Mayo councillors back call to prepare for Irish unity referendum
Mayo County Council has passed a motion formally recognising that the reunification of Ireland is an objective of the Irish Constitution, and it will now write to An Taoiseach to ask the Government to begin planning and preparing for Irish unity.
The motion was tabled by Sinn Féin councillor Gerry Murray, who welcomed the fact that Mayo became the 12th local authority to pass such a motion.
Cllr Murray said it was important to start preparations now, as the conversation around a unity referendum is “very much alive and growing”.
“No one wants to be bounced into a United Ireland without proper research,” he said, referring to the abject failure of the Brexit referendum campaigns.
In its letter to An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, the council will call on the Government to take a number of steps to prepare for a referendum, including: establishing an all-island representative Citizens' Assembly to facilitate informed debates, setting up a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Irish Unity to allow for careful planning, and publishing a plan on Irish Unity “in conjunction with civic society and key stakeholders”.
The council will also urge the Government to engage with Protestant and unionist communities in Northern Ireland on the future of the island, and to work towards securing a date for a referendum on unity.
The motion highlights that the Good Friday Agreement provides “the democratic and peaceful means to achieve reunification through the provision of unity referendums”, and recognises that discussions around constitutional change are growing “with people from diverse backgrounds now exploring the possibility of Irish unity”.
The motion was seconded by independent Cllr Harry Barrett and agreed by the chamber. Similar motions are set to be brought before each local authority as part of a wider campaign.
Chris MacManus, former Sinn Féin councillor in Sligo, former MEP for the Midlands North West constituency, and now Local Government Coordinator for the Uniting Ireland Committee, has been overseeing the rollout of the campaign.
He explained the importance of beginning the process now and ensuring that all sectors of society are included in the discussion, adding that the aim of putting these motions forward is to ensure preparations take place at every level of government.
“There has to be a proper discussion, and a wide public debate to ensure that when people go to vote in a referendum, they know exactly what it is they’re voting for, so there is no uncertainty with regard to what a united Ireland would be.
“We don’t want to have a situation like we had with Brexit where people go in to vote, but they weren’t exactly sure what it was [they were voting for],” he explained.
“A united Ireland isn’t just a geographical unity of six counties and 26 counties, it is much more than that,” he added.
Mr MacManus said any future planning process would need to address a wide range of issues, including healthcare, the economy, education, local government structures and human rights, with participation from “every part of society, both North and South”.
He stressed the importance of giving voters clarity ahead of any referendum, and said this requires establishing citizens' assemblies that involve all sectors of society.
Referring to the aftermath of Brexit, Mr MacManus said that once Britain had voted to leave the EU, it then became clear there were significant gaps in public understanding and planning.
“The uncertainty it created and all the problems that manifested out of it could’ve been dealt with beforehand if people knew exactly what it was they were voting for,” he said.
He added that local authorities have a key role to play in broadening the conversation.
“There should be no forum in society that is off limits in regards to discussion. There should be discussions on Irish Unity at every single level [of Government],” he said.
Mr MacManus said that by bringing forward motions through local authorities across Ireland calling on the Government to prepare for Irish unity, they are “putting in place the foundations for those discussions”.
“What we are doing now is recognising there is going to be a referendum, I think most people accept that it’s not too far down the road, and we need to start having these discussions now,” he said.
He also pointed to a shift in political discourse over the past decade, with Irish unity moving into the mainstream.
“I think anybody who has been watching politics in Ireland over the past 10 years has noticed the change in tone in terms of the debate on Irish Unity. Many years ago, it would’ve been seen as something that was not exactly in the mainstream political debate,
“Once Brexit came and it showed the difficulties with Britain’s border in Ireland, I think it accelerated that discussion,” he said.
He added that the topic has become “front and centre of political discourse” and explained that conversations around Irish Unity are “happening behind closed doors and in private conversations, in rooms up and down the country”.
“The debate is growing, and it is only a matter of time until we get to the stage of [holding] a referendum.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.