"But that 'intention' must be in the view of the people of the Republic of Ireland."
The "people" had a bloody Civil War over partition - it was only ever accepted because of war fatigue - the famine - the evictions - the forced emigrations - the Land Wars - an Imperialist War - a War for Independence, The Civil War, then permanent immigration...
By 1922, the Irish people had had enough and accepted partition on the understanding it would be a temporary measure
The sectarian repression in the North led to bloody violence in which the British establishment carefully chose its side and became an extension of Northern sectarian oppression takes us right up to our recent lifetimes

Voting on whether a single country and culture should be a single entity has always been utter and very dangerous nonsense - partition guarantees a legacy of body-bags for future generations - it always has
What would be oyur reaction if Devon and Cornwall (or more likely Liverpool and The Wirral!) suddenly made a U.D.I.
Would you debate it in terms of breaking England up into pieces or would you describe it as utter nonsense?
Of course dividin a country up into political or religious pieces is an outrageous action
The Spain/Gibraltar issue is a hangover from Empire as was the farcical Falklands War
Jim Carroll