The result of these referendums was a large majority in both parts of Ireland in favour of the agreement. In the Republic, 56% of the electorate voted, 94% of the vote voted in favour of the revision of the Constitution. The turnout was 81% in Northern Ireland, with 71% of the vote for the agreement. Secondly, the approval of unification in Northern Ireland requires a referendum. However, the agreement does not specify what mechanism is needed in the South. I have suggested elsewhere that, although the South can allow union without a referendum, the extent of the constitutional revision that accompanies it would almost certainly require a referendum. This referendum could either amend or replace the current Constitution. But Irish nationalists welcomed Biden`s statements and stressed the historic role played by the United States in ending the unrest. And many of them say, as the volume increases, that the dream of a united Ireland could finally be at hand. « I hope that the next president of the United States of America will be a man of conviction for united Ireland, » tweeted John O`Dowd, a Sinn Féin representative in the Northern Ireland Assembly, as the results of Saturday`s elections are finalised. « We were bidening our time for such a president. » In 1946, Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the Irish High Commissioner to the United Kingdom: « I said a few words about your country yesterday in Parliament because I still hope for a united Ireland. You must bring these companions north; You can`t do it by force. There is no bitterness in my heart towards your country and it never has been. Later, he said, « You know, I had a lot of invitations to visit Ulster, but I rejected them all. » I don`t want to go there.
I would rather go to the south of Ireland. Maybe I`ll buy another horse with an entry to the Irish Derby. [29] The overall result of these problems was to undermine trade unionists` confidence in the agreement exploited by the DUP anti-protocol agreement, which eventually overtook the pro-agreement Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in the 2003 general elections. UUP had already resigned from the executive in 2002 following the Stormontgate scandal, in which three men were indicted for intelligence gathering. These charges were eventually dropped in 2005 because persecution was not « in the public interest. » Immediately afterwards, one of Sinn Féin`s members, Denis Donaldson, was unmasked as a British agent. « I think the people of the South will vote for unity now, because it`s emotional, » Shirlow told me, « but they haven`t had a debate yet about what it would cost. » The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was a culmination of the peace process. The agreement recognized nationalism and unionism as « equally legitimate political aspirations. » [35] In the Northern Ireland Assembly, all members would nominate Unionist, nationalist or otherwise, and some measures would require inter-community support. The agreement was signed by the Irish and British governments. In Northern Ireland, it was supported by all parties who, with the exception of the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Unionist Party, participated in the Northern Ireland Forum and were supported by all parties in the Oireachtas.
It was also rejected by dissident Republicans, including Republican Sinn Féin and the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. It was adopted in referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.