A United Ireland is “inevitable”, broadcaster Joe Brolly has claimed.
On Monday, after years of wrangling, the British Government and the European Commission unveiled the ‘Windsor Framework’ which reforms Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements.
It reduces checks on goods moving from Great Britain to the province and allows the Assembly a role in blocking European legislation for the first time under a new ‘Stormont Brake’.
Supporters hope it will satisfy the DUP and persuade the party to restore power sharing but Mr Brolly believes the province will never flourish as part of the United Kingdom.
“More recently, it [Northern Ireland] hasn’t worked because of the DUP and this obsession with preserving the link to the Empire,” he told The Hard Shoulder.
“It’s a fantasy Britain that no longer exists.”
He described partition as an “historic blunder” by Lloyd George but predicted it would soon end.
A jogger passing Border Poll Now graffiti in Belfast, along the River Lagan.“I think in about 20 years, Scotland will vote for independence and the North will vote for reunification with the South,” he said.
“That I think is inevitable; Brexit has exposed the illusion of the Union and the Empire very starkly.
“The Tories have essentially opted out of the international community.”
Mr Brolly believes the Windsor Framework is “excellent” and gives the North “the best of both worlds” with seamless access to both British and EU consumers.
Despite this, he predicts it will not be enough to convince the DUP to nominate a Deputy First Minister.
“The problem with it is nothing to do with the deal itself; the problem is it means a DUP leader serving under a Fenian and serving under a Sinn Féiner,” he said.
“Laughable though that may seem, that’s the real stumbling block.”
