British 'Lord' Salisbury .In 1883 , 'Lord' Salisbury stated - " Ireland must be kept , like India , at all costs ; by persuasion , if possible , if not - by force ."
British 'Lord' Hugh Cecil .In 1918 , 'Lord' Hugh Cecil stated - " We must accept the fact of Irish nationality . It is regrettable , it is unhistorical ; in view of Ulsters feelings it is even absurd . But it is a fact - the majority of Irishmen do think Ireland a nation and we must do the best we can in the circumstances . "
British 'Sir' Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden (as he liked to be called) , British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' from 1992 to 1997 .In 1993 , 'Sir' Patrick Mayhew stated - " The British government would very happily release Northern Ireland , to be perfectly frank with you .... " : he then withdrew the word "happily" , and stated that the cost of the Six Counties to the British exchequer was .... "...three billion pounds a year net , for one-and-a-half million people ! "
The "cost" should not only be measured in pounds or euro's , and should not be only applied to what it "costs" the British people : it has 'cost' us on this isle countless dead over more than eight centuries , and has been a blight on each generation during those eight centuries . The British no longer control an 'Empire on which the sun never sets...' , nor are they the 'world power' they once judged themselves to be . For the sake of all of us on these two isles , they will have to move on by removing their jurisdictional claim to any part of this island and withdrawing their military and political presence . We deserve , and demand , no less . And will accept no other .
