I welcome the debate today. Ireland has a proud history and tradition of myths and legends, from Cú Chulainn to Tír na nÓg to the Children of Lír, which have passed down through the generations. However, the latest myth and legend some people are telling is far more damaging. There are people who claim that we cannot afford Irish unity. They are using false data and made-up numbers to try to stop the unity of our Thirty-two Counties, saying it will cost billions upon billions. John FitzGerald wrote a paper on how Irish unity could cost €20 billion. I am not an economist but when I want to understand something, I go to experts like Professor John Doyle, who said the figures in that report were not just the worst case scenario but were also completely wrong. Professor Seamus McGuinness of the ESRI clearly stated that FitzGerald's hypotheses were based on a scenario that could never happen. Do you know what that reminds me of? For years, when we talked about climate change, climate change deniers were rolled out to give their opinions, even though all the science was against them. Now, we have that happening here, where we know the data and the positive implications Irish unity could have but we are allowing false data to come in to skew the conversation. While I welcome the Tánaiste's comments earlier, he referenced that €20 billion at least twice in his contribution. We cannot allow false data and false information. The debate has to be honest and open but it also has to be fact- and data-based. The truth is the Six Counties have been economically trapped and cannot reach their full potential under Britain. If these economies were to grow like Cork and Galway, they would be a net positive financial impact on Irish unity. I hope the next generation of Irish children are raised on mythology of the salmon of knowledge and Fionn Mac Cumhail's trickery. I also hope they are not fed lies and misinformation. We cannot afford this to happen to our Ireland. We must submit that the British rule in the Six Counties has been negative on the people on the whole island of Ireland. My brothers and sisters in the North who are listening today and are probably gutted after the vote in this Chamber last week are looking for their dreams and the vision of a united Ireland. I stand here in the shadow of Cork men and women who fought and died for Irish freedom. I think today of Mary MacSwiney, who went from her brother's deathbed to this Dáil. She was the true embodiment of a rebel. When we talk about the cost of Irish unity, Mary MacSwiney also spoke about the cost of Irish freedom in the Dáil. She said: ...when talking with my dying brother I asked him, was it worth the cost, and we decided it was, and one of the last things he ever said to me was, "Thank God there will be no more compromise now". That was Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, who died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison and was an Irish republican who believed in unity and uniting the whole island of Ireland. The cost of Irish unity is unclear but we cannot use cost as a reason to abandon our brothers and sisters in the Six Counties. The difference that Irish unity could make is much more tangible for them now. Ireland unfree shall never be at peace. I want to send a message to all of those young people. The cost of unity is the cost of their future. It is the cost of the life they could build here. It is the cost of a border that divides this land, but our peoples will never be divided. Across hundreds of kilometres, across thousands of villages and towns, across mountains and motorways from Cork to Coleraine, we stand united. Onwards to the republic. Cost should never be put in front of Irish unity. We must debate it and be honest but, at the end of the day, it is important that all of us deliver the Irish unity that was in the Proclamation and that the people of Ireland want and deserve.

Sentiment score: 0.09