By U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal
This year, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, a defining moment that has changed the course of world history. With the establishment of a democratic republic, the United States has conducted a bold experiment in representative democracy for the last two and a half centuries, one that remains a loud and spirited work in progress to this very day.
In many ways, the American story and the Irish story are intertwined; they are one story.
In recent times, Irish America has played an indispensable role in the effort to bring peace and reconciliation to the island of Ireland. The historic Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of discord, remains one of the United States’ greatest foreign policy achievements in recent memory. It is undoubtedly a template for successful conflict resolution worldwide. Many Irish Americans, including right here in western and central Massachusetts, took great risks for peace and helped change the course of history forever.
For the nearly 40 million Americans who claim Irish heritage, this shared history is not simply something to celebrate.
Rather, it is something that calls us to action. Just as Ireland’s people helped shape America’s rise over the last 250 years, the United States has and must continue to play a vital role in Ireland’s journey. We are entering a new chapter of our shared story, and with that comes a new challenge, one that requires our collective attention: Irish unification.
As guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, we must start a robust conversation here in the United States about the prospects of a united Ireland. Or what my great friend, Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume, called “a New Ireland.”
On both sides of the Atlantic, a conversation on the planning for such a constitutional outcome is essential. With demographics and perspectives on the island of Ireland rapidly changing, a conversation on the prospect of a united Ireland is essential. Let us learn from the lessons of Brexit that a lack of strategic planning can have consequential and far-reaching consequences, both economically and politically.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, is chair of the Congressional Friends of Ireland Caucus.
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