> Then, the Good Friday Agreement (peace talks with the IRA) suddenly come damn close to giving Northern Ireland completely to the IRA. [snip] Now, not only is this obviously doomed to failure, but 90% of Northern Irish people want to remain within the UK.

Failing that, there is a convenient way for the Northern Irish to get in a good dig at the UK after forced secession. Once they are autonomous, there wouldn't be any way for the UK to stop them from continuing to use all the same symbols of the UK, or even from officially attaching "part of the United Kingdom" to the end of their country's name. The Northern Irish could establish a Parliament where qualifications for office include being a look-alike of a member of the UK Parliament, then have them reenact the more exciting debates and plagiarize every bill passed in the UK. They could still sing "God Save the Queen," though if she refused to come for parades, they might be forced to substitute a lifelike cardboard cutout. If they feel uncommonly bitter, they could abscond with a few famous landmarks, or perhaps leave them be and just create new, improved versions back home such as Bigger Ben, Steelhenge, Trafalgar Cube, etc. They'd eventually be let back into the UK, either by shaming the British for being more patriotic than they for a country they're not even part of, or because the Brits would no longer be able to stomach the silliness.

gab"I don't see how this could fail"by