Is Bille maith é seo agus táimid ag tacadh leis. It is fair to say that this State has abjectly failed those in the North for many years. The issue we are dealing with is therefore the continuous failure over many years. It is also fair to say that primary responsibility for partition lies with Britain. Partition entailed the idea of Britain maintaining a foothold in Ireland, not so much facilitating Ulster unionists as using them – not for the first time and not for the last. We cannot forget the threat from David Lloyd George of “immediate and terrible war”. Obviously, that led to a really sad history. It broke many families, created a huge split in what had been the independence movement and eventually led to the creation of Cumann na nGaedheal, which later became Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. I agree with what Deputy Tóibín said about the necessity for any parties here to organise in the North, but ours would have been a very different history had those parties organised in the North. This would have changed their mindset in relation to many events. Maybe we could have avoided much of what happened, down to the fact that the North became, for all the failings of this State, a sectarian state, a sectarian Orange state that maintained the supremacy of unionism over nationalism and treated Catholic nationalists, it is fair to say, like dirt. Unfortunately, the British Government and Governments down here did nothing to address this for 50 years, and that is what led to what was a community insurrection and, unfortunately, huge pain on all sides. We are a lot happier that we are in our current position. However, the only point of that is actually delivering on our citizens’ rights across this island. We are talking about voting for Uachtarán na hÉireann. That is fairly straightforward. I refer to the idea that the Irish President would represent the Irish people. You would think that would include those in the Six Counties. The Minister of State’s former leader, Leo Varadkar, accepted that Northern nationalists had been failed for many years, so I would like to think a move could be made to address this issue. Deputy Crowe spoke about the 2013 constitutional convention, and that should have been the impetus to take action. The Deputy spoke of the fact that he and Gerry Adams produced legislation in 2014. Unfortunately, none of these opportunities have been taken up. We failed to deliver for the last presidential election. I accept some of what the Minister of State emphasised regarding the diaspora. Given our history of emigration and families torn asunder, we should do everything to ensure we engage those who have found themselves on far-flung shores. Unfortunately, some of our young people have had to leave because of issues with housing, childcare and all the other cost-of-living issues that unfortunately existed here long before the present cost-of-fuel crisis. Deputy Crowe stated it quite clearly: we have all seen in news reports and elsewhere people queuing up outside embassies to vote in far-flung places, whether in parts of eastern Europe or elsewhere all over the world. In eastern Europe, people had a long history of not being able to vote. It cannot be impossible for us to facilitate voting, no more than it cannot be impossible to find a means by which we could facilitate those in the North to vote in a presidential election. A much bigger body of work has to be done. The failure does not start and stop with presidential elections. In this Chamber, it should be possible to provide speaking time for those who represent citizens in the North, those who are elected in the North. It is vital that we bring their voice to this Chamber. The fact is that demographics are changing. There is a conversation happening across Ireland and there are significant sections, even within the Protestant unionist community, who now see Irish unity as a sensible option, including for reasons such as being part of the EU. Many were not very taken by the madness that took Britain and the North out of the EU, particularly when the majority in the North voted to stay in it. They have seen the chaos that has existed in Westminster for far too long. We will rail about this Government and what it has failed to do, but I believe more and more people on this island realise that the best way to make decisions for the people of Ireland, North and South, is to make them here on the island. Too many times, we have seen how there are insufficient powers in the Executive and the Assembly when it comes to taxation and other very particular issues where powers are still maintained by Westminster. These are all issues that need to be addressed. We need this Government to take the right steps. We are talking about Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government. Fianna Fáil would profess to be the republican party and the Minister of State's party professes to be the united Ireland party. I would like to see some action in that direction. The Taoiseach has set his mind against any moves on Irish unity. We all accept very much that good work has been done by the shared island unit and I think we all want to eventually see the necessary work done on the A5. All of us see Narrow Water Bridge as an example of a spectacular project connecting my constituency with County Down. We know that there will be huge benefits not only from the point of view of transport and connectivity, but also from a tourism point of view. However, we also have to make sure that we follow through on the conversations that are happening about constitutional change. From my point of view, it is about removing the British presence from Ireland, but it will probably be a very different united Ireland than I would have thought when I was 17. We are talking about an agreed Ireland. It is an Ireland where we have to make space for unionism and for those who see themselves as British. There is an argument that there is an onus on all of us in a referendum to be able to sell the idea that life would be better for them and their children and that we can deal with the inadequacies across both states relating to health, education and ensuring the sustainability of the economy. It is as simple as that - that we can literally put together a roadmap to Irish unity that can provide for better lives so that we can cherish all the children of the nation equally. That is something that we should all espouse. The problem is that the Taoiseach and the Government have stated that we have to wait on this perfect moment of utopia involving what the Taoiseach terms complete and utter reconciliation. Fine Gael's former leader Leo Varadkar said that if this had been the idea, the Good Friday Agreement would not have been agreed upon. It is nearly 30 years since the Good Friday Agreement and we are in a much better place. When we are talking about giving citizens in the North the right to be able to vote in a presidential election, we are talking about the bare minimum. We need to see the preparatory work this State has the capacity to do actually being done. Even if people do not want to call it a citizens' assembly, we need some sort of forum where people can have a conversation about what Irish unity would look like and where they could deal with those particular issues and the worries that some people have. I do not see a British Government agreeing to a referendum date on Irish unity when you have an Irish Government that will not even ask the question. Rather than supporting this today and then letting it wither on the vine, we need to see movement. Regardless of whether it is Deputy Tóibín's legislation, Gerry Adams and Deputy Seán Crowe's legislation or the Government's, we need to see delivery. I have no problem with making sure that as many members of our diaspora as possible can vote but we must ensure that citizens from the North who live on this island can vote in a presidential election and then see real movement toward building the republic that many have died for over many generations. That is what we need to see. Go raigh maith go léir agus an phoblacht abú.

Sentiment score: 0.08