The Alliance Party is among 10 of Ireland’s main political parties that are “all on the same ground” when it comes to planning and preparing for constitutional change, Sinn Féin’s national chairperson has said.
Declan Kearney said the “new political consensus” meant that “in the very near term” the government in Dublin would commit to Irish unity.
He welcomed last week’s remarks by Leo Varadkar, in which the former taoiseach said ending partition should be an objective rather than an aspiration.
The Sinn Féin MLA said the comments were “very important and very significant”.
Mr Kearney said pursuing the objective of Irish unity was not conditional on Sinn Féin being part of the southern administration.
“I think that it is a democratic requirement on the next Dublin government, whoever leads that government, to step up to the plate and in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement accept its responsibility to see full implementation, including the setting of a date for a unity referendum, and to commence a conversation with this new British government about how they can develop between them a joint intergovernmental roadmap that can actually begin the conversation about what planning and preparing means in practical terms,” he told The Irish News.
The South Antrim MLA called on the British government to engage in the conversation about potential Irish unity and to begin by setting out the criteria for a border poll.
“It’s an untenable situation, particularly with the changed material conditions here on the island of Ireland, with the new consensus shared among ten political parties, including the Alliance Party in the north, which is now open to a conversation about planning and preparing,” he said.
“It’s not tenable for the British government to ignore those realities and say they are no longer prepared to set criteria for a unity referendum.”
