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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

HISTORICAL FACTS: A united ireland referendum must not be another brexit analysts say | History Defined

A man walks past a mural that reads: ‘Time for Irish unity’
Fintan O’Toole, an Irish Times columnist, and Sam McBride, the Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor, say the British and Irish political establishments are unprepared for a referendum. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

A decade after the UK stumbled into a hasty referendum that polarised the nation and unleashed chaos, a warning comes from across the Irish Sea: it could happen again.

The government and voters sleepwalked into Brexit and the same may happen with a referendum on a united Ireland, triggering convulsions for which no one is ready.

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