Planning for Constitutional Change Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time".

Tonight, the Dáil can take a major step towards Irish unity in our time. Tonight, we can begin the final length of our national journey from peace to reunification. The Bill that Sinn Féin brings before the Dáil this evening is historic. If passed, it would be the first ever legislation directing the Government to start planning and preparing for a united Ireland. The Bill compels the Taoiseach to produce and publish a Government Green Paper and set out its vision for reunification. It also establishes a first ever citizens' assembly - all-island - on Irish unity to consider those proposals. It would put the work of uniting Ireland at the very heart of the Government and the Oireachtas. The story of our nation is the story of challenge, adversity and struggle, but more importantly, it is a story of perseverance, hope and overcoming incredible odds. It is a story of enduring belief that a better future for Ireland is possible. That spirit is best reflected in the achievement of the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Twenty-eight years ago, leaders from all communities came together and made peace. The agreement brought conflict in Ireland to an end, and to this day it stands as a historic international success story in peace building. It created space to acknowledge the hurt, pain and loss on all sides, to build a bridge of understanding, a pathway for healing and a process for real reconciliation.

The Good Friday Agreement was about institutional arrangements and human rights standards. However, at the very core of the agreement is the provision of the right of all the people, North and South, to determine Ireland's future at the ballot box by way of referendums. We now need to do the work necessary to plan and prepare for the people to vote on a united Ireland. We are nearly 30 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. There has been nothing rushed, hasty or pre-emptive about this process. Over the past three decades, we have had big challenges. We have had disagreements and political confrontations. We have had highs and lows. Of that, there is no doubt. However, the peace is secure. It is robust, resilient and commands wide support. It is now time to write the next chapter, the chapter of reunification.

We in Sinn Féin believe in partnership and collaboration. Michelle O'Neill leads the Executive with the determination to make politics work for everyone. Above all else, we believe that we must build Ireland's future together. Reunification is, of course, about removing the Border, but not only that, it is about so much more. It is about seizing the moment and opportunity to create a new deal for the people of Ireland and every person on this island; a new deal for Protestants and unionists which protects their British identity and replaces the bad treatment and abandonment by Westminster with real ownership, inclusion and respect as a full citizen to have a real stake in the future where that British identity is secure; a new deal to break with the failures of the past and build a new republic that works for everyone where prosperity and a secure life is open to every citizen.

This new deal of reunification is about building a better life for workers and families right across Ireland. It is about harnessing the resources of the entire nation to build a better future but also to meet the big challenges of today, and to ensure that every citizen and family have a place to call home. It is the best way - the only way - to deliver an all-Ireland public universal health service. Through unity, we can build the best education and childcare systems for every child and young person. We can strengthen our public services, tackle poverty and build a fair society in which disabled people and those who care are supported to live full lives as equal citizens. Reunification provides us with the opportunity to use the engine of the all-island economy to create jobs, drive investment and secure a successful and dynamic economic future with world-class infrastructure. Irish unity very importantly also represents a new deal for our young people. Too many generations have lived their lives in a partitioned Ireland. It has held back young people. It has curtailed potential and ambition. It has denied them their right to live in a unified nation with access to all the possibilities that this can offer. We say, "Enough of that." We owe it to our young people to recognise unity as the historic opportunity of this time and to seize it with both hands. Now is the time to build a hopeful future for all the young people of Ireland regardless of background, tradition, religion or identity. That is what reunification offers, but we must start the planning and preparation now. That is what this Bill seeks to stimulate and advance.

Any government truly focused on a better future would positively - indeed, enthusiastically - draft and publish a Green Paper on a united Ireland, a positive vision covering all topics including public finance, taxation, public services, human rights, governance arrangements and, of course, relations between Britain and Ireland. The establishment of the citizens' assembly will be groundbreaking. It will bring together representatives from the people of Ireland from all communities because all citizens have a stake in our shared future. It will allow a debate on competing ideas and different perspectives on unity, encourage debate on the shape of the future constitutional arrangements and facilitate discussion on the financial, social, economic and political challenges and solutions. It will be a forum for real discussion on what our new united Ireland will look like.

The Taoiseach's position, often stated, is that reconciliation must happen before reunification. I respectfully suggest that perspective downplays three decades of genuine reconciliation initiatives and real progress on the ground and in communities. That perspective fails to recognise that discussing and planning our future together is the very essence of reconciliation. Reunification itself is a reconciliation process. You cannot separate one from the other, no more than tell the dancer from the dance. The question is often asked, "Can we afford unity?" My answer to that is simple. We can no longer afford partition. We can no longer afford the dislocation of North from South. We cannot miss the opportunity that unity presents in terms of economic scale, development and progress, but also when it comes to the organisation of our public services. The scale of change we are witnessing demands that we prepare for constitutional change and reunification. Britain's union is now under unprecedented pressure. We now have pro-independence First Ministers in the North of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, all of whom see a future beyond Westminster and the post-Brexit chaos that has dominated British politics, or more accurately English politics, for a decade now; all who want a future where the people of our nations choose our destinies. That is our common cause. For us in Ireland, that means working towards and securing a date for referendums on Irish unity.

The Government really should not stand against this tide of change; it should embrace it. In fact, it should lead it. Good government, after all, is about recognising threats and weaknesses but more importantly identifying opportunities and grasping them. We need to recognise that a united Ireland is the greatest opportunity of our generation. It is the big idea for our future. The question is not if there will be unity referendums but when those referendums will be held. The far bigger question is whether we will be prepared for an informed, inclusive process of transition. I want a process that is peaceful and orderly and this demands that preparations start now and that is what our legislation is about.

Is í aontacht na hÉireann an deis is mó atá ag ár nglúin. Is í an fhís mhór í do thodhchaí ár dtíre. Is ré nua í d’oibrithe agus teaghlaigh ar fud na hÉireann. Ní mór dúinn an deis a thapú go huile is go hiomlán. Ní mór dúinn pleanáil agus ullmhú do reifreann aontachta. Is é anois an t-am. Taispeánaimis misneach, fís agus diongbháilteacht chun deireadh a chur leis an deighilt agus Poblacht nua a thógáil do chách.

Partition failed the people of Ireland. We all have our responsibility now to plan and prepare for unity and to lay the foundations of the nation we wish to pass on to our children and they to theirs, so let us not miss this moment. Let us work to ensure the Government of Ireland and this Oireachtas become the lead driver of reunification in our time. Let us now walk this length of the journey with confidence, hope and real purpose. That is what this legislation is about. It is with this unwavering belief in Ireland and in all of our people that I commend this legislation to the Dáil.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

There are moments in the life of every nation when history presents a choice. Ours is the Irish generation that is living through one of those moments. For the first time in a century, the prospect of Irish unity is no longer a distant aspiration. It is a real, democratic possibility. The question before us today is not whether that day will come but it is whether we will prepare for it. Planning is the duty of every government - to plan and to explore the opportunities unity brings in areas such as healthcare, education, public services, the economy and much more. A failure to plan is a failure of leadership. Sinn Féin's Bill calls on us to prepare, to begin that work now and to ensure that when the moment comes and people go to cast their votes in a unity referendum, they will do so with confidence, knowledge and hope.

For generations, countless Irish men and Irish women dedicated their lives to the cause of Irish freedom and unity. Many endured prison, hardship and loss. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. The responsibility entrusted on this generation is different. We are not being asked to win the opportunity to shape Ireland's future. That opportunity has already been secured through the Good Friday Agreement. Our duty is to prepare for it with wisdom, confidence and respect. What an opportunity lies before us; an Ireland where every identity is respected, every citizen is valued equally and every community has its place. It would be an Ireland that unlocks the full potential of our economy, our people and our shared future.

This is about building the future of our country; a future better than the past, a future founded on unity, reconciliation, equality and respect. It would be a future that embraces our unionist fellow countrymen and women because a united Ireland belongs to everyone who shares this island. History, a chairde, has brought us to this point. The future now calls on us to lead. Others may choose to stand still; we choose to prepare with confidence, ambition and hope. Let us begin together the work of building a truly equal, free and united Ireland - a real republic worthy of its name - because it is up to us in this House to finish the job.

Deputy Sorca Clarke

Every time my constituents speak to me about what matters most to them, they talk about their children. They ask whether they will be able to buy a house with the pressures they are facing as a family. Essentially, what they are asking is whether tomorrow can be better than today. Every one of those conversations leaves me with the same thought. People are looking for hope. They are looking for leadership. Politics asks us to solve today's problems but leadership asks us to prepare for tomorrow. Constitutional change is a democratic opportunity of the Good Friday Agreement and the Government has a duty to prepare responsibly, openly and inclusively. That means publishing a Green Paper, convening a citizens' assembly and listening to communities across the island and giving everyone the opportunity to be part of those conversations. The Good Friday Agreement did not ask anyone to abandon their beliefs or aspirations. All of us accepted that our future will be decided through consent, dialogue and democracy. That is one of the greatest achievements of the agreement and this Bill is firmly rooted in those principles, that no one should be asked to leave their identity at the door.

Every generation inherits an Ireland shaped by those who came before. My grandparents inherited a divided Ireland. My mother's generation lived through conflict. One of my first ever votes was in favour of the Good Friday Agreement. Today, another responsibility lies with us, not to decide the outcomes of future referendums but to ensure people are ready for when that question is asked of them. That is not radical; that is good governance. One day if my grandson asks me, as we, as a generation, had the chance to prepare for tomorrow, whether we had the courage to seize the opportunity, I want my answer to be "Yes", that we did not wait and that we did not hesitate because I want the Ireland that he and every child inherits to be determined by what we do today. We have the opportunity to take such a step forward. Let us be the ones who move forward with courage to prepare. Let us be the ones who choose action over hesitation. Let us be the ones who believed Ireland's future was worth preparing for and that we chose to do it in hope and leadership and we built it together one decision at a time.

Deputy Conor D. McGuinness

Tá todhchaí na hÉireann á cruthú againn inniu. Mar phoblachtach, ionadaí poiblí, fear Gaeltachta agus athair, tá a fhios agam nach dtógtar pobal láidir le dóchas amháin. Tógtar é le fís, misneach agus pleanáil. Is iad sin atá i gceist againn leis an mBille seo.

The future of Ireland should be decided by the people of Ireland and this debate is about whether we have the courage and common sense to prepare for that future. We have a historic opportunity now to end partition and reunite our country; to build a new Ireland; to invest in better public services; to strengthen communities; and to give a new generation real hope and real opportunity.

Tá dualgas orainn an obair sin a thosú anois chun todhchaí a chruthú ina mbeidh pobail láidre, an Ghaelainn faoi bhláth agus deiseanna ag daoine óga fanacht ina gceantair féin agus saol maith a bheith acu.

This is why we must plan. This Bill simply asks the Government to do the obvious, the sensible and the responsible thing; to engage with communities across this island and prepare responsibly for every democratic possibility.

Tá Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta bunaithe ar chomhthoiliú, meas agus daonlathas. Má tá muid dáiríre faoi na prionsabail sin, ní féidir linn neamhaird a dhéanamh ar an obair ullmhúcháin.

The Taoiseach has no right to stand in the way of hope, ambition and the future of younger generations. If he refuses to plan for unity, that refusal will become a black mark on his legacy and long after he has left office, Fianna Fáil will still have to answer for choosing to block preparation instead of showing leadership. It is irresponsible not to plan.

Ní bhaineann an Bille seo le páirtí amháin; baineann sé le muintir na hÉireann uile.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

The majority of Members of this House want to do the preparation for Irish unity. They recognise we have a distinctive opportunity to create a new and united Ireland; to create an island where nobody is left behind; to create an architecture underpinned by our values as an Irish nation; and to create a national health service where optimum outcomes can be achieved by the world-class medical experts we have on this island and where timely access to healthcare is determined by need and not on ability to pay. They recognise the economic benefits of a new and united Ireland, an island where indigenous businesses thrive and grow alongside foreign direct investment, where we have energy security by maximising our offshore wind energy opportunities, and where companies have incentives to decarbonise.

The purpose of this Bill is not to predetermine any constitutional outcome but to ensure robust planning is undertaken so citizens, businesses and investors are fully informed of the opportunities, costs and practical implications associated with constitutional change.

Our legislation would establish a framework for evidence-based planning, informed by independent expertise and engagement with business organisations, civic society, trade unions and communities across this island. Regardless of the constitutional preference, it is in everybody's interest that any future transition is properly addressed, costed and planned for in a manner that protects stability, safeguards investment and maximises economic opportunity.

I am disappointed the Taoiseach does not share the vision for a new and united Ireland that I and the majority of Members of this House have, indeed, the vision that the Taoiseach's own grassroots members have across this State. However, the Taoiseach cannot hold back the tide forever. Citizens the length and breadth of this island, as well as the Irish diaspora of the many young people who are desperate to come home to a new and united Ireland, will not be deterred from preparing for constitutional change. The work continues. Leanann an obair ar aghaidh.

The Taoiseach

The Government will oppose this Bill for a range of reasons. It would do little to achieve its objective and it would recommit us to an approach that has failed repeatedly over the past 100 years. Most importantly, it would distract from urgent work that is essential before any honest and constructive debate about our constitutional future can be held. This is the work that falls to everyone here and not just the Government. It is important that all of us who aspire to the unity of all Irish people are willing to discuss and debate it. However, denouncing people because they see a different means to a specific end is the very opposite of a constructive debate. Instead of waving flags in people's faces and talking about the inevitable march of history, we need people to be open about the scale of the obstacles to overcome and the spirit of a peace agreement, which is the bedrock upon which we can build our future.

For the past century we have not overcome a constitutional divide which had no foundation or precedent in our long history. Campaigns of sectarian murder and destruction not only failed, they further deepened division. It is also true that those of us who sought unification by peaceful means failed to create a vision for the future that could persuade others to agree with us. The proposal for a policy statement on unity backed by other nationalist parties is not new. In fact, it has been tried repeatedly. At its core are the assumptions of one more push, or demography is destiny, which have always failed. The model proposed in the Bill is not new. There has already been a lot of talk about Scotland, but the harsh fact is that the approach contained in this Bill is almost exactly the one that did not deliver constitutional change there in spite of a seven-year referendum campaign.

The Bill requires that all work must be commissioned, completed, analysed and then incorporated within a proposal for a unitary state within 18 months. All analysis and proposals about the economy, education systems, health services, public service pay, the replacement of sterling, legal systems, policing, legacy, culture, identity and constitutional structures must be completed in a year and a half. This is obviously not credible. Due to the research programme that I put in place, and the Government through the shared island initiative, we are now for the first time developing a systematic approach to gathering information and wider data on the reality of life North and South. The cost of maintaining services and payments is one thing but the bigger issue of economic convergence would, under any scenario, involve profound changes in tax, benefits, public service pay and many other areas. The idea that we can finish building rigorous and independent data in 18 months and then answer questions on people's incomes and the structure of the economy is obviously not serious.

In relation to compelling the establishment of a citizens' assembly at the end of next year, I have consistently been of the view that a citizens' assembly is not the appropriate mechanism to advance the enormous work of securing the unity of the people of this island, work which by definition requires much broader participation of the public, of political parties and of all communities on the island. Addressing the real hurt of the legacy of the years of violence and destruction would be an essential step in building trust and an honest debate. Simply ignoring it causes new hurt and reinforces divisions. Given the reality of past experience, please let us move beyond the new slogan that all we need is Government advocacy and a citizens' assembly and then we will be ready. A policy of one more push, and hoping for an unpopular government in London, will achieve nothing.

In contrast, our approach is rooted in the Good Friday Agreement and in maximising the ability for breaking the cycle of failed policies from the last century. The starting point of true civic republicanism is to focus first on building understanding and shared interests between all communities. I am genuinely surprised by how dismissive some here are of the groundbreaking practical work being done under the shared island initiative. Not one speaker opposite mentioned it in any of their contributions. We have secured its legitimacy. We have shown that it is possible for people to reach across divides on the basis of shared interests. We have held forums involving many thousands of people from every walk of life. No one did this work at this scale before now. If we can share a common understanding of the facts then we can discuss our future on an informed basis rather than simply singing the old songs and expecting something new to happen.

It is up to each party here to stop demanding that others do the work of describing the constitutional, economic and social future of this island. For our part, we intend to continue to work in pursuit of Irish unity in ways that are consistent with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and my belief that we have to break the cycle of 100 years where discussion of the constitutional future has always rapidly and inevitably devolved into competing camps. As this Bill attempts to recommit us to a strategy that has failed for so long, we will oppose it and recommit ourselves to a more credible, active and ambitious approach.

The Tánaiste

Let me say at the outset that I want to see our island united, I want to see our people united and I want to see a united Ireland. I want to work across party lines in this House, across this island North and South and, indeed, east-west, to build the durable consent that would make a new Ireland possible. I believe that is an aspiration shared in one form or another by an overwhelming majority of Members of this House.

I know how this Chamber often works. I am expected to stand up and say that the Opposition is bad and the Government is good, and they stand up and say the Government is bad and the Opposition is good. I think on an issue as profound as constitutional change, encompassed by the Good Friday Agreement, we owe the people something better than that. We owe each other respect and we should acknowledge each other's bona fides. I fully accept the bona fides of Deputy McDonald and her colleagues in bringing forward this legislation.

While we differ on the approach, I do not question the sincerity of their ultimate objective. We all seek a better future for this island but there are genuine differences across the political spectrum on how we best go about that and how we best achieve that future. Respectfully, I do not think it is a question of courage. Nor do I think it is a question of if you are in favour of this legislation then you are in favour of a united Ireland, and if you are not in favour of the legislation then you do not wish to prepare. It is clearly much deeper than that. We may differ on process, we may differ on timing and we may differ on the structures that should guide these discussions, but none of these differences absolve us of the responsibility to engage or the responsibility to prepare.

That is why as leader of Fine Gael I recently outlined my own party's intention to publish later this year a new policy paper setting out our vision for the future of this island. Our aim is to engage with every tradition and every identity to encourage informed discussion and to identify the practical, economic, constitutional and societal questions that would need to be addressed were Ireland to be united. Nobody should fear these conversations: they are legitimate, they are necessary and they are already happening. Conversation, however, is not the same as countdown. Constitutional change cannot be driven by deadlines or arbitrary timelines and it cannot rest on assumptions. If it is to happen it has to be carefully prepared for, honestly debated and, above all, built on durable consent. That means listening to every community and every tradition. It means recognising that constitutional change would require significant adjustments for everyone. It is not simply a merger or a takeover. It means understanding that for many people, particularly those within the unionist tradition, these questions are deeply personal and cannot be dismissed.

If we are serious about building a shared future then reassurance has to come before rhetoric, persuasion has to come before politics and reconciliation is a requirement for constitutional change. That has been the approach of this Government and our position is clear. It is reflected in the programme for Government, which commits us to the unity of the Irish people while remaining steadfast in implementing the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. That remains our guiding principle. The Good Friday Agreement provides the democratic, peaceful and agreed pathway to constitutional change, should it be the will of the people North and South. It is one of the greatest achievements in the history of this island and I believe one of the greatest peace agreements anywhere in the world. It replaced conflict with consent, division with dialogue and violence with democratic choice. These principles must continue to guide every discussion about our constitutional future.

I also want to acknowledge the impact of the shared island initiative and credit the Taoiseach with his leadership in relation to this. While we may be political rivals from time to time, I will not stand for a situation where the Taoiseach is described as a block in relation to unity when he has done so much for peace on this island. The shared island initiative represents the largest ever investment made in practical North-South co-operation. Whether through improved transport links, research, education, enterprise, tourism or healthcare, these projects are improving people's daily lives, regardless of constitutional preference, because practical co-operation helps build that trust and it helps build that future.

That same practical approach must underpin our engagement with the British Government. Last September, alongside the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, I announced a joint framework on legacy. Legacy remains one of the deepest wounds left by the Troubles. Families deserve truth. They deserve accountability and, where possible, they deserve justice.

Turning to the legislation before us - and let me again say I do not doubt Deputy McDonald's bona fides; I do not doubt anyone’s bona fides - the reason I do not support this Bill is that I do not believe that we need it to prepare. I am happy to engage. I do not believe we need a Bill to prepare and I do not believe that constitutional change should be tied to arbitrary timelines or that a citizens' assembly is best way, and nor did the Good Friday Agreement report when it looked at this issue on a cross-party basis and suggested a better model of a forum, which deserves serious consideration.

These are not reasons to avoid engagement. They are reasons to deepen it. My commitment this evening is to continue working across this House with party leaders from all parties in government and in opposition to advance the conversation that is under way and will continue on the preparation that is required.

It is a conversation that should be informed by respect rather than division, by careful preparation, not by seeking to label each other based on our position on a specific piece of legislation and based on consent rather than compulsion. If we are to achieve a united Ireland, and we will, it will not be built by one party or one Government. It will be built by the people. It will be built democratically, and it will endure only if it is founded on the principles that have served this island so well: peace, partnership and consent.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Matt Carthy

Anois an t-am le haghaidh Éire aontaithe. In one respect, I am stunned. Today I walked past the Mansion House where the First Dáil sat, and I wondered what it would be like to explain to people in that House that now, in 2026, we need to have a discussion on whether there is a case for a united Ireland. What would they think of a Taoiseach and a Tánaiste in a future Dáil essentially saying that 107 years after the First Dáil, 50 years after conflict, 30 years after the Good Friday Agreement and ten years after Brexit, that it is too soon to talk about delivering a free and united Ireland because that is what their remarks can be summarised into.

The Tánaiste

We did not say that. We said that we should all work together.

Deputy Matt Carthy

Today, we have every reason to believe that change is within our grasp if the political leadership is there to grasp it. The reunification of Ireland is the democratic right and the unfinished business of the Irish people. It is our right to live in a united country, free from a border imposed without consent and with devastating consequences, especially for Irish citizens North of the Border.

As representatives of the Irish people, we have a responsibility to shape the future of this island. Irish unity is not something that we should have to beg for. It is a right recognised by history, by democracy and by the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Border is, and was, artificial. It has divided communities and families. I have seen it every day of my life where the people of Cavan and Monaghan have been denied their natural hinterland of Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh. It has held us back for too long, so now is the time to plan, prepare and deliver the potential of this great nation, especially the Border region.

All of that is in this Bill. This is about choices. It is about making a choice to move forward or finding excuses not to. I appeal to Members to support this Bill and let us build a fairer, better and united Ireland together.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Réada Cronin

I cannot express how disappointed I am in the Taoiseach and that this Government has decided to vote against our Bill. Regardless of whether you are a united-Irelander or not, our Bill simply seeks to ensure we are prepared for the constitutional change that is knocking on the door. Preparing for unity is sensible and responsible, voting against this Bill, rejecting the simple premise of preparation, is reckless and irresponsible. Sinn Féin has said repeatedly that Irish unity is bigger than us, and I have spoken to enough Fianna Fáilers in north Kildare to know they feel that way too. One man's mean-spirited attempt to set the ne plus ultra to the progress of Ireland's nationhood has prevailed this time but better men and women than he will gain Irish unity while he is still muttering about the smoking ban because Ireland is full of generous, forward-looking people.

The Tánaiste

That is nasty and is not going to unite anyone.

Deputy Réada Cronin

We saw the generosity of the people of Derry and beyond when Arlene Foster was warmly welcomed to the funeral to the late First Minister, Martin McGuinness. We saw it in Dublin when a courageous woman, who attended the Stardust inquest, stood between the injured assailant and an angry crowd because despite being failed by the institutions of this State, she still believed in justice and Ireland's innate sense of justice. These are the forward-looking and hopeful people of Ireland that I know and love. Our island has carried the burden of division for far too long but no line drawn on a map can ever divide the generosity and humanity of the Irish people. We will unite the whole island, the whole people of Ireland, and heal old wounds with respect, generosity and equality. Together we will right the historic wrong done to our Irish nation, in particular our people of all persuasions in the North. We have spent too long defined by old wounds, missed chances and shame but the day is coming when this island will not be defined by that and will instead be defined by the people of Ireland who inspire us. Our best days are yet to come.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

Hear, hear.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

In 1885, Charles Stewart Parnell said:

No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country thus far shalt thou go and no further.

That is where the Taoiseach is right now, and that is where he has been for a number of years. I thought of the Hume-Adams accord in 1993 earlier where the leaders of nationalism and republicanism in the North united together in talks and made a series of statements. The then Fianna Fáil leader, Albert Reynolds, responded with positivity. He embraced it and moved forward. Bertie Ahern did the same. I am sorry to say, Micheál Martin, that you are no Albert Reynolds or Bertie Ahern.

Acting Chairman ( )

Hear, hear.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Nationalism is united on this issue. We are asking for responsible preparation, a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly to make the plan and the case. The Taoiseach says that he is an Irish republican and a united-Irelander, then he should make the case and have a plan. That is what nationalism wants. The SDLP had a conference in recent days. This is not about one political party. This is about all of the voices of nationalism and united-Irelanders saying together that the Government must have a plan.

Micheál Martin, I ask you to reflect on the words of Charles Stewart Parnell and to think about what he said all of those years ago because he is that man right now and it needs to change. If not, he will not be here next year. His party will remove him, and we will come back, and this will be passed in due course.

A Deputy

What a nasty thing to say.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

In the Taoiseach's script, he tells us that he is worried that this legislation would district from the urgent work being done. I put it to him that this legislation is the urgent work. This is the work that we should be about in this Chamber, representing the views of the majority of people on this island.

I grew up in a Border town. I spent from the age of five to the age of 16 living along the Border. I know what that Border did. I know what it did to my community and my country. Of course, I want it gone, and the Taoiseach says that he does as well. I also know that it is not that simple. It will not happen because we want to wish it away. We must work for it. We must prepare for it. We must plan for it, and we must get it right. Unity will not happen by accident. It will only happen when we work for it. The Taoiseach's fellow countyman said it better than I could. He said that if you fail to prepare, then you may prepare to fail.

I was 24 when I voted for the Good Friday Agreement. I brought my daughter in with me. She toddled along and held my hand. My daughter is now a mother. I am a granny and we are yet to see the fulfilment of the promise of the Good Friday Agreement. I will not stand here, nod and say it is okay that the Taoiseach stands in the way of that work. He should reflect on his words but he should also consider the content of our legislation. It is positive, proactive and about discussion. It is about preparation and about making sure we deliver a republic that is worthy of its name by working together and by ensuring we deliver the republic and the promise of the Good Friday Agreement together. The Taoiseach should withdraw his opposition and work with us and all of the other parties in this House to get the job done.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Pa Daly

This is about more than legislation, politics or budgets. It is about being confident in ourselves. It is about féin-mhuinín. It is not about seeing how other nations perceive us but looking to the future as an island and deciding what is best for us as a collective.

The pandemic and Brexit showed us the illogicality of partition.

A united Ireland offers huge potential towards energy independence and environmental advancement. Imagine being able to share the wind turbine construction capabilities of Belfast Port. Imagine being able to divert unused wind energy across the island. Reunification offers an opportunity to take the measures that we need to ensure a sustainable future and to take the bold directions necessary to address the ecological catastrophe, which is currently way more challenging as two states. Imagine combining shared expertise in transport and combining access to airports and trains, with single ticketing schemes and a single purpose. We might pause to listen to hear some of the voices of the past to help us along that journey.

There is absolutely no economic advantage for a small nation in having two separate tax regimes, two separate legal systems, competing economic development programmes and two separate tourist organisations. We have Departments that are already working together. We must advance on that, push forward and have a plan that we can move together. As Edward Carson said, "no one shall have privileges over us", so we should work together ourselves on this island. North-South trade is currently thriving and with access to the largest market in the world, a unified island will prosper. As regards our health system, there are challenges North and South with waiting lists, but reunification paves the way for a universal, free at the point of delivery healthcare system for the whole island. We should embrace that positivity.

I know some unionists feel they are better off the way they are, but we want an inclusive country, embracing their identities and traditions, recognising the right of all the people to identify themselves and be accepted as British and as Irish. There will be referenda. The Irish Government must act on the Good Friday Agreement, plan for unity and demonstrate its commitment to engaging with citizens in developing the best future for the people of the island of Ireland.

Deputy Sinéad Gibney

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill. I commend the Bill and am happy to say that the Social Democrats will support it. We are happy to support it because we support a united Ireland and we support the constitutional change needed to facilitate bringing about that united Ireland. What this Bill does is provide for the work and dialogue that need to happen for constitutional change.

Before I speak to the Bill itself, I will pick up on the comments by both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in their contributions on the timeline. For me, that is really problematic. The Taoiseach went into quite a lot of detail about why an 18-month timeline is not appropriate for the work that is set out, but this is just another example that shows he is not willing to work with us. If 18 months is not appropriate, it can be dealt with in committee or extended further. It is about dialogue because that is what this does and that is what we are not getting from the Taoiseach. Fine Gael recently announced a blueprint. That is not what this is about. This is a discussion that has to come from all directions, and it is coming from all directions. It is already happening, so the fact that it is not happening in the appropriate way in this Chamber is an issue. That is what this legislation puts forward. As far as I am concerned, it does so in a way that is completely in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement and is very respectful of some of the really important features that we need to consider in this debate. Those are some of the things that I would like to speak to now.

The first point is that language is important in this. This is something that I have learned over the course of my life. I have lived in the North and worked in a formal structure, a part of the Good Friday Agreement that set up the joint committee of the human rights commissions, of which I was chair along with my counterpart from Belfast. I have had that understanding of how some people like it to be referred to as the North but when you are in certain other settings, you have to refer to Northern Ireland. You have to respect the different ways in which people assert their own identity in this discussion. For me, language is hugely important. It is something that has to be respected. It comes through crystal clear for me in this legislation and is something that we have to acknowledge.

Another thing I have noticed in the discussions we have had is there is a huge imbalance on both sides of the Border between understanding of these issues and an appetite to discuss them. I have peers, who are friends of mine I have grown up alongside who have barely been to Northern Ireland at all, or who have maybe gone to see the Titanic museum. Unless people have friends or contacts, or have reasons to go to the North, there are many in our jurisdiction who do not have an understanding of the cultural differences we have on either side of the Border, or of the history and the issues. That is something we need to address. It is something that the Government and we, as a state, need to address. We need to foster that dialogue, we need to have these conversations at dinner tables around this country, and we need to do it here in this Chamber as well.

Self-determination is a core principle of international law. It is one that we must observe and practise on our own island. We talk about it in many other contexts in the debates in this Chamber. That is ultimately what this constitutional discussion is about. It is about self-determination. It is about saying that rooted in the Good Friday Agreement is the opportunity and the potential for these constitutional discussions and dialogue to happen and, ultimately, for us to go to the ballot at a certain point and vote about a united Ireland in a border poll. That is what we are working towards. The dialogue and the work around it need to be done. While I recognise the good work of the shared island initiative and the work that is done by this Government, I do not think it is yet facilitating the kind of dialogue, the kind of debate and the kind of very clear, prescient work that is described in this legislation.

As Social Democrats, what we see in this whole debate about constitutional change is the opportunity. In a lot of the discussions I have been a part of recently - Deputy Mac Lochlainn mentioned the recent SDLP conference which I attended and spoke at - there is so much excitement around that opportunity. There is a democratic opportunity for us to look at how we govern this country and see the improvements that we can make through the opportunities we are going to get through this constitutional dialogue. If we want people to get behind this discussion and be a part of the dialogue, we have to translate it into what it is going to mean for their lives. Where we do have North-South co-operation, it is always of benefit to the communities that it serves. We see this in the formal ways in which those in the medical profession on both sides of the Border work together to provide critical care when people need it. We need to formalise more and more of that. We also need to help people understand that we will be so much better off if we can have these conversations, as an island.

As I said at the outset, we need to do this from the bottom up. We need to make sure that we are not just coming at the population with a blueprint, but instead facilitating that dialogue from the outset. That is why the Green Paper facilitates the dialogue here. The citizens’ assembly, and the very heavy emphasis on consultation within this, is also a huge part of it. One of the groups that comes up a lot within those recent discussions is the unionist community in Northern Ireland. Again, I think that is done in a respectful way in this legislation, but it is absolutely central to the conversations that we are going to have. What does a united Ireland look like? What does constitutional discussion look like for people within the unionist community? All of that, to my mind, is facilitated by this legislation, which is why we will be supporting it.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. There are a lot of important aspects to this that merit serious engagement. I reiterate my colleague’s call on the Government to seriously engage with this. I do not believe its response was a serious engagement. If we are serious about a united Ireland, it will take a massive amount of work on inclusion and engagement and that work has to start now. While the Government has set out the different initiatives it has taken, it is clearly not substantive in engaging all communities and offering a pathway forward.

For us in the Social Democrats, we believe that all communities must be engaged. Our vision for how we engage them is a vision of a united Ireland that is a social democratic Ireland, a new republic, where we are united on this island in ending child poverty, ending homelessness and ensuring everyone can have an affordable life, where young people can afford to buy or rent an affordable home, where disadvantaged communities across this island can have safe spaces, where children can play in decent playgrounds and sports facilities and where, whether they are unionists or nationalists, in the South or the North, everyone can live a life with dignity. What we believe in is a social democratic republicanism that wants to build a social democratic Ireland that radically reduces inequalities across this island, where everyone can live a decent life. We want to see a vision for a united Ireland that is a welcoming Ireland, inclusive of all communities - new Irish, immigrants, old Irish, unionist and nationalist.

Teastaíonn ó na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta Éire aontaithe a fheiceáil, is í sin, Éire agus Poblacht nua ina bhfuilimid aontaithe ar an oileán seo chun deireadh a chur le bochtaineacht leanaí agus easpa dídine agus chun a chinntiú gur féidir le gach duine saol inacmhainne a chaitheamh.

We all believe that the work and process towards a united Ireland must be founded on the values that we want to see in the new island, namely, respect for everyone, inclusion of all communities, equality and human rights and, fundamentally, the belief in the decency and dignity of all. To do that will require changing the North and South in terms of how our economies and societies are structured. The scale of poverty in the North and South, including child poverty, is unacceptable. No one wants to see that.

Building towards and working for a united Ireland has to involve how we solve these fundamental problems that are rupturing the social contract, North and South, and leading to further division and hate and a decline in social cohesion. We believe in building a united Ireland and putting these issues to the core of that can create a fair united Ireland for all of us where all communities are included.

Deputy Jen Cummins

It is with great pleasure that I speak about this Bill. I congratulate Sinn Féin on the work it has done in putting the Bill forward. It is a very timely conversation. Preparations for a united Ireland need to start. It needs to be respectful, evidence-based and inclusive. The Social Democrats have called on the Government to establish formal structures to examine the practical implications for reunification. In order to have genuinely inclusive and respectful dialogue, it is vital that there is a framework to establish that evidence. The evidence will come from the establishment of a citizens' assembly or other such structured consultation.

In my brief of further and higher education, it is great to see the shared Ireland initiative bringing so much positivity to education on the island of Ireland. The measures include the creative connections programme, the RISE programme and the brilliantly named t-rex programme, which have the objective of improving educational attainment, reducing disadvantage, increasing collaboration between schools and third level institutions, encouraging student exchanges and building relationships between people across communities and jurisdictions. I am sure that is replicated in other areas which receive funding.

When I was preparing to speak, I did not think it was very useful to use this debate as a political game. This is not a political game. It is an important issue. The respect and inclusion that I spoke about start in this House. Playing politics with this issue is not acceptable. It is disrespectful to the people who have lived through trauma on this island because of that history. We need to get a grip. We all need to be part of the conversation. Playing politics and bouncing a ball from one side to the other is really unhelpful.

I grew up in a mixed household. I grew up in a household with one Republican and one person who just wanted peace. My dad grew up in a mixed household. My grandmother was the daughter of a British navy man and was Protestant and my grandfather was a Catholic man from Cork who fought in the IRA during the War of Independence and the Civil War. My family is a mixed family. There are lots of mixes.

There are lots of things we need to do, but what we do not need to do in this House is spend our time bouncing ideas around and dancing on the head of a pin in talking about Northern Ireland, the Republic, a united Ireland or who owns the idea. It does not matter who owns the idea. The fact of the matter is that we need a united Ireland. That is what we have all said we want. However, if we are dancing on the head of a pin and deciding who owns it and whose great idea it was or which Bill it is or is not, that is a waste of time and excludes people. It is no example to the people we are trying to encourage to have an inclusive, evidence-based and respectful dialogue. I request that people try to work together in this House and that we go outside it to try to have dialogue that is inclusive and respectful of everybody.

Deputy Duncan Smith

This is a welcome Bill and our thanks go to Sinn Féin for bringing it forward for discussion. It is not just a timely opportunity for the House to discuss the fundamental issue of Irish unity, but a chance for us and the Government to finally get serious on the important work of preparing for constitutional change. It has been clear for some years that not moving forward with urgency just will not cut it. There is a job of work to be done and this Bill sets out a path for beginning to get that work under way.

A Green Paper, a constitutional convention and proper cross-community consultation, North and South, are all steps we in the Labour Party have repeatedly called for over recent years, as it has become increasingly clear that this conversation is happening with or without the Government taking the lead. The decade since Brexit has seen the question of unity moving up the public agenda. That is a reality that has perhaps ebbed and flowed over those years, but it is crystal-clear that it is not going away.

In May, an Amárach poll from European Movement Ireland indicated that if a referendum on a united Ireland was held tomorrow in the EU, 59% in the Republic would vote in favour and 22% against, with 62% in favour in the North and 29% against. The prospect of a Nigel Farage-led government in London after the next UK general election, today's theatrics notwithstanding, would shift the parameters yet again.

We have heard calls to simply ignore the issue. Last year, the UK Secretary of State told us there was no appetite for constitutional change in Northern Ireland, but putting our heads in the sand is simply not an option. We need our Government to take the lead on these discussions and to be the responsible broker needed for the necessary preparations to take place. It is time for the difficult work of preparing for unity to begin in earnest.

We have seen the perils of running a referendum hastily. To proceed without the hard work of planning and debate would be deeply misguided. That is precisely why it is so important that we begin the process now of preparing for a united Ireland. We need a clear timetable to allow for the development of green and white papers, to allow the work of citizens' assemblies to take place and to allow for the conversations and debates that need to happen across our island.

The measures in the Bill are to be very much welcomed as common sense steps towards a responsible and structured process of preparation. It almost goes without saying that what is in play in this debate is not taken lightly. The deep questions that are in play when it comes to constitutional change get to the very heart of who we are as a people, how we want to live and what shape our country and society will take. These questions are, of course, shaped by history, deeply held identities and people's lived experience over the last century, North and South. We should always be sensitive and understanding to those realities. These are profoundly forward-looking questions of the future.

The conversation about Irish unity cannot be some hide-bound debate about an Ireland of the last century. It must be focused on a new Ireland that is not just united but is equal and fair for all its citizens. We all know the Ireland of 2026, North and South, has changed deeply from that of 1998. It is a vastly more diverse and more pluralist society. It is larger in population terms, with larger economies, North and South. It is more engaged and intertwined with the rest of the world. In many ways, it is a less equal society, with regional inequality growing significantly, North and South, since the Agreement. As our economies have grown, too many of our citizens have continually been left behind. That is not an experience unique to this island over the past number of decades, but we have a unique opportunity to correct our course with the opportunities of a new Ireland. There needs to be a conversation about how best we build a real republic across the island, not just built on the values of equality and pluralism but acting on those values and seeing them through in a way that delivers ordinary people.

The Ireland of 2026 is no longer one of the orange and green. It is home to mixed identities across these islands and beyond, identities that would have seemed unimaginable only a couple of generations ago. I believe that is something to be celebrated and protected, not just from those who would pull us backwards to a regressive and narrow vision of Irishness or Britishness, but from the risks that an unprepared and rushed unity debate would pose to that pluralist Ireland.

As we progress towards unity, we cannot allow ourselves to be drawn back to the lazy destructive binaries of the past. Crucially, we can never return to the normalised violence of the last century. Moving, removing or maintaining any border on this island can never come at the price of a human life. We in the Labour Party want a new united Ireland and we are unapologetic about that, but, vitally, we want to see real, deep and difficult preparatory work get under way.

The conversation is happening. To ignore it now is irresponsible and impossible. The Government, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, has to play a leading role in this. The welcome work of the Taoiseach's shared island unit has been positive, but the time has come for more substantial preparations for change. This Bill, calling for a citizens' assembly and a Green Paper, sets out a roadmap for preparation that we can all support. I urge the Government to rethink its position and back it.

Deputy Conor Sheehan

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I sincerely commend the Taoiseach and Government on the shared island initiative. It is important and cannot be understated. It involves €1 billion of capital funding and includes important projects such as the Narrow Water bridge and the new Enterprise fleet. I commend the work the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, has done over many years, what I call the quiet work of diplomacy and dialogue in terms of British-Irish relations.

I fully support the Bill.

The future of this island must be built on the bedrock of the Good Friday Agreement, on consent and on respect for diversity. I welcome the debate on constitutional change. In fact, we have already called for a timeline for a referendum. This Bill is a step in the right direction but we need to plan in an orderly, inclusive and democratic manner for constitutional change. It cannot just be about swapping flags and moving border posts. We must plan for a new and agreed Ireland that delivers a better quality of life for us all. I have in mind the famous statement by John Hume about the will of the Northern majority and the need for a new Ireland built on the principle of consent.

If we are going to write Green Papers and convene citizens' assemblies, they cannot become abstract talking shops. We must address the material realities of working-class people North and South. A truly united Ireland must mean the best of both jurisdictions. We need a unified universal healthcare system that is free at the point of delivery. The NHS model in the North could be combined with the best of Sláintecare. We need an all-Ireland housing strategy that treats shelter as a fundamental human right. We need strong statutory protections for workers' rights, collective bargaining and fair wages across both jurisdictions. We need a real plan for regional development. We cannot have a situation where investment gets sucked into Dublin and Belfast. Places like Limerick, Derry, Cork and Galway must feel the benefit of such investment.

The process must be inclusive. A new Ireland cannot simply be based on a sectarian headcount that isolates or alienates the unionist community. It must be built on the principle of an agreed Ireland in which all identities, traditions and minorities are welcomed and valued. We need to get on with the groundwork and build the legal frameworks for a referendum. We must lay the foundations for an Ireland free from poverty and homelessness and rooted in equality for everyone regardless of who they are and where they come from.

As a proud Irish republican and a united Irelander, I believe change is within our grasp. Many people thought we would never achieve peace on this island. We have done that. As somebody who regularly visits the North, I think Belfast is a fantastic city, whether it is the beauty of the Botanic Gardens or the vibrant atmosphere of the Cathedral Quarter. Equally, Derry is a fantastic place, especially at Hallowe'en. In fact, it has the largest Hallowe'en festival in Europe and was voted by USA Today as the best Hallowe'en destination in the world. Having gone there for Hallowe'en last year, I really encourage anybody who has not been to Derry to visit it. In addition, the Causeway Coastal Route is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Let us imagine the nation we could build if we could marry the beauty and wonder of those places with that of places like Cork, Limerick, Galway, Clare and the Wild Atlantic Way. I have a special affinity to Derry because I think it has much in common with Limerick city, which I represent. Both places have suffered from stigma, stereotyping and violence. Both are built around huge, sweeping rivers. I have seen how both cities have come on so much. They are now beautiful, vibrant and edgy places with so much heart and soul.

Our Republic is unfinished because of partition. It is an arbitrary, artificial and crude separation of a people. We must work together to reunite our people. As John Hume said, "You can't eat a flag". We need to win hearts and minds. Achieving Irish unity is more than just a geographical or political construct. We have so much more in common on this island than that which divides us. We must come together in a new spirit of inclusion and tolerance and we must do so under the umbrella of the greatest peace project in the world, namely, the European Union. I sincerely urge the Government not to block this important work. Letting the Bill go to Committee Stage would allow us to begin that work. We can work out the timelines, which are fairly arbitrary. My party leader brought forward a Bill last week to which the Government made a timed amendment. We were not particularly happy about that but it is something that could work with this Bill.

I was born in 1993. I am a child of the Good Friday Agreement. I never knew violence on this island, and thank God for that, but I firmly and sincerely believe that our Republic is incomplete. This Bill charts a pathway to a better, brighter future. I urge the Government to work with the Opposition on it, let it go to Committee Stage and let us lay the groundwork and start to prepare for bringing all our people together in the spirit of an inclusive new Ireland.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Seamus Healy

Down the centuries, generations of Irish men and women espoused the desire for a 32-county independent sovereign republic. As far back as the 1790s, Theobald Wolfe Tone, the father of Irish republicanism, focused on a vision of complete separation from Britain, the elimination of sectarian divisions and the unity of Catholic, Protestant and dissenter under the common name of "Irishmen". He wanted to see a restructuring of society whereby power would be wielded by the people rather than by the landed gentry.

The polices and ideas of Tone and the United Irishmen fanned the flames of rebellions after 1798. Those rebellions included Robert Emmet's attempt in 1803. The Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 was a very Tipperary-based action, the setting of which was the Widow McCormack's house near the village of Ballingarry in south Tipperary. Four of the leaders of that rebellion, William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence Bellew MacManus and Patrick O'Donoghue, were tried at Clonmel Courthouse, convicted and sentenced to death, with that sentence later commuted to transportation. The Fenian rising of 1867 came next. It produced a very radical manifesto declaring an Irish republic nearly 50 years before the 1916 Proclamation. That manifesto was a progressive document advocating separation of church and state, universal suffrage and the restoration of land to the people.

Then came the 1916 Rising, which was deeply rooted in the Fenian tradition. The rebels were joined by James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army, the aim of which was the creation of a 32-county socialist workers' republic. In his essay "Socialism and Nationalism", Connolly wrote: "If you remove the English Army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts will be in vain." How right he was.

Then we had the War of Independence, which, again, was very much Tipperary driven. The Soloheadbeg ambush of 21 January 1919 was the first military action of the war, led by the Tipperary big four of Robinson, Treacy, Breen and Hogan.

All of those actions, from 1798 onwards, were predicated on the demand for at least a 32-county independent sovereign republic. James Connolly, writing in the Irish Worker in 1914 in reaction to partition proposals at the time, said partition would create "a carnival of reaction" North and South. He saw partition as a reactionary device to divide the Irish working class. Again, how right he was.

This Bill requires the Government to prepare and publish a Green Paper on Irish unity, convene a citizens' assembly, engage with communities and provide regular updates to the Oireachtas. Reports, information and discussions can, of course, be helpful. However, the Bill is framed in the context of a border poll, with separate polls on each side of the Border. That is not a national referendum. Even the decision to hold such a poll is solely the prerogative of Britain and the British Secretary of State for the North. The current Secretary of State, by the way, has already said there is no prospect of a border poll for generations to come. We must not allow Britain to decide our future. I have no confidence that the strategy outlined in this Bill will lead to a united Ireland. We must develop a 32-county campaign for an all-Ireland referendum on Irish unity.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I thank Deputy McDonald for bringing forward this Bill. Having consulted with my colleague, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, Mal O'Hara, I will support the Bill on Second Stage to allow this debate to continue. My support on this Stage should not be conflated with endorsement of any one party's framing of the constitutional issue. That issue is bigger than us all and everybody, from the ground up, must be involved in the conversation.

A grassroots approach to ensuring that the voices of all communities are adequately heard and represented is essential in planning for any potential change. Any such planning must also include unequivocal support for the Good Friday Agreement in its entirety. The consent principle is non-negotiable and any future constitutional change must take place strictly within the agreement's existing voting and consent mechanism. There should be no suggestion of altering or diluting these safeguards. The memory of the Troubles remains a fresh wound in the minds of many and in order to ensure any peaceful outcome or transition, all citizens must be treated equally and given their say. That would be best done by consulting people directly through a citizens' assembly, as is proposed by this Bill, and also in the recommendations of the 2024 report from the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Green Party is an all-island one. We get votes in Bangor and Blanchardstown, Larne and Lismore, Newtonards and Navan. As voters in Northern Ireland look to alternatives to the sectarian policies that have kept Stormont from governing effectively, my colleagues in the Green Party Northern Ireland are seeing increasing support across all communities. Some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as energy and climate, are ones that cannot be contained within borders. The island of Ireland is a single, biodiverse unit and the Green Party has consistently advocated for increased co-operation across a range of issues.

With that in mind, any proposed Green Paper should explicitly address issues that affect everybody, irrespective of their constitutional preference. Climate and nature, renewable energy systems, water and environmental protection, tackling poverty, protecting human rights and improved cross-Border public services are practical, all-island challenges and they require that level of co-operation, irrespective of future constitutional arrangements.

The constitutional change must be codesigned with all sides in Northern Ireland's communities involved. It cannot be confined to the territorial question alone; it should examine democratic reform, governance and institutional design. The Green Party believes that the question of institutional design is fundamental. To date, the Assembly in Northern Ireland has only passed 15 Bill in its 2022-2027 mandate. The current system is not serving the people of Northern Ireland.

We will be supporting this Bill today. Sensible preparation should not be mistaken, however, for advocating a pre-determined constitutional outcome. A real opportunity exists now to build on existing work and to have detailed, respectful conversations on these issues. I hope that the Government will pay real attention to this Bill and move to set up the frameworks that will support this historic dialogue.

Deputy Brian Stanley

On a point of order, there is no senior Minister present at the moment for this debate. It is a poor sign of how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael treat this subject. The national reunification of the territory needs to be made a priority. It has been 105 years since partition which was created by Britain and created an artificial, sectarian state, which has held back this country, economically, socially and politically for far too long. While I welcome the proposals to move forward on reunification, this Bill is very minimalist and limited. Much more is required than a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly, 105 years after partition. It has been over 28 years since the Good Friday Agreement, which provides for the holding of a referendum on national reunification. Those of us who believe in a united Ireland - and some of us have spent all our adult lives working for a 32-county republic - and those in Fianna Fáil who say they believe in it should step up matters a couple of gears. We need to build a republic where workers and families have their fair share and good public services.

The most recent opinion polls show that an increasing number of people North and South see the merits of national reunification. The question now is not can we afford it but can we afford not to reunify the national territory. More and more, the economics of it stack up and make sense.

As a small country of just over 7 million people on the north-western flank of Europe, it makes absolutely no economic, social or political sense to continue with a Border that was imposed under threat of immediate and terrible war by a foreign state. There is simply no logic to having 75% of the country in the European Union and the remainder of it excluded. Brexit has exposed the difficulties with that and how ridiculous it is. While the Six Counties remained - just about - in the EU Single Market for trade in goods, they are excluded from the EU and the Single Market in every other way, including having no representation in the European Parliament. I have not heard any party, including the largest Opposition party, raising this, which is surprising. There is no logic to having two currencies, two revenue systems, two sets of Government Departments - 14 in total working back to back - two police services, two transport systems and so on. All of this works against efficiency, co-ordination and economies of scale.

A citizens' assembly is a very limited proposal. While I will be supporting the Bill, what we should have is a commission on the future of the nation. This should be representative of the Assembly and the Dáil. All parties, North and South, including the significant number of Independent MLAs and TDs, should have a representative on it. It should hold hearings with various sectors, such as the trade union movement; the agriculture sector; the health sector, North and South, with the aim of creating an all-Ireland national health system; environmental lobbies; local councillors and local government; education; the housing sector; transport; energy and so on. This would be with a view to increasing co-operation in all these areas. We do not need to wait for a Green Paper or a citizens' assembly for this. The Government and all of us, North and South, should be working towards that now.

While some work has been done on co-operation, such as on the Narrow Water Bridge, moves towards getting the A5 in place at last and the Ulster Canal, that has to be accelerated, along with a whole lot of other areas, to the benefit of people, North and South.

Six all-Ireland bodies were created under the Good Friday Agreement: Waterways Ireland; the Food Safety Promotion Board; InterTradeIreland; An Foras Teanga; Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission and the Special European Union Programmes Body. There is provision for others to be created and this should be pursued. What is the Government doing about it? It does not even have a senior Minister here tonight, never mind the Taoiseach, to listen to this debate.

Deputy Mary Butler

He just left.

Deputy Brian Stanley

The all-Ireland energy system is an area for immediate co-operation and priority, in particular in the area of renewables. The North-South Interconnector should not be delayed any further. Parties that say they are for a united Ireland cannot have it both ways, on the one hand championing a united Ireland and on the other hand frustrating the construction of this vital North-South infrastructure.

A reunified Ireland has to be based on social justice, where workers and families are protected, with good public services in an inclusive republic. It has to be the republic of Fintan Lalor and Connolly more so than the republic of Griffith. It is long past time and we need to move it on and get on with it.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Self determination is the most important political and democratic right. We in Ireland have learned that lesson hard. London rule has cost this country dearly. Millions of Irish lives have been lost through famines and wars and millions of people have been forced to emigrate as a result of that right. In case anybody has forgotten, Brexit has reminded us again. It proved without a shadow of a doubt that London does not give a tuppenny damn about the North of Ireland. The North of Ireland was the last thing on the minds of the little Englanders who pushed for Brexit. I have visited the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster many times. Members have admitted to me that the fastest way to clear the floor of the House of Commons is to call for a debate about the North of Ireland. That has a real cost, with the economy in the North stagnant, because of the lack of self determination. Public services are falling apart at the moment because of that lack of self determination. Unity would radically increase the welfare of everybody on this island. The people of Newry are just as bright as the people of Donegal, the people of Dungannon are just as hard-working as the people of Monaghan and the people of Derry are just as enterprising as the people of Letterkenny. The key difference is the issue of self determination.

I had the honour of researching a report for the enterprise committee in 2018. This was the first ever report on the all-island economy since partition. I interviewed hundreds of people from farmers to trade unionists and from all different backgrounds. All of those individuals agreed with me that if we planned, funded and delivered services together, they would simply be better, more efficient services.

Irish unity is a clear pillar of Aontú.

We are a practical united Ireland party. We believe the process should start now. We do not even have to wait for a referendum to start that process.

The Border is like a wall with 1,000 blocks. Each of those blocks is a blockage to services on an all-Ireland basis. Each time we join up those services on both sides of the island, we take down a block, which reduces the height of the wall, improves people's lives and then makes unity easier on that sunny day.

Catherine Sherry was married with three children just north of the Border. She was diagnosed with lymphoma in September 2024 at the age of 42. Treatment was not available to her in the North. It was available in Dublin but, despite living 90 minutes away, she was not allowed to use it. Very ill, very sick and very weak, she was forced to leave her family and take treatment in London, where she died. Imagine if we had a simple policy where you got treatment in the hospital closest to you. Imagine the difference that would make in people's lives. That is the type of work we should do now. If Aontú had ministries in the Assembly in the North, we would work with our counterparts in the South in systematically going through each department to start to equalise services North and South. We welcome this Bill but we do not think a citizens' assembly is enough. We believe there is a need for a new Ireland forum where all the political parties and all of civic society gets together to discuss what is needed for this particular plan.

Micheál Martin often says reconciliation has to happen before unity. What evidence does he have that reconciliation is more likely in a partitioned state than in a united Ireland state? Reconciliation has pretty much happened in the South and it still has not happened in the North because of that partition. Micheál Martin's position on a united Ireland is the most un-Fianna Fáil position on that issue of all Fianna Fáil leaders. The question is how a person so opposed to those key Fianna Fáil values could ever have become leader of Fianna Fáil.

Liam Mellows once said that if Ireland was partitioned, there would arise two establishments on both sides of the Border that would depend on the Border for their power. Sadly, Mellows was right. Micheál Martin's position is guided not by what is good for this country but what is good for his narrow, electoral interests.

Deputy Ken O'Flynn

As I was reading through the entire Bill earlier today and over the weekend, memories started flooding back into my mind, stories of my grandparents, their parents, the republican struggles and the stories of their involvement in republicanism in Cork. In the house where I grew up, The Wolfe Tones was the only record played on a regular basis.

I welcome this Bill. I truly do because it has merit. There are problems with it. There are little bits and pieces that need tweaking. I appeal to the Government to have an open vote on this and to allow it to proceed to the next Stage so that it can be tweaked. While the Bill acknowledges self-determination, which is incredibly important, what is seriously missing is costing, funding and how we are going to do this. There are questions, which many Members of the House have raised, about whether a citizens' assembly is the right place to do it. Do we need a new structure?

Certainly, there is something radically wrong when our focus in this country, as an entire House, is not on self-determination and a united Ireland. That should always be the focus of this House. Let us all reflect on why we joined our political parties and got involved in politics on the first day. Whether we believe in left, right, centre or whatever, we are all born with a love for our country, and our country is still divided to this day. It is a very new State. Our work in this House should always reflect and look at the idea of a united Ireland. That should always be our number one focus. We have moved away from that in the last number of years. Some politicians and some people in leadership roles have almost made it seem like a dirty word.

I have to thank Sinn Féin, in fairness to them. There are many things I disagree with them on but, in fairness, let us get this focus back again. Let us talk about self-determination, let us run with it and let us unite and work together. Let us move this in the right direction. Let us all thrash it out and say, "I don't think you're right on this" or "I don't think you're right on that", or "I think we need to cost this" or "I think we need to do that." Let us all focus together in this House.

That is one thing that could unite the entire House: self-determination and uniting this country finally, recognising the work of those who died under our flag, and who had died previously trying to fly that flag and said it was a fight worth dying for. It is very important that we do that today. As I said, I do not overly agree with everything in the Bill, but I think it is a step in the right direction. I applaud my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing this to the House. We spend a lot of time talking in this House about issues we will never solve, such as international issues or we talk about a president here or there or we say this, that and the other about things we cannot affect or where we cannot make the change. This is something real and tangible that we can make the changes in.

We need to go forward. We need to go to Committee Stage and we all need to feed in and sail the boat in the right direction. To my mind, the right direction has always been towards a united Ireland.

Deputy Michael Collins

I agree with the Bill and I thank Sinn Féin for putting it forward. However, when people come to my clinics in Cork, they are not talking to me about Green Papers, citizens' assemblies or constitutional reports. They are talking about trying to get a roof over their heads. They are talking about waiting months and years for healthcare. They are talking about crime in their communities, the cost of running a family car and the pressure that ordinary working people and small businesses are under every single day. That is the reality of life for people right across Ireland.

Independent Ireland fully supports the Good Friday Agreement and the principle of consent. That principle has helped delivered peace on this island and any future constitutional change can only ever happen with the consent of the people North and South. Nobody should have any difficulty with governments planning ahead. Good governments are supposed to plan. They are supposed to examine challenges and opportunities that may arise in the future, but what concern me are priorities. The Government has a habit of producing reports, launching consultations and establishing assemblies while the everyday problems facing ordinary, hard-working people are left unresolved. The public are entitled to ask where the same urgency is when it comes to housing. Where is the same urgency when it comes to healthcare? Where is the same urgency when it comes to protecting our communities and supporting family farms, fishing communities and small businesses?

If this Bill proceeds, it must be done properly. Any discussion about the future of this island must involve everyone. It cannot become an echo chamber where people only hear views they agree with. All communities must be heard. Those who favour constitutional change must be heard, as must those who have concerns. Respect is absolutely essential. If people are serious about reconciliation, they have to be prepared to listen to views they may not even like.

Before any further steps are taken, the people deserve honest answers to practical questions. What would this mean economically? What would it mean for healthcare, taxation, policing, public services and the cost to the taxpayer? These are not side issues. They are the issues that matter to ordinary, hard-working families. Independent Ireland believes in common-sense politics. We believe in dealing with realities, not slogans. We believe in careful planning but we also believe that planning for tomorrow cannot come at the expense of dealing with the problems of today. While we welcome sensible preparation and informed discussion, we will be looking carefully at how public money is spent, how communities are consulted and whether the Government can demonstrate the same commitment to solving the crisis that people are facing right now. At the end of the day, people want delivery. They want houses built, they want hospital waiting lists reduced, they want safer communities and they want a Government that is focused on the challenges in front of it today, while responsibly preparing for whatever tomorrow may bring.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance to discuss the possibility of a united Ireland. Since I was a young fella, all I ever heard was that was what we needed and that we could not stop until it was achieved. There is so much involved in this. As I grew up, I saw the Troubles of the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. Every morning on the news you heard how many people had been killed during the night. There was The Miami Showband and all the people from the different sides killed in the mayhem, murder and slaughter every day.

We are glad the Good Friday Agreement has moved us away from that, and I want to thank all those who created the environment where people North and South can at least go to work every day, feed their families and continue with a normal life.

I can see it even here. We must be united here in this Chamber for a start, each and every one of us. We cannot be throwing Scud missiles across the Chamber at each other. We need to have a united front. This is a serious business.

We need to know where this will lead us. We know the problems that we have here in the Twenty-Six Counties with housing, the cost of living, energy prices and all the different things. What will happen? We need to know what the end result will be and what we will achieve. Where will England be? I do not hear them saying anything about it. We must respect the unionists' views as well. They were here in the South of Ireland and they are working with us now. They are very welcome here and we appreciate them for the way they carry on their work and living normal lives. We want that for the people of the North of Ireland as well but we must have the conversation as to what will be the story for all the different things.

We must be united in this Chamber and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties must, by and large, be in favour of reunification. We need to hear their views. There is so much we could be doing as it is. We should be inviting people from the Northern Assembly down here - its elected members. Whether it is with local government or the UK Government, we should have more interaction to hear and sense their concerns so we can move halfway. We must go halfway to meet everyone if we are to achieve agreement.

I think a vote tonight is a bit premature. We should work more together and have more discussion rather than falling out with each other now. It can be achieved if we all work together and provide a united front.

Deputy Emer Currie

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill, for the event in the audiovisual room today and for making us feel welcome. Peace and partnership on this island was not built around a single document, declaration or day but as a gradual process of dialogue, agreements and framework-building, a process that demonstrated time and again that neither violence nor coercion would ever unite us.

There is no doubt in my mind that we are living in a period of constitutional reappraisal but it has been decisions taken in Britain, not on this island, that have brought constitutional questions back to the forefront of public debate. If there is to be another chapter in the constitutional story of this island, it should not be driven by decisions taken elsewhere. It should be shaped here as an expression of the hopes, ambitions and aspirations of the people who share this island.

The legitimate questions many people in Northern Ireland are asking about the future cannot be ignored, their frustration with repeated political stalemate and the impact Brexit has had on how they see their place in these islands and in Europe. If you are ask people to consider constitutional change, whether they live in Castleknock or Castlederg, we cannot speak only to their sense of identity or longing but to their everyday lives, jobs, healthcare, pensions, their children's education and their economic security. The lesson of the peace process is not simply that an agreement was reached but how an agreement was reached - patient dialogue, partnership and building confidence before asking people to make profound constitutional choices.

I served on the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement with some of my colleagues here today, whose work is referenced in this Bill, the recommendations of which I agree with. They were much broader than this Bill suggests, however, which is why it reached consensus. The committee recognised the scale of preparing for constitutional change - not simply ending partition but imagining how a new and agreed Ireland might work in practice. I want us to be true to that work.

This Bill proposes an 18-month consultation period to produce a Green Paper, followed by a citizens' assembly, within a fixed statutory timeline. I understand the desire to begin preparing. I share that impatience. I want us to work towards a Green Paper together but I do not believe we strengthen that preparation by placing deadlines on it, nor do I believe that a citizens' assembly - valuable though that model has been on other issues - can by itself shape the future constitutional settlement of an entire island. The conversation must be broader. It must invite new ideas and voices and every tradition to help shape what a new and agreed Ireland could become, not through deadlines but dialogue because that is what has worked before. It is about working in partnership and with respect. I want to work with everyone in this House to do that.

Deputy Malcolm Byrne

I, too, welcome this debate. It is an important discussion to have in this House around what possible future constitutional arrangements we can have on this island. It is important that we set out the vision for all of the people on this island and the opportunities that may present.

I sometimes think this debate can be couched in very simplistic language. A new Irish arrangement is not simply going to be a case of people marching up to Stormont and planting a tricolour in front of that building. Indeed, the unity we may see on this island will not be similar to what we saw in Germany in 1990. In many ways, for the new nation I believe we will be building, we will need to look at the South African experience, where we will be bringing together people with very diverse views and backgrounds but shaping a new nation and seeking ways in which a common identity can be built.

Whatever happens in the context of the 8 million or so people living on this island, there will be 1 million who will still be very strong in their British identity, in some way, and there will be about 750,000 who are neither green nor orange and who have come from outside of these islands to make this their home. It is critically important that we ensure every individual and citizen who lives on these islands feels part of whatever new arrangement we intend to build. That means that everything needs to be on the table. It will mean, for those of us in the South, facing up to some very uncomfortable questions but it is important that we do that.

I share Deputy Currie's concern about very strict timelines. There will be some people who will be able to move much more quickly than others. There will be others for whom it will take time to present but the lesson we have learned from any time there has been a referendum held on these islands, either here in the South or with Brexit or Scotland, is that if we do not know all the facts and if all issues are not explored in great detail, then there will naturally be a conservatism and a fear among our people. I do not want to wait to see when in the opinion of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a majority may exist. If there is agreement, we should be moving towards something where there is a general consensus that exists on this island. As somebody who campaigned on both sides of the Border for the Good Friday Agreement as a student, one of things that inspired me about that was listening to people from all communities who spoke about hope, and how they were able to feel that they were part of this new arrangement. Yes, there were challenges and the Good Friday Agreement asked many very awkward questions but key to, and underlining that, was hope.

As part of this discussion, what we have got to ensure is that for all sectors of our communities, there is that hope and a sense of building that shared identity and, I believe, a common home in Europe.

The role of the European Union should not be understated.

I commend the work of the shared island unit, but I will outline a concern I have. Around the time of the Good Friday Agreement and soon after it, some 20 or 25 years ago, there were far more cross-Border exchanges going on than there are now among community, youth, sporting and cultural groups. There were far more east-west exchanges happening at the time as well. Those exchanges are not happening to the same extent. I also find it bizarre meeting young people in my constituency who have travelled all over Europe and the world, but have never been to the North. We need to explore to a far greater extent how we can exchange and get groups of people on this island and these islands working closer together. This is a welcome debate.

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Frankie Feighan)

I welcome the opportunity to deliver a closing statement on this Bill on behalf of the Government. I thank colleagues from all sides of the House for their contributions to today’s discussion. Let me begin by reiterating our shared commitment to unity on this island. For the record, I come from a very strong Fenian and republican tradition. My grandfather on my father’s side, Felix Feehan from Cullyhanna, County Armagh, was a republican. After partition, he ended up running a bakery in Tubbercurry, County Sligo. My grandfather on my mother’s side, James Feely, was the commander of the IRA in north Roscommon. He was imprisoned in the War of Independence and released under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He subsequently became a Sinn Féin councillor and one of the first gardaí síochána.

The Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, signed by the Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, fundamentally changed Anglo-Irish relations by creating a framework that recognised both nationalist and unionist identities. It paved the way for the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace and prosperity to our island. We remain determined to realise the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement. The enduring peace it has brought to this island still needs to be protected, and the potential it provides for the unity of our people needs to be realised. It is the Government’s view that it will only be realised through focus on and investment in reconciliation.

That is why reconciliation is at the heart of the programme for Government. There is no single, one-off act we can do as a Government, Parliament or even as a nation to unify the people of this island. Like anything complex or worth doing, such an endeavour can only be achieved through hard work and patience, honest discussions and people-to-people contact, listening to the sincerely held views of all communities on this island and genuinely cherishing all traditions in their riches and diversity. As the Taoiseach said last week, this requires a hard slog. This is not only Government policy; it is a lesson we have all learned from our history. Too often in our past, it has been easy to be convinced by the righteousness of our beliefs and to fail to properly engage with the views of others.

Twenty-eight years after the transformational endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement by the people North and South, we are in a different place, which all of us in this Chamber want to see. We can strive for inclusiveness and a connected island for all communities, where there is room for a wide variety and diversity of views, traditions and identities. This is what is guiding the Government’s current approach, whether through North-South co-operation, our determination to address the legacy of the Troubles, the Government’s reconciliation fund or the shared island initiative.

The reconciliation fund has been a flagship programme in the Department of foreign affairs since the 1980s. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, launched a new reconciliation fund strategy in March of this year. The value of our investment through this reconciliation fund to date stands at over €8 million. It was just €2.7 million in 2018. Complementing this work within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the shared island civic society fund, which has a budget of over €6 million for the 2025-27 period. It funds North-South co-operation and engagement through increased cross-Border civic society activity.

More broadly, the shared island initiative, established in 2020, is working and realising the promise of a more connected and reconciled future on this island. It is the most ambitious agenda set out by any Government in the history of the State to promote co-operation and understanding across this island. We are backing it with €2 billion through the shared island fund.

These are all examples of real, tangible projects that help bring the people of this island together and to allow people who live on one part of the island to more easily work in another, further enhancing the all-island community. This is real investment in the future. It is also the hard slog. We should not be afraid of it; rather, we should embrace it. We know that patience, persistence and relentless hard work pay off. We saw that in the 1980s with the Anglo-Irish Agreement. We also saw it - some of us lived it – with the Good Friday Agreement in the 1990s. These landmark achievements were built on years, if not decades, of painstaking behind-the-scenes work that rarely makes the headlines. It was never a question of rushing to the finish line; rather, it was a patient cultivation of relationships and connection. That is the work the Government is focused on, and I am very proud to support it this evening.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)

I add my thanks to those of the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, and recognise all Members who have spoken in this debate. No one who sits in this House can be indifferent to the question of our constitutional future or the aspiration in Bunreacht na hÉireann to unite all the people who share this island, recognising the diversity of identities and traditions. The Government is committed to the unity of the Irish people. We believe the way to achieve this is through a sustained focus on reconciliation, mutual respect, partnership and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in full.

Self-determination was exercised by the people North and South when they approved the Good Friday Agreement by referendum. That is the Government’s framework for all our policies. Six days ago, we took up our Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time. The EU was vital in creating the conditions for the Good Friday Agreement. It has also been a vocal and steadfast supporter of reconciliation and prosperity on this island through the PEACE and PEACEPLUS programmes, with a total investment of €3.4 billion since 1995. That work continues to the present day. We are working closely with colleagues in Brussels, Belfast and London to develop a successor programme through to 2035 to underpin peace, progress and prosperity.

Through the shared island initiative, we are making the largest investment ever in North-South co-operation. I did not hear that mentioned much tonight. There is a commitment of €2 billion to strengthen connections across this island. That investment is improving transport links, supporting research and innovation and investing in education, enterprise, tourism and healthcare, including mental health. On three occasions, I have attended the North-South Ministerial Council and got to know a lot of my colleagues in Northern Ireland.

The Government has committed €600 million towards the upgrade of the A5 western transport corridor in Northern Ireland and €102 million for the Narrow Water Bridge project, while €58 million has been pledged by the Irish Government for Casement Park. Respite care for children at Daisy Lodge in Cong, County Mayo, has been facilitated. There has also been €30 million in funding for ports to support connectivity. We are committed to new and innovative approaches to deepening island-wide civic engagement on crucial dimensions of our heritage, society and future. At the shared island forum last week, the Taoiseach set out how the Shared Home Place programme is contributing to this.

As a Government, we are intensely aware of the need to address the legacy of the past. As the Taoiseach said last week, the continuing challenges of that legacy must be acknowledged. They impact individuals, families and communities across generations each and every day. Ireland and the UK have agreed a joint framework on legacy. The aim of this package is to secure truth, accountability and, to the best extent possible, justice. We are moving forward at pace with its implementation. We are drafting the legislation to implement our commitments under the joint framework. We will introduce it into the Oireachtas as soon as the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is enacted in the UK. We have also met our commitment to facilitate and support the Omagh bombing inquiry.

I am a proud republican and member of Fianna Fáil.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

Jesus Christ.

Deputy Mary Butler

I am vice-president of the party, a party born out of a national movement to achieve an independent Republic and unite Ireland. This question is complex and politically sensitive. It requires patience, partnership and enduring consent.

Article 3 of the Constitution, as amended by the Irish people after the Good Friday Agreement, states, “It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions”.

The Good Friday Agreement remains our North Star in terms of how we approach that work. Our commitment remains steadfast to partnership, equality, and mutual respect as the basis for all of our relationships across and between these islands. Ní neart go cur le chéile.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

I listened to the Taoiseach’s speech earlier and I have to confess that I am still trying to figure out which Bill he was responding to because it certainly was not this one. It was the Taoiseach’s single transferable speech on this matter - familiar, hackneyed, complacent and unserious. It asked us to imagine a process much less careful and less thoughtful than what is proposed and to ignore the dynamics on the ground and the fact that this is a live debate, North and South, east and west and internationally. It seems that the only people who do not wish to participate in this debate are the Irish Government.

The Taoiseach has a vision of himself as patient and prudent. I consider that a fiction. On this issue, I consider it a grotesque fiction. In reality, the approach of the Irish Government tonight is to take no positive action to plan and prepare for Irish unity. Nobody is saying this is happening overnight. This is about the process and about understanding and answering all of the very questions the Taoiseach and other colleagues have posed. That is what this process is for. That is profoundly reckless, careless and unserious. We do not have to look far for the consequences of unplanned constitutional change.

Yet while failing to prepare and plan is reckless, a united Ireland is profoundly exciting. I believe in Irish unity because I believe it can transform Irish society and improve the lives of all of our people, North and South. I agree with all of what has been said regarding reconciliation and I want a united Ireland that respects all traditions and is generous. However, it is cloth-eared to suggest that planning for constitutional change in line with the Good Friday Agreement is in any way in conflict with that. I welcome the shared island initiative. That is a good and sensible thing but it is explicitly, in the Taoiseach’s own words, not a vehicle for planning constitutional change.

After listening to the speeches across the Chamber today and talking to colleagues, to be honest, the only conclusion I can arrive at is that we would not even have a division tonight, except for the views of one man.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

I put it to Micheál Martin. This is the vehicle we have put forward for planning and preparing constitutional change. Where is his? If he is not going to accept what we are bringing forward, what does he propose? He must show us that he is serious about planning, preparing and doing that work.

Deputy Donna McGettigan

I am proud to be able to contribute to support this Bill, and that our leader, Mary Lou McDonald, brought this Bill forward. It is a Bill of hope in our future. It is about planning responsibly, producing a Green Paper, which is a report used to start a public discussion, and establishing a citizens' assembly so that people can have a fully informed, inclusive and respectful conversation about Irish unity.

Almost 30 years ago people from different political traditions came together through difficult and sometimes extremely intensive negotiations. They listened to one another and found common ground and out of that came the Good Friday Agreement. That agreement has changed lives. It gave people hope and a peaceful and democratic pathway to shape our constitutional future and it recognised that every voice matters and every identity deserves respect. The future of this island must always be decided by the people who share it. For me that hope is deeply personal. Having been born in Belfast, I have lost family and had family interned and tortured, so I know well what partition has done. We were made to feel we did not belong. We moved South and were told to go back where we belong. Am I not Irish? Where do I belong? I want to belong to an island where my family can share the same health service, education and currency and where no matter where you are born, your future is equal.

The conversation is already happening and no matter which way this vote goes, this will happen. We hear this in our communities and in workplaces and around kitchen tables across the land. Now is the time to prepare. We all have a responsibility to engage honestly and openly, and we need to listen to every voice and tradition. This is not about forcing a united Ireland on anyone but shaping a new Ireland together.

There are those here who call themselves republicans, who stand at the graves of our patriot dead claiming they want a united Ireland, who in their hearts believe in a united Ireland and who know the hope they give people when they talk about bringing about a united Ireland but who are the very people who may vote against a very simple thing - a plan and discussion for everyone on a united Ireland. I do not get this. What are they afraid of? If they are so concerned, they can bring it forward for amendments. Is it that they are letting one person who may well soon be consigned to episodes of "Reeling in the Years" ensure they vote against their very hearts? If that happens, how will they explain that to people in their constituencies, namely that they voted against them being able to make their voices heard? How will they stand at the next commemoration with a true speech? Will they then be claiming they are for a united Ireland but against having to plan or a discussion it?

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

I thank people for contributing to this very important debate on this very important landmark piece of legislation that, in essence, is very simple. This is simply about planning, preparation and dialogue in that very spirit of respect and inclusivity that has echoed across the Chamber this evening. That is it. That is all we are asking for. We are not asking for a predetermined outcome to the referendum or to rush headlong into anything. God knows that is not going to happen here. We are simply asking that we do the work that needs to be done in an intelligent, informed and respectful way. I cannot countenance the alternative and I do not get the idea that we are for Irish unity but absolutely against planning for the conversation and process for orderly, democratic and peaceful transition that is required. That makes no sense at all. The case for this legislation has convincingly and repeatedly been made by Sinn Féin Deputies but also by Deputies across the benches, and convincingly so. However, we have not had a convincing response from Government. Inertia is not an answer. A long, meandering series of rhetorical statements and self-aggrandisement and God forbid, dining out on the heroism and courage of former generations, including family members, is not a thing. That does not cut the muster.

I am a mother of adult children. I want to record in the House, because I think they are very reflective of their generation, what they hear and what they will see this evening. They will see the Irish establishment in all of its pomp and limited sense of the world standing on the ground that is comfortable for it, and that it knows and controls. They will see this - driven by Micheál Martin, of that there is no doubt - as a direct pushback against them. That generation is hungry. It has an appetite for change, that can see the next horizon and opportunity and that hears the same old tired, jaded rhetoric as blah blah blah and all the reasons we cannot have the Republic and have a new Ireland and all the reasons we will not trust and respect our people - nationalist, republican, loyalist and unionist, Catholic and Protestant people, people of all faiths and none. Catholic, Protestant and dissenter, is that not how Wolfe Tone put it? I say to those on the Government benches that they are grossly and vastly underestimating where people are at on this issue. In one day alone last weekend, we gathered 30,000 postcards addressed to the Taoiseach asking that this legislation by supported. That was on one single day.

To anyone who believes this issue will go away, it is not going away. We will be back with this legislation because we know preparation is the only way forward - the Green paper and citizens' assembly. We make no pretence that is the totality of the work that needs to be done. Far from it. The Oireachtas committees need to continue and other platforms of dialogue and expertise need to be established. These are the basics. This is the most basic ask and request.

For Fianna Fáil, in its centenary year, to push this back is a matter of wonder to me - the party of Dan Breen and Seán Treacy. It seems the party cannot see the wood for the trees. It is the party that refuses to lay that preparatory ground for that peaceful, orderly, democratic transition to a united Ireland.

Remarks have been made about arbitrary deadlines and all the rest. After all the discussion, dialogue and negotiations - the long nights into the wee hours of the morning and beyond - in the end agreement was found precisely because structure, shape and deadlines were applied. Had we meandered and looked to the Irish establishment to rehearse ad nauseam all the reasons we cannot and all the things we cannot have, we would not have made the journey thus far. The Government's response is inadequate. I appeal to people to accept this modest proposal at this important moment in our journey to the peaceful reunification of our country. There is no avoiding the work that needs to be done; it needs to be done now.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)

Go raibh maith agaibh for that very respectful debate.

Question put.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 7 Jul 2026