Down the centuries, generations of Irish men and women espoused the desire for a 32-county independent sovereign republic. As far back as the 1790s, Theobald Wolfe Tone, the father of Irish republicanism, focused on a vision of complete separation from Britain, the elimination of sectarian divisions and the unity of Catholic, Protestant and dissenter under the common name of "Irishmen". He wanted to see a restructuring of society whereby power would be wielded by the people rather than by the landed gentry. The polices and ideas of Tone and the United Irishmen fanned the flames of rebellions after 1798. Those rebellions included Robert Emmet's attempt in 1803. The Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 was a very Tipperary-based action, the setting of which was the Widow McCormack's house near the village of Ballingarry in south Tipperary. Four of the leaders of that rebellion, William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence Bellew MacManus and Patrick O'Donoghue, were tried at Clonmel Courthouse, convicted and sentenced to death, with that sentence later commuted to transportation. The Fenian rising of 1867 came next. It produced a very radical manifesto declaring an Irish republic nearly 50 years before the 1916 Proclamation. That manifesto was a progressive document advocating separation of church and state, universal suffrage and the restoration of land to the people. Then came the 1916 Rising, which was deeply rooted in the Fenian tradition. The rebels were joined by James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army, the aim of which was the creation of a 32-county socialist workers' republic. In his essay "Socialism and Nationalism", Connolly wrote: "If you remove the English Army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts will be in vain." How right he was. Then we had the War of Independence, which, again, was very much Tipperary driven. The Soloheadbeg ambush of 21 January 1919 was the first military action of the war, led by the Tipperary big four of Robinson, Treacy, Breen and Hogan. All of those actions, from 1798 onwards, were predicated on the demand for at least a 32-county independent sovereign republic. James Connolly, writing in the Irish Worker in 1914 in reaction to partition proposals at the time, said partition would create "a carnival of reaction" North and South. He saw partition as a reactionary device to divide the Irish working class. Again, how right he was. This Bill requires the Government to prepare and publish a Green Paper on Irish unity, convene a citizens' assembly, engage with communities and provide regular updates to the Oireachtas. Reports, information and discussions can, of course, be helpful. However, the Bill is framed in the context of a border poll, with separate polls on each side of the Border. That is not a national referendum. Even the decision to hold such a poll is solely the prerogative of Britain and the British Secretary of State for the North. The current Secretary of State, by the way, has already said there is no prospect of a border poll for generations to come. We must not allow Britain to decide our future. I have no confidence that the strategy outlined in this Bill will lead to a united Ireland. We must develop a 32-county campaign for an all-Ireland referendum on Irish unity.

Sentiment score: 0.01