Irish Unity - the momentum is not stalling

No matter how much its opponents wish it to go away the political momentum towards Irish Unity is not stalling. It crosses party lines and even within parties its impact is highly significant.

Writing in the Sunday Times this week, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar urges preparation for Irish Unity and promotes its benefits. This comes a month after Varadkar’s successor as Fine Gael leader, now Tánaiste Simon Harris, said of Unity: “It is not where my priority is in my role as Tánaiste".

In between those two statements were more opinion polls showing the closing gap between supporters and opponents of Irish Unity in the Six Counties, while on the other side of the border clear majorities both favour unity and say it is important to prepare for it. 

One of the most interesting poll findings was one which showed a significant growth in the the number ‘Northern Ireland Protestants’ who say that in the event of a referendum result for Unity they would either ‘happily accept it’ (29%) or would not be happy ‘but could live with it’ (48%). 

In his article Varadkar points out that support for Unity is not levelling off or falling as some might expect. Quite the opposite. He says there is a strong economic case for Unity but that even if there wasn’t he would support it. He urges preparation and the setting aside by the Irish government of a fund to help smooth the transition to a new United Ireland. 

Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney MLA welcomed Varadkar’s statement and said:

“His remarks are further evidence of the overall momentum for constitutional change in Ireland, within Irish America, and throughout the global Irish diaspora.

“The former Taoiseach has correctly identified the attitudinal shifts taking place particularly in the north, where the unionist parties are now a political minority in the assembly, at Westminster and at local government.

“While Leo Varadkar points out that reunification is not inevitable, he asserts that the case for constitutional change has to be made and proactively taken forward. That must be done by engaging with all of the public policy issues which impact on people’s lives.

“The Irish government needs to listen carefully to the public discourse on Irish unity and develop a strategy to plan and prepare for constitutional change. The government should change its approach now and prioritise reunification as a political objective.” 

Of course the opponents of Unity and the cynics are not about to roll over and concede defeat. The same Sunday Times puts a heavy spin on what it describes as a leaked Department of Social Protection working paper claiming to show the cost of harmonising social welfare payments in the event of Unity. This is presented in a manner designed to cause concern among taxpayers in the 26 Counties.

• Dublin Sinn Féin activists in Belfast at the weekend 

But as it is a ‘leaked’ document - and a seemingly incomplete one at that - it needs to be handled with extreme caution. It is reported that former Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys ordered the study to be done. In one way this is positive as it indicates a willingness to prepare for Unity. However, it also exposes the lack of an all-of-Government approach to Unity. 

As Sinn Féin has repeatedly argued, we need preparations across all Government departments, driven by a senior Cabinet Minister, and reporting to an Oireachtas Committee on Irish Unity. This would ensure that all the benefits and costs of Unity could be properly assessed. A piecemeal approach runs the risk of the kind of leaking and spinning we see in this Sunday Times report. 

Meanwhile the steady work on the ground of  building towards a referendum and a successful outcome is continuing. At the weekend Dublin Sinn Féin activists joined their Belfast comrades on the doorsteps promoting the demand for a Citizens Assembly on Irish Unity.