{"id":561579,"date":"2026-07-21T23:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561579\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T23:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:39:08","slug":"mary-lou-mcdonald-says-irish-unity-talks-with-simon-harris-extremely-constructive-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561579\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Lou McDonald says Irish unity talks with Simon Harris \u2018extremely constructive\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> leader Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> has described talks with T\u00e1naiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris about Irish unity on Tuesday as \u201cextremely constructive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Harris<\/a> last week said Fine Gael<\/a> will develop a \u201cblueprint for a unified island\u201d by November, though this is expected to set out issues to be considered if unity is to be achieved, rather than a worked-out plan.<\/p>\n

In an earlier debate on the fiscal impact of Irish reunification, Harris said while the costs of transition to a united island were important considerations, the question was \u201cnot simply what a united Ireland would cost, but what a united Ireland could create\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in enterprise spokeswoman Rose Conway-Walsh told the T\u00e1naiste \u201cMichael Collins would be pleased with you\u201d, while McDonald described his presentation as \u201crefreshing\u201d and \u201cexactly where we need to be\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking after a meeting with Harris on Tuesday, McDonald said: \u201cI think there is a recognition now that we need to work together collaboratively, that the preparation needs to be made . . . There\u2019s an awful lot of work to be done. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of talking to be done and a lot of listening to be done and the planning needs to go ahead. So another step, another constructive conversation on our pathway to referendums and an orderly, democratic and peaceful transition from partition to a unified Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the T\u00e1naiste said Harris \u201cgave a commitment in the D\u00e1il earlier this month to continue working across the House with party leaders from all parties to advance the ongoing conversation about Irish unity\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cOn that basis and following a request from the leader of Sinn F\u00e9in, the T\u00e1naiste met Deputy McDonald earlier today to discuss these matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fine Gael leader looks forward to his continued work with Government colleagues and engagement with other party leaders on these issues in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in sources spoke enthusiastically about the meeting, describing it as \u201cthe beginning of a conversation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The meeting follows recent D\u00e1il debates on a Sinn F\u00e9in bill which would compel the Government to establish a citizens\u2019 assembly and publish a green paper on unity, which was voted down by the Government parties.<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019s recent moves have been welcomed by McDonald and caused some unease in Fianna F\u00e1il, where some TDs are impatient with the cautious incrementalism of Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin\u2019s Shared Island initiative. <\/p>\n

The initiative avoids talk of imminent border polls, but has provided hundreds of millions of euros in funding for cross-Border initiatives and research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald has described talks with T\u00e1naiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[895,3775,61,60,3658,43,70,3415],"class_list":["post-561579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fine-gael","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-news","tag-simon-harris","tag-sinn-fein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561579","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=561579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}