Cork Views: Join us on a journey to bring about Irish unity

My home in Cork is more than 500km from the home of Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald in Coleraine, Co. Derry.

Driving to Derry from Cork means you see some of the most beautiful and rich Irish landscapes. But somewhere along the way, you cross an imaginary border.

This border means that Caoimhe cannot vote for the Irish President. It means that she was not able to watch Cork camogie’s triumphant semi-final victory on the RTÉ Player. It means that she pays her taxes to a foreign monarch.

The movement to remove that border is growing. It is growing out of the sacrifices of past generations and the hope of the young people of this island. It is building momentum and Irish unity is the future.

This is about more than just changing the constitution. For people in Cork, it won’t have acute impacts on our everyday lives. But it will shape our futures and those of future generations.

It will open opportunity and unleash potential.

Irish unity is about more than just fairness, it is about the future.

For Cork, this raises questions.

Some of them are profound and important. What about the health service? How will pensions work? What impact will Cork being the third biggest city have?

Some of them less so - which Mr Tayto do we keep? Could we become the Real Capital?

These questions deserve answers - some can be answered easily. We can have both Mr Taytos, and Cork has always been the Real Capital.

Others need to be teased out and properly debated.

Sinn Féin don’t want to end the conversation on Irish unity. We don’t want to control the answers to these questions. We want to lead the way to giving you your say.

From Newry to Knocknaheeny, the Glens of Antrim to the Glen of Tomás MacCurtain, Bushmills to Midleton, we believe everybody should be allowed to join in the conversation.

I know what unity means to me, but I want to know what it means to this island, to Cork, to you.

Many of these questions are being debated in sitting rooms and pubs, in lecture halls and taxis. You’ve probably had these conversations yourself.

What we want is to bring them forward and have them publicly.

Let’s start planning now so that when unity happens, we are prepared.

We have the chance to be ready, to have the paperwork done and the groundwork laid. We have to plant the seeds of a new Ireland now so that future generations can thrive in its shade.

German reunification shows the importance of planning and preparing.

We in Sinn Féin recently brought forward a bill that would start this formal process. It would involve the government publishing a Green Paper and launching a Citizen’s Assembly.

This Bill was a seed. Instead of planting it and watering it, some decided they wouldn’t move forward.

We know that many true republicans in Fine Gael, and Fianna Fáil particularly, found this hard to swallow.

We could come out and attack those who voted against the Bill now. But this is more important than that.

Bobby Sands said that no matter how big or small your role, we all have a part to play. They missed this chance but there will be more.

We will keep moving forward. One vote will not halt the journey to unity. One man cannot stand in the way of Ireland’s future. Cork’s proud history goes beyond a single vote.

The momentum for these conversations is growing. We have a nationalist First Minister in the six counties for the first time, and it is not just in Sinn Féin - Fine Gael are moving to a plan, the SDLP held a really constructive conference on unity, and our party leader recently met with the Tánaiste in government buildings to talk about Irish unity.

The truth is that we are on a journey to unity - one that started with the Good Friday Agreement and will end with a new Ireland. We want you to be part of this journey.

Together, we can build this new Ireland. We can answer the big questions and the small questions. We can reach agreement, compromise and consensus.

I am excited for this Ireland. I am excited for my children, and maybe some day grandchildren, to grow up on an island united.