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Sinn F\u00e9in President Mary Lou McDonald at Bodenstown cemetery, Co Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland, during the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration in 2022 (PA)<\/p>\nThe United Kingdom\u2019s union is under \u201cunprecedented pressure from a rising pro-independence tide\u201d, Sinn F\u00e9in president Mary-Lou McDonald has said.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the D\u00e1il debating and voting on her party\u2019s Irish Unity Bill this week, Ms McDonald described \u201chistory unfolding\u201d.<\/p>\n
She was speaking during an address to her party\u2019s annual commemoration of United Irishmen leader Wolfe Tone at Bodenstown, Co Kildare, on Sunday,<\/p>\n
She said they were gathered not only to commemorate and honour the past, but to \u201ctestify that together we will unite Ireland and bring about a New Republic of the people, by the people, and for the people\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in President Mary Lou McDonald at Bodenstown cemetery, Co Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland, during the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration in 2022 (PA)<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald welcomed Fine Gael\u2019s recent announcement that they will publish their proposals on Irish unity, and the SDLP\u2019s Irish unity conference in Belfast last week.<\/p>\n
She said they now \u201cneed to see positive movement and enthusiasm\u201d from Taoiseach and Fianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin.<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald said Sinn F\u00e9in has had \u201ca unique experience\u201d of the challenges involved in advancing a united Ireland in their sharing office with unionists at Stormont.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe share office with others whose instinct is too often to resist change, block progress and hold back political, social and economic development,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that has not stopped us from providing leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sinn F\u00e9in president also emphasised that momentum towards Irish unity is continuing to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe election of nationalist governments in Scotland and Wales underlines that Britain\u2019s union is under unprecedented pressure from a rising pro-independence tide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that the time has come for a United Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe planning and preparation must start now \u2026 because we now have an unprecedented opportunity for all parties to enter the conversation and begin planning for unity with enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n
She called for words to be matched by action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Irish Government must establish the structures, allocate the resources and begin the detailed work of preparing for constitutional change in partnership with communities across this island,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the clear provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, and the profound implications of reunification for every aspect of Irish life, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have yet to demonstrate the urgency this moment demands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest threat to stability is not preparing for constitutional change. It is refusing to prepare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrish unity must be shaped through careful planning, democratic engagement and honest discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat work cannot be delayed any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on: \u201cNext week, the D\u00e1il will debate and vote on our landmark Irish Unity Bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt calls on the Government to draft a Green Paper and establish a Citizens\u2019 Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf passed, it would represent a significant step forward and put planning for a United Ireland at the top of the agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory is unfolding before us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat matters now is that the conversation deepens, that the preparations start, and that whoever next occupies 10 Downing Street realises that Britain can no longer fix the boundary to the march of this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referencing Tone\u2019s Protestant background, Ms McDonald said ordinary Catholics, Protestants and Dissenters had \u201cfar more in common with one another than with those who sought to keep them apart\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecent scenes of racist violence and attacks on the streets of Belfast were a stark reminder that division and scapegoating remain potent forces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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