Debate contribution: Ireland and Northern Ireland — A Joint Census Publication 2021-2022

Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on 24 November 2025.

MLA

Ms Emma Sheerin

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

24 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ireland and Northern Ireland — A Joint Census Publication 2021-2022

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5254035

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Molaim an rún

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

We tabled today's motion to bring focus to another example of cross-border collaboration, which is so important for the trajectory that we find ourselves on in the North of Ireland, with people feeling passionately, as I do, about the concept of Irish unity coming towards us. We know that that conversation is alive and is finding its way into more homes and spaces daily. To make preparations for a new and united Ireland, we have to have an understanding of the situation that we are currently in and the facts and figures. The joint census went an awful distance in doing that. There is a common misconception that those of us who advocate for a new and united Ireland would just like to rub away the border, join the two states and leave it at that, going home to put our feet up. However, any of us who are involved in the conversation in a real way know that that is not what we want. From our perspective in Sinn Féin, we have many issues and concerns about how both states and jurisdictions have been run since partition was implemented in this country. The joint census goes some way in highlighting that there are problems north of the border and that there are also problems south of the border and that there are things that we are doing really well in the North and things that are being done better in the Twenty-six Counties. We would like collaboration and joint working to learn from each other and to make both states better in the here and now and, obviously, for future planning. One of the key statistics that jumps out from the 2021-22 joint census is the increase from the previous census in cross-border workers. Over 4,000 people have begun working cross-border since the previous census was carried out, and we can see, particularly in the border region, that people go north and south daily for their work. That, again, speaks to one of the misconceptions about Irish unity. We hear a lot of scaremongering about what a potential united Ireland could mean for our health system. Obviously, people hold the NHS very dearly, but, when you look at the cohort of workers that is crossing the border for work, you see that the majority of people coming from the South to the North are working in health and social care settings. That indicates the strength of feeling in the Twenty-six Counties around the NHS and that there is not a reticence amongst our friends and colleagues in the South about public services. I think that that is heartening and is something that we should look at and draw attention to. To make progress on anything, you have to have the information available to you, and we in the North know how damaging partition was. We know that it was particularly impactful on the border areas. That is seen very clearly through the fact that, to this day, unemployment figures are highest in the border regions of Louth in the Twenty-six Counties and Derry and Strabane in the North. That shows once again the impact and the consequences of that border infrastructure and how disruptive and damaging it has been for the communities living beside it. We can point to many reasons for our problems in the North, including the fact that we do not have a sovereign Parliament, are still at the behest of the British Government and have had Tory austerity for the past 14 years, which has caused innumerable problems for and damage to our public services. Still and all, our people have the determination, spirit and grit to excel beyond what has been set out for them. My constituency, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the North, is a shining example of that. Infrastructure was not widely available and we did not see investment in our roads and electricity network, yet we have the most successful engineering sector in Ireland and produce well above our means in that area. I commend the motion to the House and hope that it passes. Other parties have tabled amendments: one could be seen as being slightly constructive, while the other, unfortunately, has probably missed the point. I welcome the debate.

722 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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