Time for a new initiative on Irish unity

When a series of Sinn Féin and SDLP delegation meetings during 1987 and 1988 ended, both Gerry Adams and John Hume, then leader of the SDLP, continued to meet privately.

Their dialogue became known as the Hume/Adams initiative, and culminated in agreement on shared principles, which included the need for a peaceful, democratic way forward to secure Irish national self-determination. 

The process was very important. It established an unprecedented national democratic consensus, which then influenced Irish government policy in the early 1990s, and foreshadowed the launch of the Downing Street Declaration by the Irish and British governments.

Hume/Adams was a catalyst. It helped to mould the political conditions which convinced the IRA leadership to declare its unilateral ceasefire in August 1994 and also helped prepare the way for the multi-party talks which created the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). 

We have come a long way since the era of Hume/Adams, but it still provides a valuable reference point.

Today the north is unrecognisable.

The staging of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026, in Belfast with its amazing positivity and unprecedented popular participation from every section and part of Irish society, north and south, powerfully exemplifies this reality. 

The Fleadh projects a vision of what a shared future can look like for everyone who calls Ireland their home. 

The GFA remains the framework for managing political and constitutional change.

British and Irish politics have been and remain in constant flux.

In the southern state, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are in their second term of coalition government, while Sinn Féin has become the largest party in all of Ireland.

The two-party system in Britain has ended. Reform has the potential to become a new political third force.

Significantly, elections in May returned nationalist-led administrations in both Scotland and Wales. Nationalists now hold First Minister positions in these countries and the north of Ireland.

A paradigm shift has occurred.

A few weeks ago, Andy Burnham became the seventh British Prime Minister in ten years.

Since then, he has spoken about making politics work for people, tackling cost of living pressures, and ending neo liberalism.

The changed political landscape is unavoidable. He will have to come to terms with the demand for independence in Scotland and Wales, and momentum for Irish unity.

The policy of successive British governments towards the north of Ireland was and is disastrous.

Arguably, Burnham has an opportunity to introduce a new approach.

Sinn Féin will judge him by his actions.

The acid tests will be whether he commits to a just resolution of legacy issues, provides a fair funding model for the power sharing Executive, guarantees full implementation of the GFA, and finally addresses partition by setting a date for a unity referendum.

Constitutional change is on the political horizon.

Increasing numbers of citizens from the protestant section of the northern society are engaging with and giving leadership on the question of Irish unity. 

It makes no sense for political unionism to try and ignore the change which is happening. Unionist parties should join the debate.

Sinn Féin is unambiguous; unionist and protestant people must exercise a fundamental political and social influence in the creation, and governance of a future United Ireland.

In July, Sinn Féin tabled a Bill on Irish unity in Dáil Éireann. It called for the setting up of a Citizens’ Assembly and the Irish government to plan and prepare for reunification.

This followed on from an All Party Joint Oireachtas Report on Irish unity in July 2024.

That was an unprecedented development which confirmed an all-party consensus on the imperative of government planning for a united Ireland.

Although the Sinn Féin Bill did not pass on this occasion, it will be brought back to the Dáil before the end of 2026.

Indeed, prior to the Dáil recess in July, a full debate occurred on the economics of reunification. 

The political momentum for Irish unity is growing. 

It is clear that Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin is the single biggest impediment to this Irish government embracing its constitutional obligation to proactively support Irish unity.

By contrast, the Tánaiste (deputy Prime Minister) and leader of Fine Gael, Simon Harris, has announced his party will launch a blueprint, or roadmap, for Irish unity at its conference in November.

The significance of this development should not be underestimated.

It contrasts sharply with the attempts by Micheál Martin to suffocate calls within his own party, Fianna Fáil, for a more proactive Irish unity strategy.

In the meantime, Sinn Féin President, Mary Lou McDonald and Simon Harris have met to discuss how preparations for Irish unity can be advanced. 

Both Sinn Féin and the SDLP have been organising constructive and well attended public engagements on building a new Ireland under the auspices of their respective Party Commissions on the future of Ireland. 

There is widespread acceptance and recognition in Irish civic society of the need for a structured discussion on constitutional change, to pave the way for a unity referendum, and create the legislative modalities for a transition to Irish unity.

However, power rests with the British government to set a date for that unity referendum.

As the 30th anniversary of the GFA approaches, its refusal to do so is untenable.

But no British government will be shifted from this undemocratic position until it is pressured to do so.

Irish unity is the big idea of our time.

Self-determination is the means to bring it about. 

The full focus of Irish political and civic opinion must now be brought to bear on realising this objective.

Asserting and securing the right to self-determination should be above party-political differences.

Reunification and reconciliation are the next phase of our national journey.

In the past the Hume/Adams initiative demonstrated that through genuine dialogue it was possible to get agreement on shared national democratic principles, despite seemingly insurmountable challenges. 

The Hume/Adams experience should be a present-day incentive for all parties within the national democratic tradition, including the Irish government, to affirm political principles and objectives for the achievement of Irish unity. 

It is time for all strands of Irish national democratic opinion to gather in a single political forum or convention to deliberate, agree, and, then speak with one voice on how to plan for Irish unity, and initiate the constitutional transition.

This could shape the terms of a new conversation between the Irish and British governments to end partition, jointly manage transfer of sovereignty over the north to the Irish state, and address the future relationship between these islands.

National democratic consensus was crucial to delivering the Irish peace process. 

A new initiative informed by that seminal experience can today bring momentum to achieving the right to exercise Irish national self-determination, and begin the transition to a reconciled, united Ireland.