Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)

Go raibh maith agat. Tá súil agam go bhfaighidh mé an t-am ar ais. It is over 100 years since partition. Partition was profoundly wrong and had huge negative impacts for Ireland, North and South. It divided communities. It separated institutions and cultural movements and organisations. It had a negative effect on politics, North and South, with the sectarian orange state that existed for a long time in the North and in some respects having a significant impact on southern politics that did not reflect the full picture of what Ireland was in terms of its various traditions.

A united Ireland needs to be about a lot more than just fixing the wrongs of partition; it needs to be about the transformation of our future. I believe that a united Ireland can mean that. It can unleash even greater economic potential in our country. It is the natural, most logical form of political organisation on this island. It can lead us to a much richer and more reflective composition of a national identity, which can be enriched by all the strands of our national story. I am eating into time. I am conscious that I lost a bit of time, so I hope the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach might accept that to some extent.

With the talk about sloganeering, the motion is about planning and preparing. The position of the Taoiseach, which is not the position of Deputy Byrne or many other speakers, is irrational and illogical. Other organisations, including political parties and trade unions, can do a great deal. Ultimately, only a Government has the weight and heft of resources to properly plan the integration of public services and so on. It needs an Irish Government to back it and begin planning and preparing. It would be negligent not to do so.

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