Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union comes at an important moment, not just for Europe but for Ireland. Across Europe, people face increasing uncertainty. The war in Ukraine continues, the cost of living remains a daily struggle for many families, farmers face growing pressures and confidence in political institutions is being tested. It is at moments like this that leadership matters. Ireland has the opportunity not simply to chair the European agenda but to help shape it, and we should do so with confidence, purpose and a clear understanding of Ireland's national interests. We believe this Presidency should be guided by three priorities. First, and of immense domestic priority, we must use the Presidency to begin practical preparations for Irish unity. The European Union has made clear that in the event of reunification, the entire island of Ireland would return within the European Union. Responsible governments prepare for foreseeable constitutional change. They do not wait until the last possible moment. The Government should use Ireland's Presidency to begin structured engagement with EU partners on preparations that constitutional change in Ireland will require. As the only all-Ireland party represented in the European Parliament, in this Dáil, in the Assembly and across the island, we will continue our work with others throughout Europe to ensure that serious, responsible and detailed preparation replaces hesitation and delay. Ireland's constitutional future deserves nothing less. Our second priority is to ensure that Europe works for ordinary working people because workers, families, farmers and small business continue to struggle with the cost of housing, energy and everyday life. Ireland's Presidency should champion an agenda that protects decent jobs, supports family farms, strengthens public services, delivers genuinely affordable housing and energy and ensures that economic progress benefits working people. The European project will only command people's confidence if it delivers real, tangible improvements in their daily lives. Third, Ireland must use this Presidency to stand firmly for peace, international law and military neutrality. In that regard, the case for comprehensive sanction of Israel is now unanswerable. The fact that Israel still enjoys a privileged trading relationship through the association agreement amplifies the egregious failures of the European system and its leadership of the people of Palestine, who face not just a deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank, but who are being subjected to a genocide. It is very important that is named without equivocation. The agenda at a European level now needs to move absolutely clearly and frankly to a calling to account of Israel. Nothing short of that will bring about the necessary change that is required to protect the very survival of the Palestinian people. Ireland should also use the Presidency to ensure that voices and perspectives of militarily neutral states enjoy a greater place within the European Union. This Presidency gives us the chance to show the very best of who we are, to prepare for our constitutional future and stand with workers, families and farmers, to be the voice for peace, democracy and international law and to ensure that Ireland's voice in Europe remains independent, constructive and true to the values that have long defined this nation.

Sentiment score: 0.34