Two for the price of one?

An interesting observation from Mick Fealty at Slugger O’Toole regarding the St Andrews Agreement (sic): that it might lead to a 32-county referendum to “ratify” it:

Another thing to keep an eye on is whether they go for a re-election, or a 32-county Referendum. Paisley is said to be easy about either. But, interestingly, a referendum is said to be Bertie’s favoured option. Sinn Fein, apparently, is up for an early election, being already in mobilisation mode, and hoping that any forward movement in Northern Ireland will create a bounce in the Republic.

Since we have to up the probability that Bertie really is clever and cunning following the latest poll, one wonders what he might have in mind if he did decide to put a new NI agreement on the ballot with a general election (of course he could separate them if he wanted to, but a good turnout for a referendum would be nice). It certainly would boost his statesman credentials to be running a Yes campaign, not to mention the juicy prize of a third election as Taoiseach and the sense of a final settlement of the Irish Question on the same day. The very vague timeline gives him a lot of options.

Update: The timeline suggests a March election and the possibility of a Northern Ireland Assembly election also on the same day; as Chris at Slugger notes, the schedule conflicts with the work of the UK Boundary Commission, so the elections might have to be held under the old boundaries, which would then be defunct. At least they don’t have to worry about the possibility of a constitutional challenge after the election, which will be the case in the Republic.