A United Ireland and the economy

There's been an interesting discussion going on over at Balrog about a United Ireland but the area I was most interested in was the economic aspect of the argument. Dave weighed in with this comment:

"Chris, convince me, the taxpayer of Ireland why the hell I should pay at least an extra €1250 in taxes a year to fund the North."

I have no idea if that figure is true or not though Ciaran had this to say:

"How is a UI to pay for the North? I think the 1,250EUR per person per annum hike is pretty realistic"

If it got to the stage where a United Ireland was within reach but there were economic factors to be taken into consideration, I propose one of the following solutions:

• Ask the EU to help fund it
• Seek continued assistance from the British with a promise to pay them back when the economy becomes more stable
• Minimise the costs involved by making very slow changes to the North as the island becomes integrated.

I am no economist but surely the above measures would prove effective in dealing with the economic aspect of integration? If someone with a better knowledge of economics wishes to point out flaws in the above proposals, feel free to do so!