A United Ireland. Opening up the discussion.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/06/25/claire-hanna-people-in-northern-ireland-have-been-pawns-in-a-political-game-played-in-england-for-too-long/

People in Northern Ireland have been pawns in a political game played in England for too long
Border poll bingo won't change the minds or answer the questions of people who need to be convinced
Claire Hanna
Thu Jun 25 2026 - 06:00
•
4 MIN READ

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"To date, there has been little more substance than a game of Border poll bingo where the end point comes before the journey is planned." Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
The SDLP is hosting a conference today bringing together several political parties across these islands to talk about the future they want to see.

The motivation is pretty simple. We are a party that understands pluralism and engagement – and that difficult conversations are part of that.


Pluralism as a concept might sound a bit abstract, but in truth, it is how we function as a society. Families, friends, colleagues, all will have different opinions on everything from football teams to holidays to politics, but it doesn't preclude us from muddling through, persuading and getting on with things.

Social media hasn't helped when it comes to finding space for disagreement. With debates reduced to sentences and outrage driving the algorithm, persuasion has been run out of town by populism.

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But the need to listen to each other and to persuade has never been stronger.

In the ten years since the Brexit vote, people in Northern Ireland have been the pawns in a political game played in southeast England. The wasted years that saw a raft of prime ministers, two collapses of the NI Executive and Assembly – courtesy of first Sinn Féin and then the DUP – rendered people in the North often voiceless in the biggest political upheaval of this generation.



Things were also challenging for people south of the Border, as the Irish government had to manage the fall out with a UK government that couldn't agree with itself, while simultaneously making the case for a deal that would preserve the integrity of a well-integrated all island ecosystem.

This modern political context offers a new lens on the debate around unity on this island and long-standing questions including whether people in the South would vote for a united Ireland if the opportunity presents itself.

To date, there has been little more substance than a game of Border poll bingo where the end point comes before the journey is planned; the reality is that this decades-old, date-led approach doesn't do anything to change the mindsets or answer the questions of people who need to be convinced.

But there is a huge opportunity to build something new, to think thoughtfully about the type of society we want to see, and to recast Northern Ireland not as a basket case but an untapped reservoir of skills, landscape and culture that can enhance and diversify the Irish nation.

I understand that work needs to be done to convince voters south of the Border that we aren't a liability, that we are more than the negative headlines that many associate with us nordies and that the process ahead can catalyse what needs to be new in Ireland.

This requires the Irish Government to take the lead in planning for what this future might look like, as they did for the Brexit referendum outcome they didn't even want.


It is incumbent on responsible governments to plan for the future. And a future in which unification happens has arguably never been more likely. Against a backdrop of turbulence in Britain, the rise of Faragism – and the consequences that would flow from a Reform government – more and more people including many from non-nationalist backgrounds are thinking in fresh ways about their future.

It essential that when the time comes, campaigns – both pro-unity and pro-union – should be conducted in an evidence-led way, avoiding the space that others might fill. We do not want to see again what we saw in the Brexit campaign with wild promises about the NHS and outrageously inflammatory images – an atmosphere which left an MP dead and a population ill-informed about the options.

It is also clear that parties in the South are increasingly taking an interest in constitutional change. We welcome Fine Gael's recent commitment to a blueprint on unity, and the SDLP is up for engaging with all who share a values-based commitment to building a peaceful, inclusive and tolerant society.

Fianna Fáil's commitment to the Shared Island Fund is a brilliant scheme that is doing so much for reconciliation, as well as putting bricks in the ground on a range of capital projects.

Similarly, the Labour Party and Social Democrats have made strong pronouncements on unification, and Sinn Féin has long made it a campaign priority.

But we do run the risk of creating a partisan space that returns the issue to the theory and narcissism of small differences if we don't focus on the common ground.


The shared goal needs to be convincing the non-believers, as much as it will of course be a politically contested space. Because the truth is that no single party can do it on their own, and that we need to focus not on the base, but with those who need persuading.

This will mean facing facts about the past, building trust across communities and calling time on decades of "whataboutery" that has characterised the political debate in the North all too often, whether it be flags, the budget or planning permission.

Because if we are serious about building a better and more equal society, that means consistency of values. It means political leadership that doesn't seek to have "one rule for us, and another for them".

This generation will only get one real chance at this vote. We need to get it right.

Claire Hanna is leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South and Mid Down

[Rossfan]

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0716/1583690-united-ireland-dail/

[armaghniac]

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0716/1583690-united-ireland-dail/

So it is an offence to state that a candidate in a Gaeltacht constituency should speak Irish? Pádraic Pearse might have had a different view. At least the MEPs are demanding to speak Irish! 

[Baile Brigín 2]

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0716/1583690-united-ireland-dail/

So it is an offence to state that a candidate in a Gaeltacht constituency should speak Irish? Pádraic Pearse might have had a different view. At least the MEPs are demanding to speak Irish! 

What?

[Rossfan]

Some SFrs not happy that a candidate who can't labhair Gaeilge was selected as candidate got Galway west by election.

[Armagh18]

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0716/1583690-united-ireland-dail/

Refreshing to read. Good to see Simon speaking favourably about Unity.

[AustinPowers]

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2026/0716/1583690-united-ireland-dail/

Refreshing to read. Good to see Simon speaking favourably about Unity.

Feck the Euro. Bring  back the Punt

[Rossfan]

Meanwhile back in the adult world.....

[tonto1888]

Some SFrs not happy that a candidate who can't labhair Gaeilge was selected as candidate got Galway west by election.

a bit rich from them

[armaghniac]

Some SFrs not happy that a candidate who can't labhair Gaeilge was selected as candidate got Galway west by election.

a bit rich from them

Specifically, some members were critical of the selection of a candidate gan aon Gaeilge, and HQ now wants to discipline those members.

[Rossfan]

Irish Times ....

Micheál Martin says talk of Border poll makes him go 'bananas'
Taoiseach said party colleagues should concentrate on the benefits of the Shared Island initiative
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he never 'looked over my shoulder' at Sinn Féin on the issue of a Border poll because there is a 'shallowness there, a superficiality'.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told his TDs and Senators they should have the self-confidence to push back against calls for a Border poll.

Martin said he "goes bananas" when his own party colleagues call for a poll instead of focusing on the Shared Island initiative, which was set up in 2020 and will commit €2 billion to cross-Border projects between now and 2035.

He told a meeting in Tipperary as part his centenary tour marking 100 years of Fianna Fáil that Sinn Féin had called for a Border poll after the Brexit referendum 10 years ago, and "it hasn't done them a whole lot of good electorally if you stand back from it".

"And don't underestimate the vast majority of the Irish people who understand what happened for 30 years and don't want a return to it.


"They want a peaceful pathway to a new political construct on the island of Ireland, but it is to make sure that we bring as many people on that journey as we possibly can. It's the key agenda item for Fianna Fáil."


He said he never "looked over my shoulder" at Sinn Féin on the issue of a Border poll because there is a "shallowness there, a superficiality; it's about the campaign, not the substance".

The Taoiseach said: "They want to go back to rhetoric that will sound good and look good, but I don't have the heart for that. I have a heart to make a difference.

"We are the party with the proven track record, and what I say to our own public representatives is that we should have far more self-confidence in ourselves.

"I go bananas when fellows talk to me and say, 'What about a Border poll?'. In the name of God, we did the Good Friday Agreement, we did the Downing Street Agreement, we are doing Shared Ireland. We are people who care about it. We are not into rhetoric."

In what was billed as a "fireside chat" with the chairman of the party's centenary committee, Shane Moynihan, Martin recalled that in 1965 his predecessor Seán Lemass became the first taoiseach to meet with his Northern counterpart (Terence O'Neill) in 40 years because he was "brassed off with the rhetoric, singing songs about it and nothing happened".

"We made it happen because we are genuine about it and we believe in it."

Fianna Fáil has come under pressure from within and outside the party in relation to a Border poll. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, widely seen as Martin's successor, recently told a SDLP-organised unity conference in Belfast that the next Irish government should begin preparing for unity, partly because the timetable for a Border poll could be set by English politicians in favour of English interests.

Fine Gael has said it will publish a blueprint for Irish unity in November ahead of its ardfheis.

Martin told the Tipperary meeting in the Horse and Jockey Hotel that he wanted to take the constitutional issue out of the Shared Island initiative lest it be seen by unionists as "a Trojan horse for Irish unity".


"It has worked because communities all over Northern Ireland are applying with communities in the Republic for joint programmes," he said.

Martin said the Shared Island initiative was kept low-key for years to allow it to embed, but the upgrade to the Enterprise train between Belfast and Dublin, the Narrow Water bridge and the Ulster Canal will be physical manifestations of the benefits that the initiative will bring to Border communities.

[Tubberman]

Has he any timescale for his Shared Island  initiative? What is the aim of it? What is the budget for it? What do we get out of it?

[marty34]

Has he any timescale for his Shared Island  initiative? What is the aim of it? What is the budget for it? What do we get out of it?

.....that a border poll won't be mentioned.

[AustinPowers]

"And don't underestimate the vast majority of the Irish people who understand what happened for 30 years and don't want a return to it.

Ah yes, the Troubles, which  all came from  the IRA only. Isn't that right, Mehole?

Ballbag.

[Snapchap]

Micheál Martin says talk of Border poll makes him go 'bananas'

'Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party'