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Mary Lou McDonald is set to call for preparations to be made towards an united Ireland. Sam Boal

Mary Lou McDonald: 'Irish unity referendum must happen in the next five years'

The Sinn Féin Ard Fheis is taking place in Derry today.

LAST UPDATE | 16 Nov 2019

MARY LOU MCDONALD has said Sinn Féin will only enter into government with those who will support a “republican programme for government” which includes Irish unity. 

In her speech to party members in Derry this evening, she said Sinn Féin will have to make choice after the next general election about entering into government. 

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail “align themselves with the golden circles – the banks, the landlords and the vulture funds”, she said, but she told her membership that things won’t change unless her party enters into government. 

“There are some who believe we should never talk to other parties about going into Government. Those fears are understandable. But I believe the housing crisis will only be solved with Sinn Fein in government,” she said. 

“Following the general election, we have a choice to make. Not about being in government for the sake of it,” she said.

“We should be guided, not by our distrust of other parties, but by our confidence in republicans. After the election, we will talk and we will listen. Our preference is for a left-led government. Let the other parties tell us if they are willing to implement a republican programme for government,” said McDonald.

Setting down some red lines for entering into government with another party, she said:

“If we have the chance to deliver housing and healthcare, to stand up for people and deliver a fair deal for families, to deliver on Irish Unity. Then that is the only basis on which Sinn Féin would enter government.”

Earlier today, the delegates at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis rejected a motion that would have limited the party’s ability to enter into a coalition government in the South after the next general election.

The party also voted in favour of a motion which stated that any coalition programme for government must include commitments on “progress towards a united Ireland”. 

McDonald said that within the next decade a united Ireland will be achieved, and called for a referendum on Irish unity to be held within five years 

“The days of partition are numbered. Change is in the air. Brexit has changed everything.

Many people, for the first time, are now considering their future in a United Ireland.

The Irish government and all who say that now is not the time to speak of unity are wrong.

A referendum on unity will happen, as set-out in the Good Friday Agreement.

It is not a question of if, but a question of when. Now is the time to prepare.

She called on the Irish government to convene an All-Ireland Forum and to map the transition to a united Ireland. 

“The referendum must happen in the next five years. Let the people have their say!”

In other election pledges, McDonald said Sinn Féin will cut rents, and reduce rents by up to €1,500 a year through a tax relief. McDonald said she also wants to reform the healthcare service, stating that an Irish National Health Service – similar to the NHS in the UK – is needed.

On the issue of getting the Northern Ireland Institutions up and running, she said it is not sustainable for the stalemate to continue 

“We are ready to do business. Sinn Féin has never been the obstacle to power-sharing or good government or doing a deal,” she said.

I challenge the DUP and both governments to step forward. To resolve the issues and get government back in action.

“We don’t need a drawn-out talks process. The issues have been well-rehearsed. We need a good faith, purposeful engagement by political Unionism. Sinn Féin negotiators stand ready,” she added.

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    Mute Audrey Byrne
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    Nov 8th 2021, 12:36 AM

    Seriously.. the cyber attack happened in May.. Ireland is a “Knowledge Economy “.. it should have been sorted by now

    196
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    Mute Marie Louise
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    Nov 8th 2021, 9:32 AM

    @Audrey Byrne: just an excuse fo civil servents to do less work

    54
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    Mute Michael Dikie Foran
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    Nov 8th 2021, 6:05 AM

    What do they mean additional resources just send the people who work there back to the office and do their jobs

    136
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    Mute SmallbutMighty
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:29 AM

    @Michael Dikie Foran: births deaths and marriages worked from the office throughout the pandemic. They weren’t allowed work from home.

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    Mute In the paper
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:42 AM

    @SmallbutMighty: Really…do you work there …recently when I tried to access the service I was told only a skeleton staff at the moment…appointments are being given out but could take up to 8 weeks

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    Mute
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:49 AM

    @In the paper: skeleton staff doesn’t mean some are working from home. There could be several out sick or at home with kids out sick from school.

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    Mute Danger
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    Nov 8th 2021, 9:19 AM

    @SmallbutMighty: no they didn’t

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    Mute The Guru
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    Nov 8th 2021, 5:25 AM

    I know this is a radical idea but maybe, just maybe we could move this process online and eliminate the need for in person appointments and paper forms?

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    Mute SmallbutMighty
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:38 AM

    @The Guru: its registering the birth of someone. Like that’s Perry official. I think it really need to be done in person no. I can see electronic registering of births becoming wide open to fraud.

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    Mute SmallbutMighty
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:40 AM

    @SmallbutMighty: pretty

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    Mute The Guru
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    Nov 8th 2021, 11:27 AM

    @SmallbutMighty: well they seem to manage it many other countries. It could easily be verified via the hospital.

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    Mute In the paper
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:36 AM

    Recently I had to use some Government agencies..ring to talk to someone you get a machine…no-one rings back…email..you get ..no-one in the office ..all this due to covid…yet they can go out to ..pubs ..restaurants…nightclubs…HSE..Civil service members never want to work…now they have another friend …Covid

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    Mute Brian Dunne
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    Nov 8th 2021, 7:25 AM

    We had a baby girl 2 weeks ago and had her registered and birth cert and all within a week.

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Nov 8th 2021, 8:06 AM

    @Brian Dunne: Don’t be coming on here with good news like that Brian. You don’t seem to get the point of the comments section at all at all.

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    Mute Brian Dunne
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    Nov 8th 2021, 8:32 AM

    @Justin Gillespie: lost the run of myself there Justin. Apologies to all involved.

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    Mute Disco Inferno
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    Nov 8th 2021, 12:24 AM

    State instruments are stretched, not trying to be uncaring, but where you take the resources from to improve this?

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    Mute Daniel Muldoon
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    Nov 8th 2021, 9:29 AM

    All registrations should be delayed until a DNA test is completed to confirm that the man who is signing it knows if he is the actual father of the child. There are too many cases today of men who are raising other men’s children thinking that they are their own.

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    Mute Hans Stofberg
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    Nov 8th 2021, 9:31 AM

    Yes its gaotic but a nightmare no . If registering babies is our biggest problem than I sign the contract straight away.

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    Mute Patrick Mahood
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    Nov 8th 2021, 5:12 PM

    It took me 11 weeks to get a copy of my birth certificate so I could apply for social housing, trying ringing the phone number advertised to be redirected to an automated service saying that they were unable to take phone calls and to send email, I sent 5 emails in total.

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    Mute Hans Stofberg
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    Nov 8th 2021, 9:31 AM

    Yes its gaotic but a nightmare no . If registering babies is our biggest problem than I sign the contract straight away.

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