爱尔兰将设新机构：首次系统研究与北爱尔兰统一的可能性
爱尔兰总理米歇尔·马丁（Micheál Martin）10月30日向《爱尔兰时报》披露，爱尔兰政府将设立一个新机构，首次系统研究爱尔兰与北爱尔兰统一的可能性与实现模式。路透社当天报道了这一消息。
据报道，政府计划在今年年内向内阁提交一份关于该机构的初步方案。与此同时，执政联盟伙伴统一党（Fine Gael）将于下周在该党大会上发布本党的统一蓝图。
爱尔兰岛的统一问题由1998年《贝尔法斯特协议》（又称《受难节协议》）确立的框架处理：当看起来有可能多数人会投票支持统一时，北爱尔兰与爱尔兰共和国应分别就是否统一举行公投。
设立专门研究机构，意味着都柏林方面开始就统一的具体模式、制度安排与经济影响做前期研究工作。统一议题长期是爱尔兰与北爱政治中的核心议题之一，任何公投的时间表目前均未确定。
Ireland to Set Up New Body to Systematically Study Possible Unification with Northern Ireland
Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin told The Irish Times on October 30 that the Irish government will establish a new body to systematically study, for the first time, the possibility and the models of a unification of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Reuters reported the same day.
The government plans to bring initial proposals on the body to cabinet before the end of this year. Meanwhile Fine Gael, the junior partner in the governing coalition, is to publish its own unification blueprint at the party's conference next week.
The question of Irish unification is governed by the framework of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement: when it appears likely that a majority would vote for a united Ireland, referendums are to be held in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Setting up a dedicated research body means Dublin is beginning preparatory work on the concrete models, institutional arrangements and economic impact of unification. The unity question has long been one of the central issues in politics on both sides of the border, and no timetable for any referendum has been set.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于都柏林的爱尔兰议会所在地伦斯特宫（Leinster House）。摄影 Chris Rycroft，CC BY，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Leinster House in Dublin, seat of the Irish parliament. Photo by Chris Rycroft, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
