Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Self determination is the most important political and democratic right. We in Ireland have learned that lesson hard. London rule has cost this country dearly. Millions of Irish lives have been lost through famines and wars and millions of people have been forced to emigrate as a result of that right. In case anybody has forgotten, Brexit has reminded us again. It proved without a shadow of a doubt that London does not give a tuppenny damn about the North of Ireland. The North of Ireland was the last thing on the minds of the little Englanders who pushed for Brexit. I have visited the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster many times. Members have admitted to me that the fastest way to clear the floor of the House of Commons is to call for a debate about the North of Ireland. That has a real cost, with the economy in the North stagnant, because of the lack of self determination. Public services are falling apart at the moment because of that lack of self determination. Unity would radically increase the welfare of everybody on this island. The people of Newry are just as bright as the people of Donegal, the people of Dungannon are just as hard-working as the people of Monaghan and the people of Derry are just as enterprising as the people of Letterkenny. The key difference is the issue of self determination. I had the honour of researching a report for the enterprise committee in 2018. This was the first ever report on the all-island economy since partition. I interviewed hundreds of people from farmers to trade unionists and from all different backgrounds. All of those individuals agreed with me that if we planned, funded and delivered services together, they would simply be better, more efficient services. Irish unity is a clear pillar of Aontú. We are a practical united Ireland party. We believe the process should start now. We do not even have to wait for a referendum to start that process. The Border is like a wall with 1,000 blocks. Each of those blocks is a blockage to services on an all-Ireland basis. Each time we join up those services on both sides of the island, we take down a block, which reduces the height of the wall, improves people's lives and then makes unity easier on that sunny day. Catherine Sherry was married with three children just north of the Border. She was diagnosed with lymphoma in September 2024 at the age of 42. Treatment was not available to her in the North. It was available in Dublin but, despite living 90 minutes away, she was not allowed to use it. Very ill, very sick and very weak, she was forced to leave her family and take treatment in London, where she died. Imagine if we had a simple policy where you got treatment in the hospital closest to you. Imagine the difference that would make in people's lives. That is the type of work we should do now. If Aontú had ministries in the Assembly in the North, we would work with our counterparts in the South in systematically going through each department to start to equalise services North and South. We welcome this Bill but we do not think a citizens' assembly is enough. We believe there is a need for a new Ireland forum where all the political parties and all of civic society gets together to discuss what is needed for this particular plan. Micheál Martin often says reconciliation has to happen before unity. What evidence does he have that reconciliation is more likely in a partitioned state than in a united Ireland state? Reconciliation has pretty much happened in the South and it still has not happened in the North because of that partition. Micheál Martin's position on a united Ireland is the most un-Fianna Fáil position on that issue of all Fianna Fáil leaders. The question is how a person so opposed to those key Fianna Fáil values could ever have become leader of Fianna Fáil. Liam Mellows once said that if Ireland was partitioned, there would arise two establishments on both sides of the Border that would depend on the Border for their power. Sadly, Mellows was right. Micheál Martin's position is guided not by what is good for this country but what is good for his narrow, electoral interests.

Sentiment score: 0.16