Sinn Fein open to legal action against British government if it refuses referendums on united Ireland
Sinn Féin would seek to hold a referendum on Irish unity by the end of the decade. The referendum would be held on both sides of the Irish border and would require a simple 50 per cent plus one majority to win
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that her party could take action against the British government if it refuses to facilitate referendums on a united Ireland.
She made the comments at the party’s “plan for reunification” launch. Sinn Féin would seek to hold a referendum on Irish unity by the end of the decade. The referendum would be held on both sides of the Irish border and would require a simple 50 per cent plus one majority to win.
In government, the party says it would “commence planning for and actively working towards” the referendums, produce a green paper in the first 100 days of government, establish a reunification unit within the Department of the Taoiseach, appoint a Minister of State for reunification and initiate “an intensive diplomatic effort to promote Irish unity”.
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In July, Hilary Benn, who was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, ruled out the prospect of a border poll. He said that the secretary of state should facilitate a referendum if they believe a border poll would pass.
“There is no evidence that that condition has been met,” he said.
Speaking in Sinn Féin’s election HQ on Parnell Square on Friday, Ms McDonald said that the party could take a legal case against the British government to ensure such a referendum would be held.
She said: “The first major shift has to be the Taoiseach making clear, on behalf of the Irish people, that the preparation is underway and to begin the political and diplomatic pressure, which will be bilateral, but which will also be international in terms of Britain meeting the requirements of the Good Friday Agreement. The referendum isn't a sidebar issue. It's a central mechanism in the Good Friday Agreement.
“On the issue of legal action, you would always prefer to deal with matters diplomatically rather than resorting to the courts. There have been occasions, and ones very recently in terms of the Legacy Legislation, where the Irish state had to threaten and then pursue a legal course. I think you saw that the British system then responded to that
“Would that be our first option? No. Is that option available to the Irish state? Yes. But remember also, it's not just the state or political actors that have that option.”
Ms McDonald said that while a referendum would be held by the end of the decade if Sinn Féin was in power, transition time to a united Ireland would be required if it passed on both sides of the border.
She also said that she would prefer that the Irish tricolour and Amhrán na bhFiann be kept as the flag and anthem, respectively, in the case of reunification.
She told the Irish Mirror: “For me, the flag, the green, the white and the orange, represents all of our traditions. The entente between the orange and the green, the Gael and the planter. I see no reason to change the flag.”
Other proposals in the Sinn Féin unity document include giving MPs from Northern Ireland speaking rights in the Oireachtas and creating an Irish National Health Service.
Ms McDonald also said that any conversation on reunification must “be inclusive” and “recognise that people hold competing and different views about the future”.
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