Debate contribution: Summit on the Break-up of the United Kingdom
Debate contribution by Mrs Cathy Mason on .
- MLA
- Mrs Cathy Mason
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 14 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Matter of the Day
- Heading
- Summit on the Break-up of the United Kingdom
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5685239
Read the official Assembly record
Text
What is happening in Cardiff is significant. Right now, the First Minister of the North, Michelle O'Neill, is sitting down with the leaders of Scotland and Wales with one democratic message: our future is ours to decide. Think about how far the North has come. We now have an Irish republican First Minister. Our First Minister for all represents a changing North and is leading the conversation about what comes next. Let us be clear: no British Prime Minister can take the issue of Irish unity off the table. The Good Friday Agreement belongs to the people. It gives us the democratic pathway to reunification, and now we need to prepare for that. It is about building a better Ireland with better healthcare, a stronger economy, a thriving education system and opportunities for our young people where all identities are respected.
There are still those who seek to downplay the significance of the election of a nationalist First Minister, but today shows just how misplaced such comments are. Michelle O'Neill is in Cardiff as an equal alongside the leaders of Scotland and Wales discussing our shared belief that people must have the right to determine their future. Make no bones about it, that is hugely significant. Today's summit comes as the conversation on Irish unity is growing as never before. We have heard interventions from the American president that have clearly rattled and embarrassed the DUP. Fine Gael is talking about a blueprint for Irish unity. Even the Taoiseach has spoken about the need for greater clarity on the criteria for a border poll. The direction of travel is clear. Irish unity is no longer a conversation for some distant day but a political reality. The conversation is happening right now, so we need to prepare for it. Today, our First Minister is demonstrating something powerful: our future will be decided for us not at Westminster but by the people of Ireland.
322 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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