TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe Changing views on Irish unity represent historic opportunity

“A range of opinion polls in recent years have fairer and more progressive future for our confirmed a significant trend in rising support people. for Irish unity among citizens in the North. Now is the time for all of us who While opinion polls should always be treated believe a united Ireland will with caution, three important trends have been provide a better future - parties, discernible. community groups, trade unions, businesses and individuals - Firstly, there has been a consistent rise in the to work together to seize this proportion of people who say they would vote historic opportunity. for a united Ireland. We need to build popular support Secondly, this trend is most pronounced among for the demand for a referendum young people under 45 years-of-age. while also working patiently to convince those who disagree that And thirdly, the Brexit debacle is increasingly their interests will be represented shaping attitudes on this issue in the North, in a new Ireland, and that their voices with large numbers saying they are more likely will be heard and respected. to support Irish unity as a result of Brexit. The British and Irish governments must There now exists a historic opportunity for all now acknowledge changing attitudes and those of who support a united Ireland to act agree to hold a referendum on Irish unity together to win a referendum on Irish unity in so that the people can have their the near future, a right provided for under the say.” terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Brexit is clearly causing people to question the constitutional future of the North and encouraging support for an all-island economic, political and social framework. “Tá anois deis stairiúil ann dóibh siúd go The result of the recent Repeal the 8th referendum in the South has also influenced léir a thacaíonn le haontú na hÉireann attitudes in the North as it becomes clear that the North is being left further and further behind gníomhú le chéile le reifreann a bhaint when it comes to human rights. ar aontú na hÉireann go luath, ceart Sinn Féin has been organising conferences and engagements on the campaign for a referendum a ndéantar foráil dó faoi théarmaí on a United Ireland for many years now. But it is clear that many, many more people than those Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta.” of us in Sinn Féin are interested in building a

MATT CARTHY MEP UNITED IRELAND CAMPAIGN SINN FÉIN TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe

MESSAGE FROM SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT MARY LOU McDONALD TD

Shaping the future of our island requires open minds, fresh their experiences and to bring us closer together. thinking and bold action. A New Ireland must also be a place where women, where LGBT Irish Unity cannot be a crude exercise of simply stitching north citizens and where our new communities enjoy equality and to south and returning to business as usual. respect.

We need to build a New Ireland. I want us to secure a referendum on Irish Unity in next five years. I believe that such a referendum can be won and won An Ireland in which rights are guaranteed, cultures respected, well. It now a matter of winning hearts and changing minds. It and the diversity of our identities embraced. is a matter of demonstrating that a New and United Ireland is in all our interests and that it will be a place for all. An Ireland that houses it citizens, treats its sick, provides fair work and decent pay, and ensures a fair distribution of wealth. However, Irish Unity must be planned for. It must be argued for. And it must be worked for. Sinn Féin’s primary political objective is to construct a modern, equal all-Ireland republic – an agreed Ireland achieved by The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. So let us peaceful and democratic means. be courageous enough to reimagine Ireland.

Undoing Partition and its effects are central to the building of a Let us prepare, plan and work every day to see Irish Unity in truly modern, progressive, inclusive, open and forward-looking our time. society.

A referendum on a United Ireland is an explicit provision of the Good Friday Agreement, supported by an overwhelming majority of voters on this island two decades ago. Mary Lou McDonald TD In recent years, the conditions for the holding of such a referendum have increased dramatically.

Economic and social challenges, the civil rights of women and gay citizens and, of course, Brexit and the prospect of a hard border, are further exposing the fact that Partition does not serve the needs of our people, North or South.

Our vision is not restricted to ending partition. Irish Unity must also bring prosperity for ordinary people. A new and United Ireland, based on a republican vision, will deliver on such vision.

This means ensuring prosperity is shared. It means giving people security and formulating all-Ireland public policy that removes the constant vulnerability people are feeling today.

A New Ireland must have as its foundation stone the core belief that every single person has value, that every single person has rights and that every single person, despite our differences, is equal

The issue of Irish Unity is no longer simply a matter of Orange and Green. We are now a rainbow of colours. The unification of Ireland, without unity of our people, is meaningless.

Our New Ireland must also be a home to Unionists. Unionists must have the same sense of ownership and place as anybody else.

Without hiding my hopes, desires and ambition as a United Irelander, I will work every day to make friends with each and every unionist, to understand them as fellow human beings, to listen and engage with The next in the United Ireland conference series will take place on September 15th in An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.

The conference will be addressed by the Sinn Féin leadership, representatives from the unionist community, social and political commentators and local sports personalities. Save the date! TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND CONFERENCE An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny Saturday, September 15th Registration from 11am TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe Latest polls show surge in support for Unity

A number of recent opinion polls have How strongly, if at 58.6% 57.9% 56.7% shown a surge in support for a United all, do you identify Ireland. yourself as being? 46.7% The polls show support for a United Ireland IRISH increasing dramatically since Brexit, which Irish 58.6% saw people in the North of Ireland vote 57% Northern Irish 57.9% EUROPEAN in favour of Remaining in the EU. European 56.7% BRITISH

A poll by Lord Ashcroft Polls revealed 44% of British 46.7% NORTHERN IRISH people in the North would vote in favour of a united Ireland leaving the UK in the event of a referendum. LUCID TALK POLL FOR BBC MAY 2018 49% of respondents said they would vote to maintain the constitutional status quo while AMONG THOSE SURVEYED 7% said they did not know how they would UNDER THE AGE OF 45 vote. 13% DON’T KNOW Pollsters, who interviewed 1,666 adults in the North between May 24 and 28, revealed 45% 13% even those who opposed a united Ireland 42% STAY IN UK DON’T KNOW believed a referendum will be held. UNITED More than 8 in 10 Nationalists and 3 in 10 IRELAND 38% Unionists thought there would be a ‘border poll’ within the next decade. STAY IN UK The poll also spoke to voters in England, 49% Scotland and Wales, who said leaving the EU was more important than keeping the North UNITED of Ireland in the union. 45+4213 15% IRELAND Another recent opinion poll puts those who DIRECT want a united Ireland almost on par with those who want to maintain partition. RULE The online survey conducted by Lucid Talk for the BBC found that 45% of the people LUCID TALK POLL FOR in North of Ireland wanted to remain under 38BBC MAY 2018 +4913 British jurisdiction, while 42.1% said they 85% would like a United Ireland. 12.7% said they NO DIRECT didn’t know. RULE Lucid Talk’s Bill White said he believed the online survey method may catch more “shy” united Ireland supporters than face-to- face interviews used in other polls. Other interesting findings in the poll The polls show support for a United Ireland were: 15+85 increasing dramatically since Brexit, which saw Fewer people in the North think of themselves as British than in Scotland, people in the North of Ireland vote 57% in favour England or Wales. Just 46.7% see themselves as being British, compared of Remaining in the EU. to 58.6% who call themselves Irish. TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe

British Prime Minister’s comments are an admission that Unity referendum should be called Reports that The British Prime Minister, Theresa May believes her government would lose a referendum on Irish reunification are an admission that the threshold to hold such a vote has now been met, according to Sinn Féin Deputy leader Michelle O’Neill. O’Neill insisted that Theresa May has ‘no right’ to deny the people of Ireland the democratic entitlement to decide their own constitutional future. She was responding to reports that Theresa May told Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg that she would not be confident of winning such a referendum and it’s not ‘a risk I’m prepared to take’. Michelle O’Neill said: “If these reports are accurate, Theresa May is conceding that the Good Friday Agreement threshold for triggering a Unity poll has been met but that she isn’t prepared to allow the people of Ireland, North and South, to exercise their democratic right. “That is an appalling display of contempt for the democratic rights of Irish citizens. It is also a fundamental breach of the Good Friday Agreement which clearly provides for a referendum. Theresa May has no right to deny democratic entitlements to the people of Ireland, North and South. “Sinn Féin has raised the need for a Unity referendum with the British Government on numerous occasions over recent years, particularly in the wake of the Brexit vote. “On each occasion they have stated that they do not believe the threshold has been met but have repeatedly refused to clarify what criteria they use to reach this conclusion. “The Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent legislation states that a poll shall be held ‘if at any time it appears likely’ to the British Secretary of State that a majority in the North would vote to form part “Gach uair dúirt siad of a united Ireland. “There is nothing in that legislation that prevents a referendum from nach gcreideann siad taking place at any stage. However, even if you accept the British Government’s interpretation of the threshold, then Theresa May’s go bhfuil an tairseach comments are an admission that she believes the bar has now been sroichte ach dhiúltaigh reached. “However, rather than act on that by honouring her government’s siad arís agus arís commitments and allowing people to exercise their democratic rights, she has also indicated that she intends to actively prevent that from eile cad iad na critéir happening. a úsáideann siad leis “That is entirely unacceptable. It is an affront to the democratic rights of our people and the British Government must immediately clarify an gcinneadh seo a their position regarding their commitments to a Unity referendum in line with their legislative and Good Friday Agreement commitments.” dhéanamh. TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe United Ireland message heard in London After Brexit, what are the prospects for a united Ireland? What would an agreed Ireland look like? What role can the Irish in Britain play in the United Ireland campaign? These were some of the questions discussed at a recent major conference in London - ‘After Brexit – the prospects for a united Ireland’. The London meeting on 24th March was the latest in a series organised by Sinn Féin, the previous events being held in , Belfast and Cork. In her keynote address, Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD said Ireland was changing and that: “Political dialogue on the island is no longer between orange and green, but also the red of the Irish language lobby and colours of the rainbow in favour of same-sex marriage. Uniting Ireland, she said, “can’t be a crude exercise of stitching north to south” and reconciliation is as much about the future as the past. “The denial of democracy of the vote in the North The DUP-Conservative Party pact to remain demonstrates the reality of the union. at Westminster means unionism is supporting Brexit come what may. That It has re- energised the United Ireland debate.” some MPs are prepared to bin the Good Friday Agreement in pursuit of Brexit is unacceptable. “It is not their During a panel discussion entitled MEP said Sinn Féin is often agreement to bin,” she said. “It is a not a “What would an agreed Ireland look asked why they opposed the Lisbon and bargaining chip in a negotiation. These like?” political analyst and commentator other EU treaties in the past; they did issues need resolved now.” Concluding Patricia McBride referred to the Scottish so because they were bad for Ireland, her address, she said: “The denial of independence referendum of 2012 when just as Brexit is bad for Ireland. The democracy of the vote in the North to lots of people who voted ‘No’ were campaign for Irish unity isn’t one which remain demonstrates the reality of the afraid to “jump into the dark.” “Just people in London can sit and watch. union. It has re- energised the united like you need an architect to build a In the panel discussion Building a Ireland debate.” house”, she said, “Irish people need to campaign for Irish unity in Britain – the be assured that a united Ireland can be Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Michelle O’Neill missing piece in the peace process, a success”. MLA said that Ireland’s republican writer Geoff Bell said the tide of history are now entering a new and defining Peter Shirlow cautioned against is moving towards Irish unity. With Brexit political era where constructive assuming that unionists who were pro- Ireland the future of Ireland is being dialogue on the future among political remain in the Brexit referendum are debated more than ever – there needs opponents was essential. going to change their stance around to be an organisational framework Guest speaker Professor Peter Shirlow a united Ireland. The more liberal you in Britain that will advocate a united (Director and Chair of the Institute of are in the unionist community the less Ireland. It needs to “educate, agitate, Irish Studies, University of Liverpool) likely you are to vote – but if there was a organise.” border poll, you could come out to vote said Irish unity is now firmly on the Professor Mary Hickman (Chair, Votes against it. One thing we’re not great at agenda and that the conference showed for Irish Citizens’ Abroad campaign) in our society, he said, is listening; the that the debate can be respectful. “The said that the questions around what role for those who want to see a united onus is on all those who want a united kind of Ireland Sinn Féin wants are just Ireland to shape that change”, he said. Ireland is to listen. TOWARDS A UNITED IRELAND I dTreo Éire Aontaithe

“Níl an comhphlé polaitiúil ar an oileán idir oráiste agus glas a thuilleadh, ach idir dearg lucht na Gaeilge agus dathanna an bhogha báistí i bhfách le pósadh chomhghnéis.” as important as the question of a united Ireland. Many in the 26 Counties have become politicised by single issue in recent years such as with same-sex marriage and diaspora votes in presidential elections. These provide another way for re-imagining Ireland. Kevin Meagher said Irish unity is a question of when, not if – “it’s political physics.” In last year’s Assembly elections, fewer than 1,200 first preference votes separated the DUP and Sinn Féin; it’s not just votes, long-term population changes will have a role to play. With Brexit, Irish media on both sides of the border are full of chatter and the concept of Irish unity has become normalised. The Good Friday Agreement, he continued, says there is “one door out” – the choreography and framework for unity is already there. Not only should British parties make a manifesto commitment to allow a border poll in the next five years, they should also work closely with parties in Ireland to look at the practicalities of Irish unity. Both sides have their heads in the sand, galvanising the Irish in Britain is important. “It’s game on.” In closing remarks, TD noted that it had been a year since the death of Martin McGuinness. He said one of McGuinness’s greatest achievements was steering the peaceful strategy towards a united Ireland and that persuasion was now needed in order to get more people to share the vision for an agreed Ireland.