IRISH CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING
Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus
“This is a very welcome initiative by former Taoiseach Varadkar and in keeping with his positive record on Northern Ireland. Members of Congress should give it due attention.”
—Fr. Sean McManus.
Unity debate benefits from Varadkar’s verve and focus
Irish News Editorial. Belfast. Monday, September 30, 2024.
It is a measure of the changing climate in Irish politics that a former Fine Gael Taoiseach delivered a speech last week that would not have been out of place at the weekend’s Sinn Féin ard fheis.
Leo Varadkar has taken a much firmer stance during discussions on unity since standing down as premier last April, and his address at a New Irish Commission schools engagement event in Derry was arguably his most direct to date.
Having told an Ireland’s Future conference in Belfast in June that he was determined to advocate for a positive outcome to a border referendum, he provided more details of his thinking to the group of northwest students last Thursday. He proposed that all the main Dáil parties should make reunification “not just an aspiration but an objective” specifically included in their manifestos when the next general election is called, possibly within the next matter of weeks.
“Leo Varadkar suggested that the Dáil could sit at Stormont for parts of the year in the event of unification, when the state might have not just a president but also a vice-president, one of whom drawn from the British and unionist tradition.
Mr. Varadkar said that, while a simple majority for unity in a border poll would be sufficient, he wanted the margin to be as convincing as possible, and offered some intriguing thoughts on the structures which could accompany a new Ireland.
He suggested that the Dáil could sit at Stormont for parts of the year in the event of reunification, when the state might also have not just a president but also a vice-president, one of whom drawn from the British and unionist tradition, with reforms guaranteeing minority representation at Seanad Éireann on a long-term basis.
Mr. Varadkar raised the question of how a 32-county Ireland could deal with 21st-century threats, and floated the idea of a defense agreement with the UK and a closer relationship with Nato.
While these are no more than talking points at present, which will inevitably divide opinion even within broad nationalism, they demonstrate how a debate is taking shape and can be expected to evolve in the coming years. It remains to be seen whether forthcoming elections confirm the view of some academics who have closely studied demographic trends that a significant increase in the nationalist vote across the north will shortly emerge.
What cannot be disputed is that the level of unionist support in the ballot boxes has been steadily declining for decades, with obvious patterns emerging at Westminster, Stormont and district council level.
The British government will at some stage be compelled to clarify the noticeably vague criteria for the staging of a border referendum, and it is essential that advocates of unity should set out their vision for the future as clearly as possible. Mr. Varadkar deserved full credit for his contribution.
