Government must publish a plan towards Irish unity - SF

A SF motion designed to pave the way towards Irish unity received unanimous support at the April meeting of Monaghan County Council – but drew criticism from FG councillor Sean Gilliland who saw it as having potential to antagonise unionist opinion in Northern Ireland.

The motion proposed that the local authority write to the Office of the Taoiseach seeking that the Irish Government plan and prepare for Irish unity by establishing an all-island representative citizens assembly “to allow for informed debate”. It also asked the Government produce and publish a plan towards Irish unity in conjunction with civic society and key stakeholders, engage with northern Protestant and Unionist opinion, and work to secure a date for a unity referendum.

Moving the motion, Cllr Pat Treanor (SF) said that, since the Good Friday Agreement, council members have worked very well with representatives of all parties in the North on cross-border bodies such as ICBAN and the East Border Region Committee.

The motion asked the Irish Government to advance the work of implementing the Good Friday Agreement in a number of ways, including the establishment of civic forums to further the debate on Irish unity.

“This conversation is already growing in local communities,” Cllr Treanor stated.

“The partition of our island has benefited no-one,” stated SF’s Cllr Niamh McCooey when seconding the motion. In County Monaghan, she added, partition was never an abstract but a lived reality.

Cllr McCooey said the motion called for sensible and thorough preparation so people are fully informed – the government must engage with all communities to ensure that every identity and culture is valued and protected.

She highlighted how the motion mirrored a similar SF motion brought forward in the Dáil in October, which was supported by FF and FG.

Cllr Seán Conlon (SF) said establishing a citizens assembly to facilitate debate is very important. For decades, he said, there has been engagement and mutual outreach on a cross-border basis.

He pointed to how Fine Gael Deputy for Cavan/Monaghan David Maxwell recently met the Northern Ireland Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt MLA of the UUP, to discuss cross-border healthcare.

Stating that the motion had nothing to do with the council, Cllr Seamus Treanor (Ind) said he was recently told by people from Northern Ireland that the Republic was only a colony of the EU. The motion is more relevant to a student union debate and passing it will not make any difference, he believed.

“We need to start convincing nationalist as well as unionist people in Northern Ireland about Irish unity,” Cllr Treanor added. “We need to get a million unionists on board as well as a lot of nationalists.”

Cllr Bronagh McAree (SF) said the motion is about more than just a vote but preparing to have services in place and systems set up should the Referendum pass.

The Cathaoirleach, Cllr P.J. O’Hanlon (FF) felt the most important part of the motion was the reference to engagement with Northern Protestant and unionist opinion. “We have to learn from the past and work together through a democratic process,” he stated.

Cllr O’Hanlon referred to the establishment of the Shared Island Initiative by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the commitment to a united Ireland of recently deceased former Government Minister Dr Rory O’Hanlon, “one of the greatest Republicans we ever had.”

Cllr Gilliland said he had no major issue with the merits of the motion but wondered about the need to place it before the council when it was already discussed at national level.

He highlighted how Sinn Fein is bringing a motion for a United Ireland when the representatives of one million unionists and Protestants are pretty much refusing to speak to the party in the political structures of Northern Ireland. Every time something like this happens, it enflames unionist and Protestant opinion in the North, he believed.

The FG representative said he wanted to see a motion like this put forward jointly by SF, the DUP and the UUP in Northern Ireland.

“The late John Hume always advocated bringing unionists and Protestants with us in everything we do,” stated Cllr Aidan Campbell (FG). “It would be good to see a motion like this coming forward from both sides and we should work towards that."