Fine Gael will develop a \u201cblueprint for a unified island\u201d by November, the T\u00e1naiste has announced.<\/p>\n
Simon Harris said all political parties are \u201cduty bound to make a positive, credible contribution\u201d in preparations for unity.<\/p>\n
Harris made the remark as he delivered a speech at a Fine Gael event to mark the centenary of the birth of Garret FitzGerald in UCD on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Harris said the country must now engage \u201cseriously, responsibly and respectfully\u201d with the future of this island ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which will come during his next tenure as taoiseach.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe cannot be passive observers to change nor can we approach questions on the future constitutional status of this island through slogans, sentimentality, or simplistic assumptions as some other political parties on this island do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf constitutional change is to happen, it must be prepared for, carefully, honestly and inclusively.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told Fine Gael members this must involve listening to all traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome will suggest this is not the right time. I would strongly refute that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conversation is an essential step in building a new and better Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why today, I am announcing that Fine Gael will develop a new blueprint for a Unified Island for our Ard Fheis this November<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work will be led by the Fine Gael Northern Ireland Engagement Group and facilitated by academic Professor Deirdre Heenan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fine Gael leader said the blueprint would define what a unified Ireland could mean in \u201cpractical terms, politically, economically and societally\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said it would examine fiscal implications, public services and the \u201ceconomic opportunities that could arise from unity\u201d, including all-island infrastructure, labour mobility, and EU market access.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur responsibility is to ensure that any discussion about the future is informed, inclusive and grounded in reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine Gael believes that reconciliation, not triumphalism, that persuasion must come before politics, and that respect must be at the heart of every conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described unity not as \u201can event\u201d but as \u201ca process requiring leadership, planning and patience\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fine Gael will develop a \u201cblueprint for a unified island\u201d by November, the T\u00e1naiste has announced. Simon Harris…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-500251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500251","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=500251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}