The British and Irish administrations have been “directly challenged” to engage in the “very necessary” preparations for a referendum on Irish unity.
Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald said she wants to see decisive action by 2030, contending there is a growing conversation both across Ireland as well as internationally.
She was speaking after US President Donald Trump said during a visit to Ireland last weekend that he would “love to see” Ireland unified, adding: “It’s going to happen eventually.”
Earlier this month Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a vote on Irish unity was “off the table” at this point in time.
On Monday in Cardiff, Ms McDonald and First Minister Michelle O’Neill, along with Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, pledged to make the case for “greater fairness” and power over the “constitutional futures” of their countries together.
Speaking to reporters at Stormont on Thursday, Ms McDonald said it has been a “big week for the conversation around Irish reunification”.
“I think we have seen evidence again that this conversation, this engagement is happening not just across Ireland but indeed internationally,” she said.
“I think questions have been asked, very direct questions of government in Dublin and in London, and I think there is now a direct challenge to their failure to engage in the very, very necessary preparations for a referendum on the future of our country.
“As we have said many many times we’re not so much fixated on a particular date for the referendum at this point but we are absolutely insistent that preparations need to happen now.
“This cannot be left on the never never, and we have set the timeline of 2030 for decisive action for a referendum to take place so we invite Micheál Martin, our Taoiseach, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham to actually take note and to listen.”
Referring to the meeting in Cardiff earlier this week, Ms McDonald said while the trajectories of Scotland and Wales are unique and different, they have in common “absolute determination that it is our right to decide our futures”.
“It is for the people of Ireland, all across the island, without interference or coercion, to make that call and it is very, very important that it is clearly understood and that that reality is acted upon,” she added.
Meanwhile, Ms McDonald said she would welcome Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows to an Ireland’s Future debate “with open arms”.
It comes after Mr Burrows challenged Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill to a debate on Irish unity, which Ms O’Neill accepted.
“We welcome everybody and anybody with any perspective or view to be part of this process, this conversation, this deliberation,” she said.
“As a matter of fact, it’s important for all of us to engage, but perhaps it’s especially important for people from the unionist, Protestant and loyalist tradition to actually get involved and to become engaged.
“We want to hear from everybody. We want to hear the challenge that will be put in respect our future. We want to hear different perspectives, this needs to be a dynamic and a diverse process.
“So I would encourage everybody, whether in the Ulster Unionist Party or beyond, people who are unionist perhaps with a small u who aren’t activists but who care about the future to please become involved in this.
“We’re facing into the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the provision for referenda is the beating heart of that agreement. There will be referenda, we will have a moment where we will decide, so let’s be prepared and let’s have reached out to each other and shared ideas.”
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