which side are you on in Ireland?

[Dr. MB]

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Talk Elections! Which side do you support in the Northern Ireland conflict?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I have Scots-Irish blood in my body. I had ancesters from County Londonderry. #LongLiveUlster

[West_Midlander]

Unionists

[Antonio the Sixth]

Republican, of course.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It wasn't and isn't a football game, even if it did (and does) often spill over into actual football games (i.e. whenever Linfield play). A lot of people died, often horribly (the sadistic element to so much paramilitary violence is something that people only vaguely familiar with it all are often not aware of, but it was substantial) and the economy and society of the place (neither of which were in a good way to start with) were wrecked beyond repair. Nowadays there is no conflict other than political conflict* and, of course, the random acts of a tiny minority of psychopathic thugs, rightly despised by everyone else regardless of their politics and sectarian status, recent highlights of which include the gunning down a man in front of his own children just after he had finished doing some local under-whatever football coaching, and the murder of a young journalist and writer, not so very different from the sort of people who post here.

_{*Which is tiresome and frustrating and frequently extraordinarily reckless but which is not an actual civil war, and that's a great improvement.}

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Northern Ireland should have an independent government as a member of the Commonwealth.

[Excessive Hyperbole]

Unionists but I rather not get involved at all, tbh.

[S019]

Unionism, but peace is the first priority, I strongly support the GFA.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

the Republicans

[KaiserDave]

I support a democratic, legal, gradual unification of Ireland. That makes me a Republican, otherwise I agree with Al. If I was a voter in Northern Ireland I would vote for the SDLP in all cases.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It wasn't and isn't a football game, even if it did (and does) often spill over into actual football games (i.e. whenever Linfield play). A lot of people died, often horribly (the sadistic element to so much paramilitary violence is something that people only vaguely familiar with it all are often not aware of, but it was substantial) and the economy and society of the place (neither of which were in a good way to start with) were wrecked beyond repair. Nowadays there is no conflict other than political conflict* and, of course, the random acts of a tiny minority of psychopathic thugs, rightly despised by everyone else regardless of their politics and sectarian status, recent highlights of which include the gunning down a man in front of his own children just after he had finished doing some local under-whatever football coaching, and the murder of a young journalist and writer, not so very different from the sort of people who post here.

_{*Which is tiresome and frustrating and frequently extraordinarily reckless but which is not an actual civil war, and that's a great improvement.}

"Which side are you on?" means different things in different contexts, obviously. I'm sure many of us (myself included) feel comfortable taking sides precisely because there isn't a civil war ongoing. As you say, the conflict now is political, which means taking sides on this issue should not be treated any differently from taking sides on any other hot-button political issue in a democracy. That doesn't in any way negate the fact that any resolution to this issue ought to be peaceful and democratic.