar has found its feet, the previous Irish position of preparing for a technological solution to minimise border disruption has been overturned".

Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney are both under 40 years old and grew up in a fully fledged Irish republic that was/is a member of the EU. Mr Kenny is an elderly man who has been in politics for years and years and was formed by a very different attitude to the UK.
So changes in attitude towards the UK are to be expected with a younger generation of Fine Gael leaders.

"This idea apparently came as a surprise to officials in Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),"

It would be more correct to say the timing of this idea came as a surprise. The idea was expected to be launched later in the Brexit negotiations - whoever was Taoiseach

"lack of overt (Irish) support for a free-trade agreement between the UK and the EU".

No surprise here - As Gavin Daly wrote above - the brexit negotiations are nowhere near broaching the subject of a new EU-UK trade agreement.
Why should Ireland be expected to be supportive of something that's not yet on the table and has not yet been discussed.?

In any case Conservative voters and supporters might like to see what their partner in government, the DUP, envisages for Northern Ireland and England post- Brexit and consider how far they support these aims
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/the-du...

"Now May is being allowed the gamble with Northern Irish peace and stability."

I agree - but on a lighter note reflect on how the british conservative party is being DUP-ed

Sad times indeed that our once great party and states- men and women are reduced to such bedfellows
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2017/06/10/dup-in...

Thank you for an interesting analysis Mr Ritchie,

I have no doubt that a minority of Unionists in Northern ireland would welcome a return to Direct Rule from Westminster

However, we must bear in mind that once it was undertaken in the 1970s, the policy of successive UK governments was always to set up a "power-sharing agreement" in NI.

The implicit answer to your final question is that the option of Direct Rule is no longer available - Time, circumstances, demographics etc have moved on since it was originally adopted

Furthermore, given the various Agreements that have been signed since 1998, a new period of Direct Rule is a non-runner

I tend to agree. Holding on to NI in particular seems to be more trouble than it's worth, especially as the UK has already signed up to the GFA/Belfast Agreement, allowing people there to decide for themselves.

As far as Scotland is concerned I don't think "Both the north and south of the island of Ireland are far more pluralistic than Scotland right now". Conservative, Labour and Lib-Dem parties all stand in Scotland, so it is certainly a pluralistic society. However the majority of people vote SNP and unlike England and Wales prefer to remain in the EU. How that particular circle is to be squared, and whether it even can be, remains to be seen.

Thanks to Gales Gattopardo, Samvines and Fernando Hobbs for clarifying the issue of how the voting patterns will be reported.

@fanA1 below - I am not entirely sure N. Ireland will vote Brexit.

And finally thanks @Samvines below for making another, very important point:

"yes it would be odd to have England 'held back' by the other nations. The reverse would hold true".

What happens then? Should Scottish and N. Irish people vote Remain while England, which is numerically much greater, votes Brexit , can EU citizenship be removed against the will of the majority in those nations?