Sinn Féin Party Leader Mary Lou McDonald: "We Will See a Reunification Referendum Within the Decade"

Authored by spiegel.de and submitted by rmaccr
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DER SPIEGEL: There are two pillars to Sinn Féin’s policy: socialism and nationalism. Which one is more important?

McDonald: I think it’s important for a European audience to be very clear what Irish nationalism means. It is not about supremacy, it’s about self-determination. It actually perhaps has more in common with South American nationalism, and it goes hand in hand with the demand for social equality and social justice. It’s our view that, to have one, you must have the other – that they are inextricably linked.

DER SPIEGEL: In the north, among the veterans of armed struggle against the British, nationalism is clearly more important. As a woman from the south did you have to make concessions to win them over? In your acceptance speech in 2018, for instance, you used the words "Tiocfaidh ár lá.” ("Our day will come”) the old rallying cry of the IRA. Was that necessary?

McDonald: People in the north lived through a very, very difficult conflict; that’s why they see things slightly differently. And it’s not so much the desire of not being British, but it is the assertion of being fully Irish. But for people there, the issues of social deprivation, poverty and Tory austerity are directly linked to national self-determination.

DER SPIEGEL: As Sinn Féin leader, you have attended quite a few funerals of old IRA fighters and have even helped carry their coffins. Is such cemetery diplomacy necessary to shore up your credibility in the north?

McDonald: I go to a funeral to pay my respects. One of the last funerals I attended was for a young Irish soldier called Sean Rooney, who lost his life in Lebanon. So with respect, it’s kind of crude to imagine that paying your respects to somebody who has died is some form of cemetery diplomacy. When you know people, when you have worked with people, you show your respect. That’s my view on that.

DER SPIEGEL: Michelle O’Neill said last year that there was no alternative to the armed struggle of the IRA. Do you agree with her?

McDonald: I think what Michelle meant – and I can’t put words in her mouth – is that, if you are born into a society that is so unequal, where you don’t have a house, you don’t have a job, where British troops come out and shoot people dead for protesting for civil rights, there was always going to be a response to that. Was there an alternative? Yes, the alternative was a government in the north that didn’t discriminate. The alternative was a British government that would step in and stop this discrimination. The alternative was a government in Dublin that didn’t look the other way. But unfortunately, none of those things happened. And so, we tragically experienced a very hard and predictable conflict.

hammerk10 on March 25th, 2023 at 13:26 UTC »

As I understand it, the reason for the shift in polling is that the birth rate for protestants has fallen like the rest of Europe. The birth rate for Catholics has remained the same over the years.

Beechey on March 25th, 2023 at 12:22 UTC »

I don’t know, the public support isn’t even there after all the upheaval of the last 7 years. Polls have narrowed significantly, removing about half the lead of the Unionist side over the last decade, but the lead of the Unionist side is still quite large - albeit volatile.

The GFA stipulates that a Irish unification will only take place if there is majority support in NI for it, and considering the UK is finally now moving to a more cordial and constructive relationship with the EU, I don’t see where the further narrowing in polling will come from.

Opinion polling in NI on the topic of unification is approximately where it was in the early 2000s.

If the majority support is ever there, then both the UK and Irish governments are legally binded to implement the change, though. I think it’s a “wait and see what happens” situation.

Brave_note_1022 on March 25th, 2023 at 11:10 UTC »

It was promised by Star Trek!