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.

Sentiment score: 0.30