The New Ireland Commission has today published an assessment of pledges to advance Irish unity made by parties ahead of the General Election on 29th November.
Chairman of the New Ireland Commission Colum Eastwood MP wrote to the leaders of parties likely to be involved in government formation negotiations ahead of the dissolution of Dáil Éireann earlier this month requesting that they include a clear commitment to approach reunification as an objective of government rather than a political aspiration. Mr Eastwood also asked the party leaders to set out deliverable commitments to advance unity during a term of government.
Colum Eastwood MP said:
“The reunification of our island is the biggest and the boldest idea for how we fundamentally reorder our society to meet the needs of people across Ireland. It is too important to be tied to the electoral fortunes of one or two parties on their own.
“That’s why I wrote to the leaders of southern parties before the Dáil was dissolved to seek their collective support for a pledge to approach unity as an objective of government rather than just an aspiration. I am glad that we’ve now seen the manifestos of the parties likely to be in the mix of government formation talks and that there are serious commitments to advancing the case for unity using the machinery of the Irish Government – that’s a game changer.
“The big challenges that people face are the same across the island – access to good quality affordable housing, soaring energy prices, the cost of living, access to health services and good infrastructure. The best way to address those challenges is together, at scale, sharing experience, expertise and resource.
“The New Ireland Commission welcomes the responses we’ve had from parties and we think that we have the basis of common ground that can be translated into government action. This is a really exciting time and we look forward to engaging with parties during the process of government formation following the election next week.”
You can view the Commission’s assessment at https://newirelandcommission.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/New-Ireland-Commission-Manifesto-Analysis-2024.pdf