{"id":142369,"date":"2025-11-16T05:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T05:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/142369\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T05:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T05:21:10","slug":"labour-party-leader-calls-on-governments-to-set-out-timeline-for-irish-unity-referendums-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/142369\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Party leader calls on governments to set out timeline for Irish unity referendums \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Labour Party<\/a> leader has called on the Irish and British governments to commit to a timeline for referendums on a united Ireland. <\/p>\n

In a change of party policy, Ivana Bacik<\/a> committed Labour to the goal of building what she called a \u201cnew 32-county republic\u201d.<\/p>\n

In her leader\u2019s address to the party\u2019s annual conference, Ms Bacik framed the party as republicans in the mould of the executed 1916 rising<\/a> leader and trade unionist James Connolly<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs leader of a republican party, I am calling now on the Irish and British governments to set a clear timeline for the holding of a unity referendum,\u201d Ms Bacik said on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends, we don\u2019t want a fourth green field for its own sake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know better than to run a referendum in haste \u2013 without sufficient preparation or groundwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we do need a clear time frame to allow for preparation of a green and white paper, for citizens\u2019 assemblies.\u201d <\/p>\n

She told delegates in the Radisson Blu hotel in Limerick<\/a> that a debate was needed to start the process of preparation towards a united Ireland, including the establishment of a government department to carry out planning. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to build a new 32-county republic. In our new republic, just as now, the Labour Party will stand firm to ensure security for all our communities. Including our new Irish, who have chosen to make Ireland their home.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Galway West byelection should be next \u2018united left\u2019 collaboration, says Labour\u2019s BacikOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ms Bacik said Labour had gained momentum, was growing and would stand by its values of equality, solidarity and fairness. <\/p>\n

She said the election of Catherine Connolly<\/a> as President had brought together the parties of the left.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt united many of us who, for far too long, had focused on our differences, not our common cause,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Catherine\u2019s campaign we have shown that an alternative politics \u2013 an alternative Ireland \u2013 is possible, when we unite together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing the Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a>–Fine Gael<\/a>-Independent Coalition as the \u201cGovernment of failure\u201d, Ms Bacik pointed out several cost-of-living increases. <\/p>\n

\u201cGrocery bills, energy bills, insurance, rent, mortgage costs are all rising at a rate that vastly outpaces [growth in] take-home pay,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms Bacik said Budget 2026<\/a> had \u201crewarded burger barons and big builders\u201d. She accused the Government of reckless tax cuts and large giveaways to corporate chains, contending there was nothing in the budget for working families. <\/p>\n

The leader\u2019s speech echoed the three big themes discussed during the daylong conference \u2013 housing, public services and climate change. <\/p>\n

On housing, she described the Government\u2019s new housing policy<\/a> as \u201cjust old milk in new bottles\u201d. She accused the Coalition of having \u201cnormalised\u201d the eviction of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive thousand homeless children is a national disgrace,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms Bacik argued for one of her party\u2019s main general election planks, the creation of a State construction company into which the Land Development Agency<\/a> could be subsumed. <\/p>\n

She called for the decriminalisation of drug users, the full roll-out of the Sl\u00e1intecare<\/a> healthcare reform plan, as well as improved healthcare for trans people. <\/p>\n

She also emphasised Labour\u2019s goal of the full separation of church and State in education.<\/p>\n

Ms Bacik told delegates the party stood behind the people of Gaza<\/a> and Ukraine<\/a> and strongly condemned the attacks on international protection accommodation centres. She said her party welcomed the new Irish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish flag belongs to everyone,\u201d she said, to sustained applause. <\/p>\n

She also challenged the Government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill<\/a> by Christmas. <\/p>\n

In her closing remarks, Ms Bacik said Labour was \u201cclosely aligned in our values with the Green Party<\/a> and Social Democrats<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n

She said Ms Connolly\u2019s election as President had offered hope for an alternative future<\/a>, but that it would be a challenge to align the policies of her party and those of other parties. <\/p>\n

However, she said Labour would be willing to step up that challenge. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Labour Party leader has called on the Irish and British governments to commit to a timeline for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[81746,5168,3656,895,3775,3409,8934,42,3657,81745,6189,11595,1396,43,4503,1422,1419,40,38,41,39,9688],"class_list":{"0":"post-142369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-1916-rising","9":"tag-budget","10":"tag-catherine-connolly","11":"tag-fianna-fail","12":"tag-fine-gael","13":"tag-gaza-strip","14":"tag-green-party","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-ivana-bacik","17":"tag-james-connolly","18":"tag-labour-party","19":"tag-land-development-agency","20":"tag-limerick","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-occupied-territories-bill","23":"tag-slaintecare","24":"tag-social-democrats","25":"tag-top-news","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-topnews","28":"tag-topstories","29":"tag-ukraine-crisis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}