“We’re coming together to unite for something that’s much bigger than ourselves, bigger than me, and bigger than the differences between parties.”
Catherine Connolly TD, Presidential candidate
By Mícheál Mac Donncha
Irish Unity is firmly on the agenda in the presidential election, with all three candidates saying they support unity. This is despite the best efforts of Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin to bury the issue.
In an extraordinary interview in New York Martin again displayed his hostility to any talk of Irish Unity or a border poll. He stated: “I’ve watched Sinn Féin over the last decade blow hot and cold on the border poll. They kind of invented it after Brexit.”
Provision for a referendum on Irish Unity is of course a key part of the Good Friday Agreement which was signed 18 years before Brexit by an Irish government in which Mícheál Martin was a member. Responding to Mícheál Martin, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said: “Micheál Martin in New York wrongly and bizarrely stated that Sinn Féin ‘invented’ the border poll after Brexit! No such thing. That the leader of Fianna Fáil shows such ignorance is astonishing.”
Martin also dismissed any idea of a border poll before 2030 and made clear that he and his Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Lowry government don’t want one and certainly won’t push for it. The Taoiseach’s personal hostility to this fundamental element of the Good Friday Agreement is plain throughout the interview. After Martin’s interview remarks Mary Lou McDonald said: “Twice in a week, the Taoiseach has shown complete disregard for the Good Friday Agreement in relation to Irish Unity… Now he is attempting to cherry-pick the Agreement. Nobody can have a veto on progress. The constitutional duty is on the Taoiseach and a future president to champion Ireland’s future and to lead the preparation for referendums.
Inch by inch we are getting closer and closer to Irish Unity and the only person pretending that is not the case is the person whose job it is to lead and to prepare for the constitutional change that is coming. It is beyond reckless to keep his head in the sand at such an important moment for our island. The commitment to holding referendums must be honoured. That is what is in the Good Friday Agreement and that is what the people voted for.”
Speaking at the 27 September Sinn Féin national conference ‘Building for Unity’ in the Helix, Dublin, Mary Lou McDonald urged all Sinn Féin activists to strengthen the party in preparation for the unity poll. Attended by delegates from across the 32 Counties, the conference gave a standing ovation to presidential candidate Catherine Connolly whose candidacy was endorsed a week earlier by the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle.
Catherine Connolly addressed the conference and expressed her support for Irish Unity, stating that in Bunreacht na hÉireann unity is expressed as “the firm will of the people”. She called for a “courageous and independent voice” in Áras an Uachtaráin and thanked Sinn Féin for its support: “I want to say I really treasure that support, because for the first time in the history of Ireland, we’re coming together to unite for something that’s much bigger than ourselves, bigger than me, and bigger than the differences between parties.”
Both Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys and Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin expressed support for Irish unity in the first week of the campaign and the issue is set to remain on the agenda until polling day on 24th October.
- Mícheál Mac Donncha is a Sinn Féin Councillor for Donaghmede in Dublin.
- This article is taken from Sinn Féin’s email bulletin on 3 October 2025.
