Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have to agree with what several speakers have said. The conversation on Irish unity has begun. It has undoubtedly been sped up by Brexit and the madness of the Internal Market Bill. We have recently heard mention of Bloody Sunday. Last week I spoke about the case of Seamus Ludlow, who was killed by loyalists and members of the British Army. The reality is that British rule in Ireland has never been good and Boris Johnson has just given everybody a reminder of that.

It is straightforward. The idea that we must tug our forelocks and cannot mention Irish unity serves no purpose. It does not make us more liked by a certain section of unionism that may have a difficulty. This question is happening. Brexit makes it far more likely. A huge number of people are now determining that they want to stay within the European Union, and if Irish unity is the way to do it rather than as part of the very dysfunctional so-called United Kingdom, this question may happen faster than anticipated, possibly faster than even we in Sinn Féin had anticipated or wanted. The Government needs to prepare. We need to look at the practicalities and have a full conversation about all the people who live in Ireland, including unionists, nationalists, republicans and beyond. As I said in this House last week, Ireland has changed a great deal since I was 16 or 17. The idea of a united Ireland that I had then probably does not relate to what a united Ireland will look like. We need the Government to step up and put plans in place. We need to allow a full conversation. I accept the difficulties of Covid-19. If an all-island forum needs to start as a partly online forum, so be it.

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