 Good welcome everybody and welcome to our guest today. I'm Michelle O'Neill vice-president of Sinn Fein Leader of the party in the north and a member of the North Corolla Michelle has been involved in politics for most For adult life first female mayor of Duncanon MLA since 2001 and a number of ministerial roles in the executive So without further ado Good afternoon and great to be here this afternoon and have a chance to address you all and look forward to the questions afterwards and This is my first time here actually so Great great to be here and to see so many people On the topic of what I want to talk about today, which is around Ireland's future and beyond Brexit So I'm very grateful to the Institute to afford me the opportunity to have a chance to actually address address the gathering And I think that as we gather here today Ireland's probably facing It's biggest and probably its most profound challenges in a generation Not least in the context of Brexit But also because of demographic change and also because of the loss of the Unionist majority in the north and Then aligned to all of that is the fact that there was an evolving conversation Around the future of the constitutional position on the island and Brexit has clearly become a catalyst for all of that So I think as we as we gather here today history is certainly unfolding all around us. I think it's a matter of vital national importance which requires Intelligent mature and inclusive analysis and examination and it also demands proper planning for the future The world is moving on and it will move on very quickly So the question for us all in politics in government and business academia and civil society is How do we best shape Ireland's future direction for the betterment of everyone who shares this island together? We're certainly in uncharted territory as a country And how we respond to all of these challenges will determine our path for decades to come The brexit referendum in 2016 did not take account of Ireland or the unintended consequences for our institutional or constitutional arrangements The political social and economic progress of the last 21 years was ignored The relations developed within the north Across the island and between Ireland Britain have been stretched Brexit is a British policy, which is being foisted on part of this island and our people who have not consented to it at all We value our membership of the European Union Because it has brought us enormous benefits both financially and politically down through the years The people of the north voted to endorse this support during the 2016 referendum by opposing Brexit The majority of citizens and elected members to the assembly are utterly opposed to Brexit and there is no good version of Brexit for Ireland north or south Ultimately dragging the people of the north out of the EU into a nightmare is mutually incompatible with the good Friday agreement So we identified the need to provide an air solution to an English problem And actually former president of Sinn Féin Jerry Adams in this very building actually launched our response to all of that whenever he Launched our document here, which was entitled designated special status for the north within the EU back in 2016 We have worked constructively with the Irish government and the pro-remain assembly parties in the north including the SDLP in the Alliance And the Greens to work in common cause towards in defense of our shared interests We also secured cross-party consensus in the doll back in February 2017 for our policy And the core tenants of that policy have been to advance the case for safeguarding the peace process and the protection of the good Friday agreement No customs border checks and tariffs on this island continued access to both single market and customs union Preserving the north-south east-west elements of the agreement which are critical to cooperation and better integrated collaboration economically and a public service provision and To secure citizenship provisions core to the good Friday agreement Which recognizes the birthright of all people of the north to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British or both as They may they as they may so choose and therefore exercise and enjoy their Irish and EU citizenship and associated rights So I suppose the question is is last week's Revised political declaration and Irish protocol good for Ireland We believe that whilst it's clearly imperfect. It is better than a no-deal crash out. I've described it as the least worst outcome Does it achieve what Sinn Fein and others have been arguing for in regards to special status? Yes, it does It means no border and critically what it means is no unionist veto The DUP have been Attempting to conflate the issue of the principle of consent which is set out in the good Friday agreement on the constitutional status of the island With the issue of parallel consent Which is in reference to the workings of the assembly and the executive and is limited to a number of areas For example when it comes to setting of a budget or the election of a speaker Which was a relevant matter over the course of yesterday's debacle in the assembly The deal on the table will mean that seamless trade and all our supply chains will be less disrupted It will protect trade jobs and livelihoods and it's clearly welcome There are issues in terms of it the role and consent required by the assembly every four years is imperfect Because it doesn't allow businesses to plan into the future. It doesn't give them to give their investors certainly Our island economy has conventionally been depicted as a product of our political history That is segregated and divided with the south outperforming the north We now see the reverse of what was done or what was once a vibrant northeast economy on this island when partition occurred and boundaries were drawn Belfast was the industrial anchor haven't emerged from the Second World War in a relatively advanced advanced advantageous position But that's a bygone era and things have changed The divergence between north and south has often meant competing economies and the north continually trying to catch up Despite the peace dividend and all the foreign direct investment post 1998 I Firmly believe that we need to develop and nurture We need to build and grow the all-island economy where we develop closer regimes and models of integration It's imperative that the island of Ireland redoubles our efforts to develop and rebuild modern Competitive and sustainable economy where we open doors to trade to investment tourism and to jobs We need to improve our competitiveness through investing in public services and infrastructure on an all-island basis Our membership of the EU went some way to compensate for the shortfall With substantial financial aid towards infrastructure agriculture subsidies and other granted This island together has been in the EEC and the EU respectively since 1973 And the Tories and the DUP are intent on dragging us out of the EU and there's huge anger about that right across the north What we must take away from all of this Brexit debate and debacle is that we cannot ever allow Others to make decisions for our country for Ireland and for our future So we must decide Ireland's future beyond Brexit And Ireland's future must be in Ireland's hands only And all the while as we go on that journey we must be guided by the principles of the Good Friday Agreement Sinn Féin along with others have invested heavily a serious amount of energy and political capital in the peace process The Good Friday Agreement framework in all of its dimensions is something that we're fully committed to Our agreement, the People's Agreement, has been under fierce attack by hard Brexiteers And I do not expect that to end anytime soon because as we know Brexit is here for keeps The agreement provided an alternative to conflict and it was the basis for building a new and democratic society And the peace and reconciliation of a deeply divided society And I think we have to reclaim that spurt of the Good Friday Agreement We must not lose the last chance to advance reconciliation and heal the wounds of the past A central part of that agreement is human rights and equality guarantees in law The DUP against the will of the majority of parties, MLAs and the electorate have yet to embrace these guarantees And we, Sinn Féin are committed to the restoration of the Good Friday Agreement institutions on a firm, fur and just basis in the common period But this must be based on respect, full respect for and protection and expression of the rights and identities of one another's traditions Which even handily afford our communities the party of esteem, respect and equality of treatment and opportunity promised in the Good Friday Agreement Momentum and talks since April of this year has been impeded by two political realities Brexit being one and the Tory DUP packed at Westminster being the other But we must return to negotiate and table because progress always has been possible We need to guard against what is a lull so that doesn't become a full stop The continued stalemate I believe is untenable. It's unsustainable and it's quickly running out of road It's no secret that we are in course We of course are as Irish Republicans and we're a party whose raison d'être and primary objective is to bring about a new and agreed Ireland We are the largest nationalist party in the north representing our citizens And we are committed to the democratic pathway to united Ireland as subscribed to in the good Friday Agreement And we're also wholly committed to the principle of consent It will only be the people it will be the people alone who decide our constitutional future through a unity referendum The full crime of the brexit crisis is the border in Ireland This has exposed the failure and the undemocratic nature of partition A political problem which requires a political solution There's a growing sense that circumstances are now rapidly changing Which will inevitably lead to the final breakup of the constitutional structures of the united kingdom People from across society in the north including those with the british identity are now seriously questioning the merits of which union They wish to belong and where their economic interests are best served Over the past number of elections in the north the unionist majority has gone That notion of a perpetual unionist majority the very basis of partition is gone The latest census data on the north from 2011 show significant democratic demographic shifts Where the nation's population will soon be a majority as early as the end of the next decade A conversation is now underway on the constitutional future of the whole island That's a conversation that's never been seen before While the devolution settlement ushered in by the labour government back in 1998 Was a welsh scottish and Irish phenomenon how we reached this point And our point in Belfast was very different and historically painstaking We're not the same as scotland and wales The issue of Irish unity has taken on a whole new dynamic because of brexit and that can't be ignored The political momentum on change is moving in that direction Shin fame wants a new and a great Ireland However, let's be clear. We'd never claim to own the debate by ourselves The debate is for each and every one of us And I think the key point in that debate is actually that the EU have declared in the future That in the event of Irish reunification, the north will automatically rejoin the EU So the declaration by the EU states that the european council acknowledges that in accordance with international law The entire territory of such a united Ireland would thus be part of the european union in the event of Irish reunification Those of a british unionist identity are starting to assess what this means Not because they wish to become Irish nationalists But simply because they want to remain europeans It's no longer self-government from Westminster through devolution through devolution that people are content with Everyone is being challenged to rethink their future Shin fame for our part see no contradiction whatsoever In declaring our firm commitment to power sharing with the unionism in the storming assembly Whilst also initiating a mature and inclusive debate about new political arrangements Which examine Ireland's future beyond brexit And similarly, I believe there's no contradiction in unionism working the existing Constitutional arrangements whilst taking its rightful place in the conversation about what a new Ireland would look like Citizens are looking to the future to see where their interests are best served The people of this island should have a choice between brexit and reunification A growing number of people on the island of Ireland believe that Irish unity is the democratic alternative To the unwanted brexit that's been foisted upon citizens here And we cannot afford to compound segregation and division and isolation There is an onus on the Irish government to begin such preparatory work now In parallel with civic society and conversations which have already started Emerging voices across civic society in the north are now discussing this option both publicly But also quietly in workplaces and in homes So how do we help our neighbours from a Protestant British unionist identity into this conversation Without having to surrender that identity or allegiance Because the new Ireland that I certainly want to bring about isn't one that's just for nationalist or republicans It has to be one for everybody who shares this island and everybody must feel that they belong In considering this we should remember that the north would be uniting with a pre-existent state within the EU Where article three of Bunrock-Nahar and anticipates reunification And in the context of an international agreement that guarantees continuity of protections Established within the good Friday agreement. I think that's a really important point. There has to be a continuity of the good Friday agreement All of the mistakes made during the brexit referendum must be avoided in any national dialogue and referenda on the constitutional future of Ireland It's clear that the building of a new and a great Ireland will require the participation and the cooperation of all of the people of this island In particular, it's evident that the people parties and government in the south must commit themselves to this objective However, Britain must also accept its obligations to create the conditions which allow this process to begin in the context of the good Friday agreement provisions The British government have a legal duty to join in developing the necessary processes That will recognize these realities and give effect to these requirements as agreed and to make the required investment of political will So the British and Irish governments should enter into discussions to create the framework and the atmosphere necessary for this purpose It would assist in preparing for negotiations if discussions between the governments were to take place prior to any referendum And avoid the repeat and the abject failure to begin basic planning that was so evident throughout the brexit debate And the Irish government should clearly press for such an engagement The British Irish Intergovernmental Conference, as contained within the good Friday agreement, is a mechanism to facilitate such a discussion The conference, as you were aware, was set up under the good Friday agreement to promote bilateral cooperation between both governments Costing reunification, carrying out an examination of the new political arrangements, fully respecting obligations and commitments under the good Friday agreement is also crucial This also should include any outstanding commitments under the agreement and the steps to be taken to implement them in advance of a referendum A national forum must be established to carry this necessary engagement and consultation forward led by both of the governments The Irish government should also establish a constitutional unit within government and appoint a minister with responsibility for north south relations Political dialogue and negotiation, planning and preparation for a referendum on Irish unity When an Irish unity referendum is secured and won, there also must be a period of preparation for the island of Ireland to become a reunified country Setting a realistic reunification date will allow time for preparations necessary for the national parliament to take on the new powers of reunification to be completed This period between the referendum and reunification will see further negotiations between Dublin, London and, importantly, the European Union The governments, as agreed in the good Friday agreement, are committed to work together constructively in light of the outcome of the referendum in the best interest of the people of the island of Ireland And following that vote and reunification, agreements will be needed between the Irish and Westminster governments, setting the parameters for Ireland's transition to reunification These will set out the precise timetable towards that reunification There are also ways in which the EU could ensure that the transition to Irish unity and maintaining membership of the EU are supported And I think the most poignant example of that is how the EU helped Germany Next month marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the night of the 9th of November This symbolised the end of the Cold War and setting chain, a motion of events that would forever change the face of Europe And as a direct consequence, Germany was fully unified in one year, in less than one year And that's something for everybody to think about, because sometimes events can overtake you The European Union has always been about removing barriers, about bringing people together in peace and prosperity Professor Colin Harvey and Barrister Mark Bassett published a new paper relating to this only a fortnight ago in the European Parliament This could involve the establishment of a European Parliament special committee on reunification, as was the case in German reunification This parliamentary committee would have the ability to deal with all issues relating to the impending reunification and the reintegration of the north into the EU Also the European Parliament has the ability to establish what's known as a contact group Which would maintain contact with political parties, public authorities, civil society in the north with a view to ensuring the widest possible range of groups are heard In order to ensure the representation of citizens from the north, the existing MEPs may be designated as observer members Using the precedent both of observer MEPs from the new lander in Germany and newly accepted member states of the EU Only an Irish government and an Irish parliament will put the interest of the Irish people first The chaos at Westminster where no heed is taken to the interest of either Ireland or Scotland is a daily reminder that our interests do not matter to the English The Good Friday Agreement gives the people here the opportunity and the choice to decide our future together How we live together, how we work together, and how we share this island together The political momentum and change is moving in that direction Not only is it possible, but I believe it's inevitable in the time ahead Brexit is a serious direct threat to Ireland's future political stability and economic prosperity So these challenges require new thinking and a radical and innovative response Let's take, let's create a new relationship between Britain and the New Ireland and all of our people During the course of this decade from 2012 to 22 We are marking the centenaries of key seminal events which have shaped modern Irish history over the past century And have defined our relationship with Britain during this time Our relationship that's been characterised by colonialism, rebellion, partition and political division And then over the last 20 years, peace, reconciliation, renewed cooperation and mutual respect As we approach the centenary of partition, let's not refight the old battles This solution, this will only be solved by political leadership And we have no choice other than to succeed The best hope for success is the dawning of the realisation That our best future is bringing the people of our island together and not apart And that we embark on this national endeavour to transform Ireland and unite our country from this point forward This is a defining period in our history and the history of Europe I believe that the onus is in all of us intelligently To prepare and to shape for Ireland's future beyond Brexit