Mary Lou McDonald urges Dáil to begin path to Irish unity

Tonight the Dáil can take a major step towards Irish unity in our time. Tonight we can begin the final length of our national journey from peace to reunification. The Bill Sinn Féin brings before the Dáil this evening is historic. If passed it would be the first ever legislation directing government to start planning and preparing for a united Ireland. The Bill compels the Taoiseach to produce and publish a government green paper and set out its vision for reunification. It also establishes a first ever Citizens' Assembly all-Ireland on Irish unity to consider those proposals. It would put the work of uniting Ireland at the very heart of government and the Oireachtas. The story of our nation is the story of challenge, adversity and struggle. But more importantly it is a story of perseverance, hope and overcoming incredible odds. A story of enduring belief that a better future for Ireland is possible. That spirit is best reflected in the achievement of the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. 28 years ago leaders from all communities came together and made peace. The agreement brought conflict in Ireland to an end and to this day it stands as an historic international success story in peace building. It created space to acknowledge the hurt, pain and loss on all sides. To build a bridge of understanding, a pathway for healing and a process for real reconciliation. The Good Friday Agreement was about institutional arrangements and human rights standards. However, at the very core of the agreement is the provision of the right of all the people north and south to determine Ireland's future at the ballot box by way of referendums. And we now need to do the work necessary to plan and prepare for the people to vote on a united Ireland. We are nearly 30 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. There has been nothing rushed or hasty or pre-emptive about this process. Over the last three decades we've had big challenges, we've had disagreements, political confrontations, we have had highs and lows of that there is no doubt. However, the peace is secure, it is robust, resilient and commands wide support. And it's now time to write the next chapter, the chapter of reunification. We in Sinn Féin believe in partnership and collaboration. Michelle O'Neill leads the Executive with the determination to make politics work for everyone. But above all else, we believe that we must build Ireland's future together. Reunification is, of course, about removing the border. But not only that, it's about so much more. It's about seizing the moment and the opportunity to create a new deal for the people of Ireland, for every person on this island. A new deal for Protestants and Unionists which protects their British identity and replaces the bad treatment and abandonment from Westminster with real ownership, inclusion and respect as a full citizen. To have a real stake in the future where that British identity is secure. A new deal to break with the failures of the past and build a new republic that works for everyone, where prosperity and a secure life is open to every citizen. This new deal of reunification is about building a better life for workers and families right across Ireland. It's about harnessing the resources of the entire nation to build a better future but also to meet the big challenges of today. To ensure that every citizen, every family has a place to call home. It's the best way, I believe the only way, to deliver an all-Ireland public universal health service. Through unity we can build the best education and childcare systems for every child and young person. We can strengthen our public services, tackle poverty and build a fair society in which disabled people and those who care are supported to live full lives as equal citizens. Reunification provides us with the opportunity to use the engine of the all-Ireland economy to create jobs, to drive investment and secure a successful and dynamic economic future with world-class infrastructure. And Irish unity, very importantly, also represents a new deal for our young people. You see, too many generations have lived their lives in a partitioned Ireland. It has held back young people, it has curtailed potential and ambition. It has denied them their right to live in a unified nation with access to all of the possibilities that this can offer. And we say enough of that. We owe it to our young people to recognise unity as the historic opportunity of this time and to seize it with both hands. Now is the time to build a hopeful future for all the young people of Ireland, regardless of background, tradition, religion or identity. That is what reunification offers, but we must start the planning and the preparation now. That is what this Bill seeks to stimulate and advance. And any government truly focused on a better future would positively, indeed enthusiastically, draft and publish a Green Paper on a United Ireland. A positive vision covering all topics including public finance, taxation, public services, human rights, governance arrangements and of course relations between Britain and Ireland. The establishment of the Citizens' Assembly will be groundbreaking. It will bring together representatives from the people of Ireland from all communities because all citizens have a stake in our shared future. Allowing a debate on competing ideas and different perspectives on unity, encouraging debate on the shape of the future constitutional arrangements, facilitating discussion on the financial, social, economic and political challenges and solutions. It will be a forum for real discussion on what our new, united Ireland will look like. Taoiseach's position, often stated, is that reconciliation must happen before reunification. I respectfully suggest that that perspective downplays three decades of genuine reconciliation initiatives and real progress on the ground and in communities. I respectfully say that that perspective fails to recognise that discussing and planning our future together is the very essence of reconciliation. Reunification itself is a reconciliation process. You cannot separate one from the other, no more than tell the dancer from the dance. The question is often asked, can we afford unity? And my answer to that is simple. We can no longer afford partition. We can no longer afford the dislocation of north from south. We cannot miss the opportunity that unity presents in terms of economic scale, development and progress, but also when it comes to the organisation of our public services. The scale of change we are witnessing demands that we prepare for constitutional change and reunification. Britain's union is now under unprecedented pressure. We now have pro-independence First Ministers in the north of Ireland, in Scotland and in Wales, all of whom see a future beyond Westminster and the post-Brexit chaos that has dominated British politics, or more accurately, English politics, for a decade now. All who want a future where the people of our nations choose our destinies. That is our common cause. For us in Ireland, that means working towards and securing a date for referendums on Irish unity. And the government really shouldn't stand against this tide of change. It should embrace it, in fact it should lead it. Good government, after all, is about recognising threats and weaknesses, but more importantly about identifying opportunities and grasping them. We need to recognise that a united Ireland is the greatest opportunity of our generation. It is the big idea for our future. The question is not if there will be unity referendums, but when those referendums will be held. And the far bigger question is whether we will be prepared for an informed, inclusive process of transition. I want a process that is peaceful and orderly. And this demands that preparation start now. And that is what our legislation is about. It is the greatest opportunity of our generation. It is the biggest opportunity of our future. It is a new way of developing and supporting all of Ireland. We just need to keep pushing forward. We just need to plan and prepare for referendums. Now is the time. We are working hard, hard and determined to put an end to this tragedy and create a new public for the people. Partition failed the people of Ireland. And we all have our responsibility now to plan and prepare for unity. To lay the foundations of the nation we wish to pass on to our children and they to theirs. So let's not miss this moment. Let's work to ensure that the Government of Ireland and this Oireachtas becomes the lead driver of reunification in our time. Let's now walk this length of the journey with confidence, with hope and with real purpose. That is what this legislation is about. And it is with this unwavering belief in Ireland and in all of our people that I commend this legislation to the Dáil.