A New Ireland Forum on Irish Unity needed now – Tóibín
Aontú Leader, Peadar Tóibín TD has said that it is vital that a New Ireland Forum on Irish Unity is established. Deputy Tóibín has called for practical planning to begin now to map out the process of economic and service convergence north and south.
Speaking today Deputy Tóibín said:
“At least 65% of the people of the south of Ireland support Irish Unity according to a recent RTE/TG4 Exit Poll. Opinion polls in the North have shown support for Irish Unity as high as 42%, neck in neck with those seeking to remain in the Union between Britain and the North of Ireland. Since 2017 unionism electorally in the North of Ireland has also become a minority. This trend has continued in every election since.
“High profile Unionists such as Eileen Paisley, Peter Robinson and Alex Kane have all stated that its time Unionism prepared itself for an inevitable Border Poll. It’s no doubt that the demographic changes and Brexit has driven some of this increased support for Irish Unity. Unity is the key to unlocking the potentially catastrophic Brexit conundrum. It will also help resolve the ongoing dysfunction and stalemate in Stormont. It would mean a larger domestic enterprise market, larger representation in the EU and reduced cost of delivering public services and infrastructure.
“There is no doubt that there would be significant challenges created by a transition towards unity. However, the government’s policy of ignoring public opinion, ignoring the significant political change occurring in the North and ignoring the opportunity to remedy the damage of Brexit is a serious mistake.
“The Fine Gael government is out of step with the majority view in Ireland and is doomed to repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the Tories in London by refusing to plan for the inevitable. Aontú is calling on the Irish government to invite all shades of political opinion across the whole of Ireland to attend a New Irish Forum on Irish Unity. We are calling for practical planning to begin now to map out the process of economic and service convergence north and south.”