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Sinn Fein launches united Ireland drive

By Noel McAdam
Saturday, 21 February 2009

Sinn Fein motion bashes the media

Sinn Fein activists were today set to urge First Minister Peter Robinson to agree to an economic probe into the costs of partition.

The party’s ard fheis was due to back a motion calling on the Office of the First Ministers to employ an independent economic research firm to examine the price of maintaining the border.

And in a keynote address, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was expected to underpin the party’s committment to a policy of Irish reunification as its core objective.

It was thought his speech, shifted from the Friday opening session to today, will emphasise the party’s argument that the current economic downturn could be ameliorated in the context of a united Ireland.

He will be speaking to a key motion from Sinn Fein’s executive which reaffirms “that the question of Irish unity remains at the top of our agenda, not as rhetoric, nor as a matter of inherited tradition, but as an issue of practical and political urgency.

“The recent financial crisis is yet another demonstration of the need for the Irish people to be in control of their own destiny and not simply represented either indirectly through London or disjointedly through Dublin.”

The gathering at the RDS in Dublin was also due to call for moves towards unity contained in both the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements “to be instituted without further delay” including the All-Ireland Consultative Civic Forum and the All-Ireland Parliamentary Forum drawn from the Assembly in Belfast and the Oireachtas in Dublin “pooling political and legislative experience”.

Sinn Fein last year set up an Irish Unity Task Force which has indicated an examination of the case for expanding of the current cross-border bodies and the creation of additional All-Ireland structures is making progress - and maintained pressure on the Dublin Government for a discussion paper “on the way forward to a United Ireland”.

Against the backdrop of a focus on Irish unity, however, the row over Mr McGuinness’s official title as ‘deputy’ First Minister continued even though he and Mr Robinson have co-equal powers.

While party president Gerry Adams insisted he was relaxed over the ‘deputy’ nomenclature, the party’s website referred to Mr McGuinness as “co-First Minister”.

This came after the DUP leader in the Assembly rebuked deputy Speaker, Ulster Unionist MLA David McClarty, for using the term ‘joint First Ministers’.

But the east Londonderry MLA hit back yesterday: “Peter Robinson cannot get away from the fact that he and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness are ministerially joined at the hip. They have mutual vetoes and shared powers".

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Thanks for continuing to highlight your inability to debate the original question and in fact replying to it by harping on and on about some unrelated "predictability" nonsense.

I wonder will you be predictable and continue to swerve away from the debate Barry...

(And apparently I do not know how to conduct reasoned debate!!)

I want this >10 seconds back to for having to write this. Jeez Louise.

Posted by mickey | 24.02.09, 11:45 GMT

A waste of time? Pretty much sums up your entire catalogue of contributions on these message boards, you have completely mastered the art of message board onanism, congratulations. Mickey if you got those 10 seconds back you would only do something silly with them.

Posted by Barry | 24.02.09, 10:47 GMT

What a shame you are incapable of contributing to the debate here. Perhaps your skills instead lie in slinging accusations around. Good for you Barry, but I'd like the >10 seconds I took to read your post back now please.

What a waste of time!

Posted by mickey | 24.02.09, 09:42 GMT

Sinn Fein really clutching at straws now! Just what we need, another waste of money.

Posted by Moopay | 23.02.09, 15:33 GMT

Glyndwr, there is no goodwill for it to happen on the island of Ireland. SF are just grandstanding after ensuring from a totally unnecessary 30 year campaign of violence that unification will never take place.

There is as much chance of a United Ireland as there is the Republic of Ireland reuniting with the UK.

Anyways, why would the Republic want to inherit 1 million plus disgruntled citizens (of all religions and none) who are content with living in the UK. Alternatively, why would anyone want to become citizens in an economically and socially bankrupt Republic. Just look at the economic shambles in the Republic.

Are there not more important economic issues to be dealt with currently? Is this a reflection of the priorities of those at Stormont? If it is, then God help us.

Posted by Thos | 23.02.09, 14:45 GMT

I draw attention to your post

"SF, true to form, predictably every 2nd or 3rd week...! "

Now this could just as easily be ascribed to yourself. For example.

"Mickey, true to form, predictably every...."

The main point of my post is that you are quite predictable with your postings on a daily basis. That is why I said that you are in no position to comment on matters of predictability. Whether it is unreasonable or not to assume SF have commissioned a firm to undertake an investigation in to the costs of "unification" is irrelevant to my contribution on this. I don't particularly wish to get into a reasonable/unreasonable debate with someone who doesn't really know the meaning of reasoned debate. Cheers.

Posted by Barry | 23.02.09, 14:32 GMT

Barry, its not unreasonable to assume SF have commissioned a firm to undertake an investigation in to the costs of "unification" now is it?

In fact why would they not, eh?

Posted by mickey | 23.02.09, 13:53 GMT

Mickey you are in no position to try to ridicule anyone on matters of predictability.

Posted by Barry | 23.02.09, 11:13 GMT

Grandstanding and political opportunism of the lowest form, that is all we are witnessing here.

The problem SF have is that economic events are moving much more quickly than they can hope to respond. So just as they re-launch the same claim they have always made Ireland as a state is found to be insolvent and could default and I am fairly certain SF do not have the answer. If this happens the game is up for another generation plus or minus civil war.

Lets just sit back and watch as support withers away over night given this scenario.

Posted by M Spence | 23.02.09, 00:48 GMT

SF want a probe into the costs of partition?

How about a probe into the economics of "unification"??? Have they commissioned this? Where can the public view the results?

Haha, good old SF, trotting this nonsense out predictably every 2/3 weeks. They used to be bordering on desperation. I think they've gone beyond that in recent months.

Posted by mickey | 22.02.09, 22:43 GMT

I would have thought that Sinn Fein's best hope of uniting Ireland would be to go way & keep going until it falls off the earth alltogether.

Posted by jock | 22.02.09, 22:08 GMT

SF, true to form, predictably every 2nd or 3rd week...!

We're led to believe SF have pockets full of money. Why don't they commission PWC or suchlike to undertake such an evaluation in the costs of "partition".

In fact why not conduct an evaluation into the costs of "unification".
Anyone know if they have? Recently? 5 years ago? 15 years ago?
30 years ago? Have they carried out this basic but fundamental element of unification? Where can I see the results???

Posted by mickey | 22.02.09, 14:42 GMT

There is a paradox at the heart of SF policy; where socialism conflicts with unification policy.

While the party promotes the idea of a political union with the South, it has NO strategy to align the Northern and Southern economies to make unification add up for ordinary citizens - who will presumably need to be presuaded to vote for such a move.

Political unification is cheap talk in the absence of any strategy to slim down the North's bloated public sector and promote private enterprise. At the moment, the North's public sector costs c.£8 billion per year more to run that is collected in taxes from the region - OK for Her Majesty's Treasury to bear but not a cost the South could likely afford to backfill.

So...Come on SF! Let's have a coherent strategy for political AND economic unification. Otherwise we'll all still be here in 2116 suckling on Britannia' - nevermind 2016!

Posted by RS | 22.02.09, 12:03 GMT

Reunification may be more attractive to Unionists/Loyalists if an All-Ireland parliament had an upper house (senate) in which Ulster, as a 9-county province, had as many members as the other 3 provinces combined.

Posted by Seán MacCurtain | 22.02.09, 03:35 GMT

Great news from across the Irish Sea!

There is no doubt that the momentum towards Irish unity will inevitably quicken considering the considerable demogrphic changes taking place in Northern Ireland. There would also be considerable goodwill for the concept here in Britain.

Posted by Glyndwr | 21.02.09, 20:33 GMT

a good practical idea

Posted by jeffry | 21.02.09, 14:50 GMT

Peter Robinson will never agree to this, but Sinn Fein could engage unimpeachable international observors to investigate this and produce a report in short order.

Posted by JerryF | 21.02.09, 13:32 GMT