Mary Lou McDonald urges Starmer to ‘walk final length of Irish journey’

By Claudia Savage, PA

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on the British Government to “make clear its intention to trigger a referendum” on Irish unity.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Ms McDonald also urged British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to “walk the final length of the Irish journey”.

While in opposition, Starmer said a referendum on Irish unification was “not even on the horizon”, while Sinn Féin has called for a date for a vote to be set before the end of the decade, but have not specified when.

Ms McDonald told the audience in Liverpool that the reunification of Ireland “presents the single greatest opportunity to unlock our potential and to deliver prosperity for all”.

She said: “We’re living in a time when history will be made by the people. That’s why referendums on Irish unity must be held by the end of this decade to allow the people to have their say.

“The moment will come to name the date, but first, the British Government must make clear its intention to trigger a referendum as per the Good Friday Agreement, and set out the threshold for the referendum as they see it – there can’t be any more dodging.

“We need clear and we need an honest conversation. Our countries are each other’s nearest neighbours, and good neighbours should always want what’s best for each other.

“What is best for Ireland is that Britain end its involvement in our affairs, and that the people of Ireland finally get to decide our future together.”

The Sinn Féin leader was asked what she would say if given five minutes with Sir Keir, to which she replied: “I would say, this is a question of honour. This is a question of keeping your word and of doing the right thing.

“And when the history books are written, I think he would wish them to record that it was a Labour prime minister who had the integrity and the vision to walk the final length of the Irish journey and to consign the ancient quarrel and the harm that was done by colonisation and partition to the dustbin of history.”

Ms McDonald said successive British Governments have “absolutely refused” to outline the thresholds for an Irish unity referendum.

She said: “I think we have to work from first principles: acknowledge what’s in the Good Friday Agreement, accept, therefore, that there will be referendums, and then once you have acknowledged that, you then move to the question of when and how.”

Since becoming the Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn has shared the Prime Minister’s commitment to a “reset” in relations with Ireland.

Ms McDonald said the current climate called for “not merely a reset, but indeed a transformation” of British-Irish engagement.

She said: “The immediate post-Good Friday Agreement era was not without its challenges, times when our relationship required dialogue, diplomacy and leadership, challenges that we navigated in a spiritual partnership, even, at times, a very intense disagreement.

“And then came Brexit. I think it’s reasonable to say that the post-Brexit realities have frayed the relationship, fuelled in the most part by Tory gameplay, undermining of agreements and general belligerence towards the safeguarding of Irish interests.

“It’s clear that the relationship between our countries requires now recalibration. One that puts respect back at the heart of engagement.”

The leader of the opposition in the Irish Parliament said her party would make reunification a “key priority” by establishing a reunification and one Ireland unit, appointing a minister and giving all MPs from Northern Ireland speaking rights in the Dail.

She said: “The new Ireland that we seek to build belongs every bit as much to the families of the Shankill as it does to the families of the Falls. Every bit as much to the families of Fermanagh as the families in Dublin and Cork and Galway.

“And whether you argue for Irish reunification or the preservation of the Union, the nature and quality of the conversation really matters.

“We have to listen to each other, engage with the facts and resist the urge to be driven by fear or misinformation, such as we witnessed during the Brexit debate.”