Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. Tá a lán le rá agam agus níl mórán ama agam mar sin beidh mé ag léamh go gasta ach ní léiriú dímheasa é sin; gabh mo leithscéal. Last week, FW de Klerk died. He was the last white President of an apartheid South Africa. His actions helped to end one of the most cruel and obscene regimes in the modern history of the world. His actions in releasing Nelson Mandela from prison and helping to end apartheid liberated the people and were instrumental in helping to build a new South Africa. De Klerk's farewell apology a few days before he died was in keeping with his political conversion that apartheid was immoral, inhuman and indefensible. The former President was a consummate politician who for decades held many posts in the apartheid Government. I imagine he did not join or lead the white-only National Party with a plan to end apartheid. It was his experience mixed with the changing circumstances in South Africa that convinced him it was time to end apartheid and play his part in building a new multiracial nation. The whites wanted the apartheid system to last forever.

Here at home, partition continues to scar Ireland. There are parties in this State and in the North that want partition in some form to last forever also. Just like South Africa, this will not happen. De Klerk found a partner in Nelson Mandela. Our experience here tells us we all have to find and act on our de Klerk moments. This applies to the parties and people in the Chamber. It applies to the Irish Government. It applies to the Taoiseach and to me. We need to ask ourselves in this, the centenary of partition, whether we are doing enough to end its malign influence in the politics and attitude of the State.

Much progress has been made, and peace and the Good Friday Agreement are evidence of this. They are the harbingers of a new Ireland. The agreement did not settle the constitutional question, it asks us the constitutional question. Our experience and the experience in South Africa show that change happens by people seeking it. Our experience also tells us that once change begins it has an inner and unstoppable momentum. This momentum properly managed and directed can help bring about a new just and equal Ireland. The big issues are well known. These are the need for engagement with the broad unionist and Protestant community. There are many in this community keen to play their part in a debate about the country's future. Therefore, it is regrettable, and I know many found it deeply disappointing, that the Taoiseach failed to appoint someone from the unionist committee to the Twenty-sixth Seanad. There is a need for a referendum North and South, the need for a date to be agreed between the Irish and British Governments for a referendum on constitutional change and a need for a national citizens' assembly. We see evidence of this momentum all around us in the constitutional debate under way involving all parties in the Oireachtas and organisations such as Ireland's Future. Thousands of Gaels have written to the Taoiseach supporting the establishment of a citizens' assembly. The Taoiseach might take the opportunity today to respond to them.

There are numerous academic projects looking at the constitutional and economic implications of a united Ireland. The SDLP, who I do not need to tell the Taoiseach is in formal partnership with his party, has set up a new Ireland forum. Sinn Féin is planning to hold a series of people's assemblies throughout the country from the start of the new year. The Irish Government's role in this momentum of change is crucial, especially regarding the setting up of a citizens' assembly. I know there is a view that such an assembly will be a gathering of nationalists only speaking to ourselves but this is a mistaken view. I know from the contact Sinn Féin and others have with unionists and Protestants that many will attend any such assembly. In fact, they want to. A citizens' assembly would provide the opportunity for the Government to present its vision for the nation's future in terms of the unionist and Protestant people, cultural identity and symbols, the governance structures, the Constitution, human rights, the economy, the health and education systems and much more.

A welcome initiative by the Department in setting up the shared island unit, which Sinn Féin supports, demonstrates the Government is fully aware of the need for all-Ireland engagement in many sectors. As the unit's work develops, I ask the Taoiseach to consider a broader, deeper and more meaningful public engagement with all communities North and South. The dialogue and popular engagement under way across the nation about our constitutional future needs a home. It needs a citizens' assembly to give it focus, direction and the energy that is clearly being invested in a planned outcome. Together we can do this. Ní neart go cur le chéile.