United Ireland would cost Irish taxpayer €3bn in the first year, study finds

Researchers said economic growth in Ireland averaged 3.2% a year from 2000 to 2024, compared to 1.3% on average in the North. Uniting the two should therefore see a significant increase in economic growth.

A united Ireland would cost €3bn in the first year, but the financial burden to subvent Northern Ireland would disappear within a decade, a new study has claimed.

The joint paper by researchers at Dublin City University and Ulster University found the cost of the annual subvention to Northern Ireland from the UK is far lower than is often quoted, and has been “misunderstood and misrepresented”.