I suppose to drive home the idea that the area known as Northern Ireland is British, not Irish.
At no point would any British government have bothered with the plan. The partition of Ireland was originally intended to be temporary but intransigence by both De Valera and the Unionists wrecked that. Thereafter Westminster washed its hands of Northern Ireland until the late 1960s. When it became an international embarrassment with the suppression of the Civil Rights marches.
Even Thatcher tried to find power sharing and all-Ireland agreements, going so far as to declare "Britain has no selfish or strategic interest in retaining Northern Ireland ". ( or was it Major?)
Even Thatcher tried to find power sharing and all-Ireland agreements, going so far as to declare "Britain has no selfish or strategic interest in retaining Northern Ireland ". ( or was it Major?)
Yup, Ireland (and the IRA) would have no problem with this whatsoever....
IMO this would only be possible if Home Rule was implemented in 1914 and a devolved Dublin government for whatever reason consented to it.
...IMO this would only be possible if Home Rule was implemented in 1914 and a devolved Dublin government for whatever reason consented to it...
And the rest of the UK were prepared to accept economic ruin to make it happen.
There has been a recent proposal of a bridge between Scotland and N.I., which has for the moment foundered on questions of cost.
And what happens if/when scotland becomes independent and rejoins the E.U.
And the rest of the UK were prepared to accept economic ruin to make it happen.
There has been a recent proposal of a bridge between Scotland and N.I., which has for the moment foundered on questions of cost.
And what happens if/when scotland becomes independent and rejoins the E.U.
I suspect strongly this was a political cartoon, not an engineering proposal.
Aren't there mountains along portions of the border?
Aren't there mountains along portions of the border?
Low hills i think but some might be an obstacle.
Be cheaper to set up a Berlin Wall equivalent with mine fields.
This is ASB. If they did somehow accomplish this, it would put the UK into massive debt, such a project would cost billions if not trillions, and provides no obvious economic benefit. It would become a symbol of British Patriotism, and become a common point when criticising the UK. It would only further fuel Nationalism, as it reminds them of the need to reunite with Ireland. It would lead to a spike in homelessness as countless homes would be destroyed during the construction. It would be frowned upon across the world and be seen as an embarrassment by later British citizens.
tl;dr: It's a horrible idea, and would most definitely backfire.
tl;dr: It's a horrible idea, and would most definitely backfire.
Taking this far more seriously than it deserves, there are a large number of loughs/locks and rivers along the border. With a degree of tweaking you could get the majority of the border to be water. At which point it is 'only' some very minor work to make a continuous canal.
To be clear this is a terrible idea but it is not an impossible or incredibly expensive.
Unless of course that map is supposed to be to scale in which case it probably is logistically impossible in any plausible time frame due to the shear volume of material.
To be clear this is a terrible idea but it is not an impossible or incredibly expensive.
Unless of course that map is supposed to be to scale in which case it probably is logistically impossible in any plausible time frame due to the shear volume of material.
While that’s true it’s not exactly massive in places:
Ulster Canal - Wikipedia
And physical reality. Such a connection serves no practical purpose.
I cannot see the Royal navy liking that plan.
The shipping business with not be happy with a major sea lane being blocked.
www.yachtingmonthly.com
Plus the loss of the port in Belfast will not be liked by anyone.
The shipping business with not be happy with a major sea lane being blocked.
A yachtsman’s guide to shipping - Yachting Monthly
To stay safe around shipping, it pays to understand the different types of marine traffic. John Lang explains all
www.yachtingmonthly.com
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Then the Romans might have taken Ireland or at least part of it.
The Vikings would not have Dublin a major trade centre. Viking raids in the Irish sea might not happen.
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