Brian Stanley: Reunification must be an absolute priority

Thanks Ciann Comhairle, could I just ask in a point of order that there's no senior minister present at the moment for this debate We have no senior minister present for this debate here at the moment And I think it's a poor sign of how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael treat this subject Ciann Comhairle, the national reunification of the territory needs to be made an absolute priority. It's 105 years since partition. Partition that was created by Britain, that created an artificial sectarian state which has held back and retarded this country, economically, socially and politically for far too long And while I welcome the proposals to move forward on reunification this bill is very minimalist and very limited. Much more is required than the Green Paper and a Citizens Assembly 105 years after partition. It's over 28 years since the Good Friday Agreement which provides for the holding of a referendum on national reunification Those of us who believe in the United Ireland and some of us who have spent all our adult life working for a 32-county republic And I'd say to people in Fianna Fáil who say they believe in it, should step up matters a couple of gears We need to build a republic where workers and families have their fair share and good public services The most recent opinion polls show that an increased number of people north and south see the merits of national reunification The question now is not can we afford it, but can we afford not to reunify the national territory? More and more the economics of it stack up and make sense As a small country of just over 7 million people on the northwestern flank of Europe It makes absolutely no economic, social or political sense to continue with a border that was imposed under threat of immediate and terrible war by another state, by a foreign state There is simply no logic to having 75% of the country in the European Union and the remainder of it excluded And Brexit has exposed the difficulties with that and how ridiculous it is And while the six counties remained just about in the EU single market for trades and goods It's excluded from the EU and the single market in every other way Including having no representation in the European Parliament And I haven't heard any party raising this, including the largest opposition party, which is surprising There is no logic to having two currencies, two revenue systems, two sets of government departments 14 in total, working back to back, two police services, two transport systems and so on and so on All of this works against efficiency, coordination and economies of scale A citizens assembly is a very limited proposal and while I'll be supporting the motion What we should have is a commission on the future of the nation This should be representative of the assembly and it all All parties, all parties, north and south, including the significant number of independent MLAs and TDs Should have a representative on that It should hold hearings with various sectors such as the trade union movement The agriculture sector, health sectors, north and south Aiming towards creating an all-Ireland, an all-Ireland national health system Environmental lobbies, local councillors and local government Education, the housing sector, transport energy and so on This will be with a view to increasing cooperation in all these areas And that's not something that we need to wait for a green paper or a citizens assembly for The government and all of us should be working towards that now, north and south While some work has been done in cooperation The Narrow Water Bridge and moves towards getting the A5 in place at last And the Ulster Canal, that has to be accelerated Along with a whole lot of other areas to the benefit of people north and south Six all-Ireland bodies were created under the Good Friday Agreement Waterways Ireland, Food Safety Authority Board, Inter-Trade Ireland and Forest Changa Gaeilge Irish Locks and Lights Commission and EU Implementation Body But there is provision for others to be created and this should be pursued And what's the government doing about it? To have even a senior minister here, never mind a Taoiseach here tonight To listen to this debate The all-Ireland energy system is an area for immediate cooperation and priority And in particular in the area of renewables And the north-south interconnector should not be delayed any further And parties that say they're for a united Ireland can't have it both ways On the one hand championing a united Ireland And on the other hand frustrating the construction of this vital north-south infrastructure And in conclusion, a reunified Ireland has to be based on social justice Where workers are protected And families are protected With good public services And be an inclusive republic It has to be the republic of Fintan Nallar And finally more so than the republic of Griffiths It's long past the time we need to move it on and get on with it