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A united Ireland is a movement for a sovereign state covering all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland.〔(CAIN: Politics – An Outline of the Main Political 'Solutions' to the Conflict ), United Ireland Definition.〕 The island of Ireland currently includes the territories of the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties, and the area of the United Kingdom that is Northern Ireland, which covers the remaining six. A united Ireland, fully independent of the United Kingdom, is supported by Irish nationalists. Conversely, unionists oppose this and support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. Several different models for reunification have been suggested; the three most common include: a system of government akin to the federalism practiced in Switzerland which was a model entitled Éire Nua ("New Ireland"),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Éire Nua – A new Ireland )〕 a confederation and a unitary state. Article 15.2 of the Constitution of Ireland (enacted in 1937) provides for the possibility of devolution within the present unitary Irish state,〔(The Constitution of Ireland, Article 15, section 2, subsection 2 ) on 18 August 2010. Extract: "Provision may however be made by law for the creation or recognition of subordinate legislatures and for the powers and functions of these legislatures. " This theoretically provides that sub-national legislatures may be established by the Oireachtas.〕 originally intended to absorb the old Parliament of Northern Ireland institutions. In demographic terms, the six counties of Northern Ireland taken as a whole contain a majority of Ulster Protestants〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=CAIN: Background Information on Northern Ireland Society – Religion )〕 who almost all favour continued union with Great Britain, although individually four of the six have Irish Catholic majorities and majorities voting for Irish nationalist parties.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Northern Ireland Elections )〕 The religious denominations of the British citizens in Northern Ireland are only a stereotypical guide to their likely political preferences, as there are both Protestant nationalists and Catholic unionists. Surveys identify a significant number of Catholics who favour the union without identifying themselves as unionists or British. Some surveys show a majority of Catholics favouring the union.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NI Life and Times Survey - 2013: NIRELND2 )〕 Recent immigrants, and their descendants, some of whom are neither Catholic nor Protestant, have differing views on the issue. Taken as a whole, the majority of people on the island of Ireland had rejected British rule by the last all-Ireland election, in all 32 counties, where all-Ireland independence was heavily endorsed in the UK general election of 1918 in Irish constituencies that resulted in overwhelming support for the full independence party, Sinn Féin. This election result led to the founding of the nascent all-Ireland Irish Republic state which fought the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). The war ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. These terms resulted in the dissolution of the Irish Republic, which had received little recognition internationally, and acceptance of partial independence for 26 counties, known as the Irish Free State. These 26 counties finally achieved full independence in 1949, forming the Republic of Ireland. In political terms, the British monarch and government were reluctant to withdraw their jurisdiction from the whole of the island; for example, to serve as a politician (TD) in the Free State all elected officials were required, under the Treaty, to pledge fidelity to the British monarch. British policy since 1949 has been to agree to Irish unity only by voluntary consent of a majority in Northern Ireland. While the 26-county Irish governments, particularly under Éamon de Valera, pursued the goal of a united Ireland throughout the 20th century, the prospect of a united Ireland assumed particular importance following the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. All major political parties in Britain and in both parts of Ireland now accept the principle that a united Ireland can be achieved only with the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland, known as the principle of consent. Sinn Féin, as well as the major political parties in the Republic, favour a united Ireland, as does the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland. In 1999 Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution were amended to abandon the territorial claim on Northern Ireland. A united Ireland outside of the UK is opposed by all unionist parties and the Ulster loyalist paramilitary〔(Home Office, Government of the United Kingdom – Proscribed Terrorist Groups ). Retrieved 10 January 2010.〕 groups in Northern Ireland. The UK government is committed under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to following the wishes of the majority of the Northern Ireland population, a position accepted by all other signatories to the Good Friday Agreement and now enshrined in the Irish Constitution. ==History== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United Ireland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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