SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP has welcomed the growing recognition among the Irish Government parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, of the need for serious and structured preparation for Ireland’s constitutional future.
Following the Taoiseach’s announcement of a new body to examine potential constitutional futures and ahead of Fine Gael’s plans to publish a blueprint on Irish unity next weekend, the SDLP Party Leader has written to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris urging the Government to build on these developments through an inclusive process of political and civic engagement, and for the two parties to work together on this important issue along with others including the SDLP.
Claire Hanna MP said:
“There is a welcome shift taking place within the Irish Government parties towards more serious and structured preparation for our constitutional future.
“The commitments emerging from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael reflect a growing recognition that the future of our island is too important to be left to any one party or political tradition, or reduced to arguments about the timing of a border poll.
“The SDLP has long argued that those who aspire to Irish unity have a responsibility to do the substantial work required to make it possible. That means building relationships, answering difficult questions and creating the conditions in which people from different backgrounds can see themselves in a shared future.
“As Irish nationalists who have spent our lives working within a constitutional arrangement that is not our preferred one, we understand the importance of protecting people’s identity, culture and rights regardless of the constitutional framework in which they live.
“That experience must inform how we approach constitutional change. A New Ireland cannot simply replace one set of constitutional arrangements with another without addressing the questions of identity, belonging and reconciliation that have shaped this island for generations.
“That is why I have written to the Taoiseach and Tanaiste proposing a process akin to the New Ireland Forum, bringing political parties and civic society together to identify common ground, explore areas of disagreement and begin addressing the practical questions that constitutional change would bring.
“Crucially, those who are uncertain about constitutional change, or who favour maintaining the Union, must have a meaningful opportunity to shape that conversation from the beginning.
“But we cannot afford to spend the next decade simply discussing what the future might look like while failing to improve the present.
“We have also urged the Irish Government to progress a series of ‘no regrets actions’ — practical investments in infrastructure, economic cooperation and public services that will deliver lasting benefits regardless of our constitutional future. There is enormous potential in the all-island economy that has yet to be realised through deliberate and coordinated action.
“Next Wednesday in Dublin, the SDLP will launch Politics for the Common Good: Beyond Constant Crisis, setting out our proposals to stabilise and reform government in Northern Ireland, strengthen accountability and ensure our political institutions are capable of delivering for people today.
“Our ambition is a New Ireland, with a better Northern Ireland along the way. These are not competing objectives. Reconciliation, reform and preparation for constitutional change are all part of the same project.
“The movement we are seeing from the Irish Government parties creates an opportunity to move beyond individual party positions towards a serious, inclusive and sustained programme of work.
“The SDLP stands ready to play its part. The measure of progress will not simply be the number of reports or blueprints produced, but whether we begin the practical work of building a more reconciled, prosperous and inclusive island.”
