Call for council to write to Taoiseach urging a Citizen’s Assembly on Irish Unity branded ‘partitionist’
A call for South Dublin County Council to write to the Taoiseach urging the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish unity has been branded “partitionist” during a heated council debate.
At the local authority’s July meeting, Sinn Féin councillor William Carey proposed that the council writes to Taoiseach Micheál Martin asking the Government to “plan and prepare” for Irish unity by establishing an all-island Citizens’ Assembly.
A Citizens’ Assembly is made up of 99 citizens and a moderator, usually an expert, who examine a topic in depth before reporting back with recommendations to the Government.
Previous Citizens’ Assemblies in the Republic have examined issues including abortion laws and the future of drug policy in Ireland.
Speaking at the meeting on July 13, Cllr Carey said: “We have witnessed Britain voting to exit the EU, while the people in the north of our country clearly expressed their rejection of that path and to remain with those of us in the EU in the south.
“There are clearly reasons for us now to unify, not only for social reasons but for the economic benefit of the island of Ireland.”
He said public discussion on Irish unity had grown significantly since the Good Friday Agreement.
“Over the past 28 years, we have witnessed a growing debate in civil society about what a united Ireland would look like and what it would mean both for those who aspire to Irish unity and for those who wish to maintain their British citizenship.
“These questions can only be answered through open debate by bringing together stakeholders who represent the broad spectrum of people on this island.”
According to the councillor, similar motions had already been supported by 17 local authorities across the Republic.
“I believe the time is right to have these discussions now in the south, and bodies such as ours should fully engage and offer our thoughts and proposals for the future of the island of Ireland,” he added.
However, Fine Gael councillor David McManus proposed an amendment calling for the council to also write to Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
“I agree with a lot of the motion that’s in front of us. Unfortunately, it’s quite partitionist in its attitude, in that it puts focus on Taoiseach Micheál Martin when we have another government in Belfast led by Michelle O’Neill, and the power to hold the referendum is actually held in London by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,” he said.
“So we do need to have a broader conversation as to who’s involved in the decision-making, and I welcome the interest from Sinn Féin in the United Ireland.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Yvonne Collins backed the amendment, saying any discussion on Irish unity must be “inclusive”.
“It is important to be as inclusive as possible and to recognise all of the stakeholders involved,” she said.
“If our aspiration is Irish reunification, we have a huge amount of work to do to make sure that we bring everybody with us, that we don’t have disaffected communities, and that we’re not storing up trouble for ourselves in the long term.
“We cannot exclude anybody because if we truly want reunification, if we truly want to have a shared island, then this is the route that we have to take.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Emma Murphy said it was within the council’s remit to write to whoever it wished.
“It is within our remit to write to whoever we want. If we want to write to Donald Trump and ask him, ‘will you back this as well?’ we can do that too,” she said.
“We’re not boxed in in any way, shape or form. In my opinion, asking on a holistic basis is much stronger than asking on a really narrow basis.”
Meanwhile before the amended motion was passed, Cllr Carey rejected the suggestion that his original proposal was partitionist.
“I find that odd and strange,” he said.
“If I’m guilty of that, then I’m guilty of something that was imposed upon us by a foreign government.”