At her party’s annual ard fheis (conference) in Athlone, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called on the Irish government to prepare for “democratic constitutional change” by establishing a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity. McDonald expressed her vision of bringing together different sections of society in Ireland, saying that she wanted to see “orange and green reconciled” in a new, unified Ireland. Sinn Féin has the greatest number of seats in Northern Ireland, but it is currently locked out of power at Stormont due to the collapse of the executive.
According to McDonald, Irish Unity meant that a “united Ireland” was on the horizon and that the time is near when everyone on the island would have their say via a referendum. McDonald believes that everyone’s votes must count equally, with no vetoes or goalpost shifting.
Moreover, she claimed that housing was the party’s top priority and that it would introduce a three-year rent freeze in the Republic of Ireland. In the event that Sinn Féin formed a government in the Republic, they would also return a month’s rent to tenants and implement the largest housing programme in the nation’s history, according to McDonald.
Meanwhile, Vice President Michelle O’Neill said at the party’s conference that the Northern Ireland of today is not the same as it was when unionists dominated Stormont decades earlier. O’Neill emphasized the need for a model of public finance based on the needs of all citizens, as well as the importance of fighting for every citizen’s rights. However, she added that she can only become Northern Ireland’s first nationalist First Minister if the DUP agrees to end its boycott of power-sharing institutions. Currently, negotiations with the UK government for changes to the post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland are ongoing, but the DUP believes that there are still uncertainties to be resolved
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