Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to organise a debate on uniting Ireland. The census results from the North are available today. The figures belie the underlying issue because, as we see, many in the North, both Catholic and Protestant, do not regard themselves as either British or Irish but as Northern Irish. One cannot unite a territory without uniting people. In the past 40 years, as the population divide between both sides of the community in Northern Ireland has narrowed to a gap of 54,000, if the gap widens further in the next 40 years on the Catholic side, what issues face us in the Republic under Articles 2 and 3 and how should we prepare for such an event? Will the Leader organise a debate on uniting Ireland, not a united Ireland? I speak about uniting people not territory.