The Last Word with Matt Cooper Why There Are Strong Arguments For And Against A United Ireland
Oct 23, 2025
Fintan O'Toole, a columnist for the Irish Times and editor at the New York Review of Books, and Sam McBride, Northern Ireland editor for the Belfast Telegraph, dive into the complexities of a potential united Ireland. They discuss the evolving identities shaped by demographics and migration, while analyzing both pro- and anti-unity arguments. The duo addresses the emotional versus rational nature of the debate and highlights the risks of uncertainty that could arise from removing the border, all while preparing for unpredictable political shifts.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Both Sides Have Strong Arguments
- Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride argue there are strong, legitimate arguments on both sides of Irish unity that deserve respectful debate.
- They deliberately wrote for-and-against essays to force consideration of difficult questions rather than partisan sloganeering.
Writing Like A Lawyer To Challenge Beliefs
- Sam compares the project to a lawyer arguing for a client: advocate strongly while setting personal views aside.
- He says the exercise revealed strong arguments on both sides and challenged his initial assumptions.
Foundations Of Partition Have Eroded
- Northern Ireland was created for demographic, economic, and political reasons that no longer hold true today.
- Fintan suggests those vanished foundations make the current partition hard to justify long-term.
