Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. Very few countries have the opportunity Ireland does to redefine and reinvent itself as a State and a nation. We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to correct the mistakes of the past 100 years and build a new republic that lives up to the values and ideals of our revolutionary past. The last century of partition has completely failed the people of Ireland. The North was cut off from the rest of the country and subjected to a sectarian and oppressive Orange state. Following the Civil War, the South became a conservative rump state, devoid of any ambition to actually deliver on the promises of independence. The heroes of 1916 and of the First Dáil certainly did not envision that the State led from this building would completely abandon the North to its fate while embracing the same economic policies that caused us so much harm while under British rule.

The establishment of the Free State did not result in a real improvement in living standards for the ordinary worker. It did not see an end to tenements, poverty, landlordism and the oppression of the working class. It did not see the revitalisation of the Irish language and culture. It did not secure political freedom for the whole country. It did not stop the flood of emigration of our young people to England and America and elsewhere. Indeed, our population continued to decline for many decades after independence. The founding of the Free State was a step forward, but it certainly was no revolution. It is up to our generation, and the generations after us, to finally fulfil the vision for the Irish Republic and build a country we can be proud of, to succeed in delivering the Ireland of Wolfe Tone, Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly and Bobby Sands.

We need an Ireland in which no person is denied a comfortable and stable home, the healthcare they need and a fair-paying job that they deserve. We need an all-island universal healthcare system, not two separate failing systems. We need a transport system and infrastructure that actually works and is not bound by an imposed Border. We need a modern, progressive constitution that enshrines a right to housing for all and respects the traditions of everyone on this island. We need a State that effectively delivers for everyone in this country, regardless of which county they live in. These goals simply cannot be achieved without ending the partition of this country and throwing off the shackles of history.

Successive Governments in Dublin have kicked this can down the road, insisting that now is not the right time for unity. With that sort of negative, pessimistic attitude, it will simply never be the right time to move the unity conversation forward. Some sort of excuse to delay progress can always be found. It is abundantly clear that people like Micheál Martin are fundamentally against reunification or any sort of ambitious change to this country, but it is equally clear that the vast majority of people in this country believes Irish unity is our future. Every Member of these Houses has a responsibility to support this motion and to work together to achieve a better Ireland.

The Irish Government is the single most important driver of unity, to hold the British Government to account regarding its obligations to hold a border poll and to shape the conversation on what the new, united Ireland will look like. Reunification is our chance to transform Ireland from north and south, east and west and to examine what it means to be an Irish person, what role the State should play in our lives and what our future republic should look like. We simply cannot afford to not embrace this opportunity and to do everything we can to secure a better future for this country.