WILL the price of Irish unity be the loss of Irish independence?

The question arises as Ireland assumed the presidency of the European Union (EU) this week, to the acclaim of Irish nationalists.

Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the major parties in the Dáil advocate Irish unity on condition that it happens within the EU.

However, EU membership prevents Irish economic independence, and as the EU moves towards becoming a federal European state, political independence will soon disappear too.

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So, will nationalists willingly sacrifice independence in hoping to achieve unity?

Or will the much-heralded border poll offer the option of an independent, united Ireland outside the EU?

Ireland’s loss of economic independence became clear when the EU used taxpayers’ money to bail out several collapsed European banks in 2008.

Ireland had to pay 42% of the total financial cost borne by European governments, even though it had only 1% of the EU population.

Ireland’s £35 billion bail-out equated to roughly a quarter of its Gross Domestic Product (a measure of a country’s economy). By comparison, Germany’s £34bn banking bail-out cost........

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