"never" was specifically about the need for a passport, not the existence of stops. Stops were rare after the mid-90s, intermittently put up when there was a local bomb scare.

i'm "skipping" points that aren't relevant to the original claim, that today NI would be "free" if only England wasn't in charge. My point was that the GFA's principle of consent is respected by both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and so the ruling class of England is not today holding NI against their collective will. Derry Girls had the GFA referendum in the final episode - please remember that was 26 years ago already, society has changed massively since then.

The main issue for most nationalist-leaning people (btw, in Ireland, nationalist always means Irish nationalist. nobody says "british nationalist", you say unionist or loyalist instead) these days is waiting for the Republic's health-care system to match the NHS in terms of affordability and quality. Everyday issues like that - most people in the north have a distrust of "the flag" being the most important issue.

Getting into alternate-history "could have ..." ideas doesn't change the real today. Nobody here suggested that, (for example) Orange marches were dealt with well, or Ireland has been treated well in history.

I did ask you what you meant by "set em loose", and didn't get an answer. Also "Welsh and Scots would def let it go" - again, what means exactly do you believe England is using to not let it go, in 2024? The NI Secretary will hold a referendum as soon as public polling indicates the time is right. Your "de-colonization" plan sounds like ethnic cleansing of the Ulster-Scots population who have been there since before the Mayflower reached America.

I do agree wholeheartedly that action should be taken ASAP to undo what Russia and Israel have been doing to expand their territories, while we're still dealing with the actual settlers, not their great-great-great-etc grandchildren.