Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that fully but I thought it was important to say it.

Reconciliation was referred to by Senators McDowell and Feighan in terms of what needs to happen. I agree with Senator McDowell, which does not happen very often, that it is a core tenet of Irish republicanism and a core tenet of my Irish republicanism and the republicanism of my party. If Senator Feighan wants to know what kind of united Ireland we aspire to, he should take the proclamation down off the wall and read it because it is all there, including the issue of reconciliation. If we are talking about Sinn Féin's record and the record of republicans relating to reconciliation, I do not think anyone has set a better example or a better trajectory on that path than the late Martin McGuinness who on several occasions famously met with Queen Elizabeth II, the commander in chief of the British armed forces. He led a Sinn Féin delegation to Messines and the Somme where he laid a wreath at the Ulster Memorial Tower. In my capacity as Lord Mayor of Belfast, I laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in memory of all the people mentioned by Senator Feighan and indeed those from my city who lost their lives in the First World War.

All of this feeds into the broader political issues we have faced in recent months. It has all been done with zero reciprocation. We stretch ourselves to attend civic events at Belfast City Hall for the signing of the Ulster Covenant or the Battle of the Somme but when there is an historic event, the first of its kind, at Belfast City Hall to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising, unionist politicians refuse to attend, therefore, leading to our President not attending that event, which was a slap in the face to nationalists and those nationally minded people in the city of Belfast and across Northern Ireland. If we are going to lecture people on reconciliation, we must see that reconciliation is a multi-way process that involves more than just republicans, who I believe have not just led on the issue of reconciliation but have lived and are living that reconciliation, difficult as it is at times.

Regarding Senator McDowell's remarks on the Border poll, it is fair to say that Brexit has changed everything. Demography is changing. The Unionist political majority in Northern Ireland has ended and I do not foresee it coming back. He references a series of polls. The only poll I know of involves that very well-known and balanced publication The Belfast Telegraph, which surveyed a couple of thousand people so I do not know where the evidence that there would be no desire for either a poll or a discussion on unity comes from. We should be preparing for that. As Senator Mark Daly rightly says, we are constitutionally obliged to prepare for that. The Good Friday Agreement allows for that so why would we not at least begin a national dialogue? We have facilitated it around Brexit, which has changed the political paradigm on the island so why would these Houses not consider the formation of a joint Oireachtas committee to look at the reunification of the country, be it a new Ireland forum or a civic dialogue?

I do not expect the Minister to comment on the specifics of the Irish Language Act and the ongoing discussions but it is a very important issue and worthy of comment and contribution in this House. I welcome the Minister's very clear public contribution on his behalf and on behalf of the Government that lends support to the majority of MLAs and political parties in Northern Ireland for a stand-alone rights-based Irish Language Act. It is supported by 50 out of 90 MLAs in Northern Ireland and the majority of the parties there and was agreed at St Andrews ten years ago. An Dream Dearg, Conradh na Gaeilge, schools, sporting clubs, community groups, families and many more from all over Ireland have come together and taken to the streets to show the vibrancy, dynamism, youthfulness, inclusivity and diversity of the Irish-speaking community. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, has refused thus far to meet with representatives of the Irish language sector. I do not think that is helpful or conducive to the kind of negotiation we want to see concluded. Even Arlene Foster and the DUP have met those representatives so I think the Minister would agree with me that it is an unacceptable and untenable position and one that causes deep offence to the broader public when the Secretary of State does not extend that basic civility to those representative bodies. Perhaps the Minister will consider raising this privately with Secretary of State Brokenshire.

In 2006 and 2007, there were 3,660 children at Irish medium schools. This increased to 5,873 last year, up 60.46%. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta predicts that by 2021, there will be 7,220 children receiving education through the medium of Irish, a rise of 97.23% from 2006. As the Minister knows, it is these children that the implementation of an Irish Language Act is for. The symbolic and practical nature and outworking of an Acht na Gaeilge will have a positive and affirming impact on the lives of these children, their families and their neighbourhoods as well as the broader society in Northern Ireland. The clear support of the Minister and Government for that demand is very welcome among Irish speakers and those who cherish and respect the Irish national identity and I commend the Minister for that.

On the issue of citizenship, the Minister has perhaps seen me tagging him on Twitter over the past couple of nights. I welcome his letter, which I received the other day, directing officials to assist in the case of Emma and Jake De Souza. Their plight involves an application for a residency visa for Jake, who is a US citizen. Emma is an Irish citizen resident in Northern Ireland who is currently refusing the obligation being placed on her by the British Home Office to renounce British citizenship, a citizenship with which she has never identified or held as under the rights afforded to her under the Good Friday Agreement, she is solely an Irish citizen. We have seen another highly publicised case over the past few days that saw another Belfast couple face similar difficulties and anxieties while applying for a visa from the British Home Office simply for asserting a right to be an Irish citizen. Yesterday, I wrote to the British Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, encouraging her to ensure that when dealing with visa applications from Northern Ireland, Home Office officials are fully briefed and trained up on the rights of people in Northern Ireland to be Irish citizens and so that, hopefully, they can prevent any further undue anxiety or stress as a result of this ignorance of the Good Friday Agreement. Perhaps the Minister and his officials might raise this with the British Government.

Partitionism is not just mechanical. It does not just intrude in the mechanics and logistics of our lives. A psychology of partitionism prevails. When the Good Friday Agreement gave us citizenship and afforded us the right to participate in the life of the Irish nation, it never said that Northern Ireland was perpetually settled and done. Conan Doherty, an author writing for, of all publications, SportsJOE.ie, wrote regarding James McClean and the Ireland match that "[I]t wasn't a tactical decision by players to join Ireland because they couldn't get onto the north's side".It is not a bloody decision; one is either Irish or one is not. A person does not have to think about it. Whether it was for a cheap laugh, these great servants of Ireland should not have swipes taken at them after doing what they did for their country in such an important battle. James McClean grew up with just as much love and fire and just as many dreams to play for Ireland as David Meyler. Derry is as Irish as Cork. That is the reality for many of us; it is cultural, psychological, social and political. If we are to ask the British Government and unionism to respect our place as Irish citizens, people and figures, we need to have a serious conversation about how we reconcile people in the South with those of us in the North who are Irish and how our citizenship is treated with equal status.