UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer cannot duck and dive on the question of Irish reunification and must instead commit to holding a referendum on constitutional change by 2030, the leader of Sinn Fein has insisted.
Mary Lou McDonald said the incoming government in Dublin must also take “urgent” steps to start planning for unity, including by creating the role of minister for unification.
The Sinn Fein president was commenting in Belfast as she published a report outlining the work of her own party’s Commission on the Future of Ireland.
Ms McDonald said her previously stated goal of having referenda on both sides of the Irish border by the end of the decade remained realistic, despite Sinn Fein failing to emerge victorious from the recent general election in Ireland and with the party appearing to have little realistic prospect of being part of the new coalition administration in Dublin.
She said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael – which are set to lead the new government – needed to publish a green paper on unification; appoint a minister for unity in the Department of the Taoiseach; set up a parliamentary committee to examine issues around constitutional change; and also form a citizens’ assembly to consider the same sort of questions.
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, a border poll should be called in Northern Ireland by the incumbent Northern Ireland Secretary when he/she believes there is evidence that public opinion in the region has shifted in favour of constitutional change. In that event, a simultaneous poll would also be held in the Republic of Ireland.
Successive UK governments have consistently declined to specify publicly what criteria will be applied when measuring public sentiment on the issue. Sir Keir has insisted the question of calling a referendum is “not even on the horizon”.
Ms McDonald said it was no longer tenable for the UK government to hold such a position.
I think the British Prime Minister, the incoming Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, now needs to be true to the obligations contained within that agreement. And that means you cannot simply duck and dive or pretend that you did not commit to referendums
“The referendums are provided for in the Good Friday Agreement,” she told the event in west Belfast.
“That is a binding agreement, both governments, both states, have signed this agreement. So the referendums are a reality of life. It’s not a question of will they happen. It is a question of timing. And I think the British Prime Minister, the incoming Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, now needs to be true to the obligations contained within that agreement. And that means you cannot simply duck and dive or pretend that you did not commit to referendums.
“It is there, frankly, in black and white in that agreement. So I hope and anticipate that with a new administration and new government coming into place in Dublin, with a new Labour-led government – remember the original champions of the Good Friday Agreement – we will see a positive advance and a new sense of realism around what needs to happen next.
“And, by the way, it is still my belief, it is still our belief that referendums must happen by the end of this decade. The process has moved on. It has evolved. But the process of reconciliation and building anew across the island always has to have impetus. It always has to have forward momentum.”
Ms McDonald said any citizens’ assembly that is established must fully reflect all shades of opinion within unionism.
She insisted there was a “significant section” of the unionist/Protestant population in Northern Ireland that was up for having the conversation around unity.
“We’re very clear that those of us who champion, who advance the cause of Irish reunification, and all of the collective opportunity that brings, have a job to convince, to engage, to reassure, to challenge and to be challenged,” she said.
“All of that work is still to be done. What we are marking today through the work of our own commission is the considerable work that has been done so far. But that’s not, by no means, the totality, much less the end of the story. And that’s where the role of the Irish government in particular is really, really important. We believe it to be a reasonable and responsible position that the Dublin government now needs to lead by example.”
