MARY LOU MCDONALD has said she can see “no argument” for the Republic of Ireland re-entering the Commonwealth.
Speaking to The Journal, she acknowledged recent results of an Ipsos MRBI opinion poll for the Irish Times showing 52% of respondents believed a united Ireland was “not very important, but I would like to see it some day”.
A large majority of voters – 62% – would support Irish unity in any such referendum, with 16% opposed. 13% said they do not know how they would vote, while 8% said they would not vote.
However, a majority said that while they support Irish unity in principle, it is not a priority issue for them.
A total of 20% said it was “very important, it is a priority for me”, while almost a quarter, 24%, said it was “not at all important”.
The poll also showed there was strong opposition to any change to the national flag or anthem.
“As far as I’m concerned, the tricolour is our flag, Amhrán na bhFiann is our anthem. I see no good argument for re-entering the Commonwealth, if other people have those views, by all means, bring them to the table. I don’t share those views,” McDonald said.
The Commonwealth is a grouping of 54 countries whose roots go back to the British Empire.
The idea of Ireland rejoining the Commonwealth has been floated by a number of politicians, such as Fine Gael Senator Frank Feighan who argues that it would promote Ireland’s values to a global audience, while strengthening and growing important economic and cultural ties internationally.
In an interview with The Journal, the Sinn Féin leader said there must be an open debate in order to encourage unionists to participate in a discussion about a united Ireland.
McDonald said she was also “very heartened” to see that there is a majority for unity.
“There’s an even bigger majority for the conversation to start and the preparations to start,” she said, adding that as a matter of urgency a Citizens’ Assembly must be convened to deal with the matter.
The Sinn Féin leader said the poll shows there are “competing issues” in everyday life for people, but she felt the poll results also reflected “that people understand the changes happening, that they know that there will be referendums”.
“I want a peaceful, orderly, democratic transition, that’s what needs to happen. And we need to prepare for that [...] it shouldn’t have to take me to be in government or us to be in government, anybody with an ounce of common sense would start the preparations now.”
When speaking to people about Irish unity, she says people firstly raised the issue of healthcare.
“What people raise with me is health, that don’t raise flags and emblems,” she said – adding that they are “worthy issues”.
“Health in particular, that’s where I think we start, we start with health. And we could do worse than start with an all-Ireland workforce planning to make sure we have enough doctors, nurses, midwives therapists, because all across the island, we’re running short.”
“So for me, that’s actually where we start,” she said.
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