A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
On Monday evening, Friends of Sinn Féin hosted another successful Commission on the Future of Ireland. The event was hosted in the offices of LiUNA in Washington DC, a labor union with a long record of supporting the cause of peace, progress, and Irish Unity.
The event had been sold out weeks in advance and drew attendance from a diverse cross-section of the Irish diaspora and others. All were united in wanting to learn about Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement, and the potential for Irish Unity.
John Finucane MP laid out the pathway to unity as per the Good Friday Agreement via the securing and winning of referendums North and South. The North Belfast MP asserted that we now had the opportunity to meet these twin objectives. Securing the referendums would take activism, and winning the referendums would take planning and dialogue.
The question was not the “why” but the “how” of building a new and united Ireland. This led to an intense and informed tabletop discussion between all present.
Meanwhile, across the pond one of the major challenges to Irish unity was emerging. Simon Harris, the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and leader of the third largest party, Fine Gael, declared that Irish Unity was not a priority for him and he would not be working to secure the referendums promised in the Good Friday Agreement.
The Program for Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Geal makes no mention of planning and preparing for Irish Unity. An omission not missed by the former leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who recently wrote,
“Rather than unification as a commitment or objective there is a reference only to “unity of the Irish people”. There is no forum on reconciliation nor on what the future constitutional arrangements of a new Ireland might look like. It’s likely that the impetus to work towards and plan for unification will have to come from outside Leinster House”
Simon Harris had said out loud what the Programme for Government had been silent on.
This is a Government in denial of its constitutional obligations and responsibility to Irish Citizens. It may not be a priority for Simon Harris but it is for Irish Citizens throughout Ireland and abroad. Referendums are part and parcel of the Good Friday Agreement. Yet a leader in the Irish government believes that this aspect of the agreement is not a priority.
I find myself in the odd position of agreeing with Leo Varadkar that the impetus for Irish unity will have to come from outside of the Government in Dublin. That was also the view from the room in Washington. The US and Canada were vital partners in securing, protecting, and advancing the Good Friday Agreement. They will be central in securing unity referendums.
In six weeks’ time, the Irish Government will dispatch ministers across the globe and call on our diaspora to pull on a Green jersey. This Irish Government sees the diaspora as an asset to leverage. A group to be seen and not heard, a resource to be exploited and disregarded.
Irish Government ministers should be challenged to change course and begin to plan and prepare for unity.
That was the message from Washington.
Have a great weekend.
Is mise,
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America
