Debate contribution: Constitutional Change
Debate contribution by Mr Declan Kearney on .
- MLA
- Mr Declan Kearney
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 18 May 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Constitutional Change
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5548020
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The recent election results in England, Scotland and Wales represent really significant political change in the landscape of those countries. The surge in electoral support for progressive politics and self-determination, as well as support for extreme right-wing populism, should be a wake-up call for the British Government. The fallout from Brexit continues to cast a long shadow, but politics is realigning. That is reflected in the unprecedented political support for Plaid Cymru, the remarkable return for a fifth successive Administration of the Scottish National Party and the levels of popular support that Sinn Féin continues to hold in Ireland. Increasing numbers of citizens in Wales and Scotland and in the North of Ireland recognise that Westminster will never serve our interests. English politicians, whether Labour, Tory or Reform, simply do not care about the citizens who live here. That realisation is increasingly shared in Wales and Scotland. The choice is clear: more Westminster political chaos, austerity, ongoing isolation from the European Union and the rise of far-right Reform politics or the alternative that lies in self-determination and new constitutional arrangements. Irish unity is not inevitable, but it is more possible now than at any stage before. The British Government should take their heads out of the sand and accept that the status quo has failed. It is time for British policy towards this place to change. A similar challenge now arises for the British Government with regard to Scotland and Wales. Political unionism also needs to recognise that change is indeed fixed on the political horizon and no amount of denial will change that reality. Partition has not worked, and it never will. We need a serious discussion about how future change should be managed. Successive polls demonstrate growing desire across the island for constitutional change, reunification and rejoining the EU. The right to a unity referendum is set out under our Good Friday Agreement, and, 28 years from that agreement's having been signed, there is no longer any justification for refusing to set a date. The need to plan and prepare for Irish unity is a matter of established political consensus among the majority of parties across the island. In 2024, an all-party Oireachtas Joint Committee called on the Irish Government to begin that process immediately, and the Irish Government should do so. They should demonstrate the leadership that is now required and formally engage the British Government on developing a process of structured constitutional transition, and they should establish a citizens' assembly on constitutional change and begin work on drafting a Green Paper.
Irish unity should not be feared. It is an opportunity to shape a new constitutional settlement that guarantees the identities, traditions, religious and civil and democratic rights of all citizens.
Go raibh maith agat.
In reality, there is a momentum in the discussion around constitutional change that is organic and spontaneous. It is happening everywhere. On every street corner, on the side of every football pitch and in the shops and bars, people are talking about change. The fact is that we are living through a historic period of momentous change, so let us positively engage with the challenges that that presents. The opportunities are huge. Self-determination gives us all a way forward to national reunification and national reconciliation and to securing a new constitutional settlement in all our interests that is built on equality, inclusion, cultural diversity, pluralism and anti-sectarianism.
566 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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