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.

Sentiment score: 0.35