Northern Ireland
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Thomas Gould (SF), Cork North-Central

Our Private Members' business next week will move forward the conversation on unity. It will provide that the Taoiseach publish a Green Paper on the means of consultation with the people on the entire island. This would mean the Government setting out ideas on our vision for health, education, public service and the economy. What it would really mean would be the Government outlining the steps we would see for a united Ireland and what it would mean to people, North and South. We are not trying to impose this on people. We are trying to start a conversation and we want people to engage.
I hear what the Minister of State is saying in relation to waiting for the Secretary of State but if we were to wait on the British, we would not be where we are now. We need to move forward, not in an adversarial way but to lead. This needs to be led by the Government. I hope the Secretary of State will come forward but if we are waiting for the British to announce a poll and then react, that is too late. We need to be working in advance. If we work in advance and have these conversations, we hopefully will bring people together.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02