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Gaels call for Citizens Assembly
In a powerful video message 12,000 Ulster Gaels are appealing to
our fellow Gaels in Munster, Leinster and Connaught to sign and endorse a
letter to An Taoiseach Micheál Martin asking the Irish government to take the
lead in planning for Irish Unity by establishing an All-Island Citizens
Assembly “reflecting the views of citizens North and South to achieve
maximum consensus on a way forward” toward an “agreed shared Ireland.”
The letter states: “It is the responsibility of the
Irish government to ensure that the democratic rights of all citizens are
respected and protected, regardless of where they live on the island … “
The letter to Micheál Martin was an idea that first emerged in
Antrim earlier this year. Since then it has spread across the nine counties of
Ulster and has gathered over 12,000 signatures. The campaign has also gained
substantial support in the other three provinces.
Down’s double All-Ireland winner Ross Carr said that he has been
overwhelmed by support since he started seeking support for the campaign. He
said: “I asked people from all walks of life – doctors, barristers,
former players, administrators, ordinary supporters – and it was incredible the
amount of support for this initiative.”
Paul Gibbons who coaches Cremartin Shamrocks GAA in
Monaghan is one of those behind the efforts in that county to secure more
signatures for this initiative. He told his local paper the Northern
Standard: “The purpose of the letter is to highlight the growing
conversation taking place in communities the length and breadth of our island
about the future constitutional direction of this island and to provide a
platform for Gaels throughout the county to engage in that conversation.”
He added: “Our letter articulates three main asks of the Irish
government – to take the lead in the planning for a future border poll and
start the planning for the future re-unification of this island; to establish a
Citizen’s Assembly and to protect the rights of all citizens.”
Thus far An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has refused to comment on
the initiative or respond to the letter which he first received in May. But as
it says in the video – Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is strength in
Unity.
Pádraig Hampsey is captain of the All Ireland Champions Tyrone.
He has appealed to fellow Gaels to join in this effort, and to sign up to the
letter at: www.gaelslettertotaoiseach.ie
So, if you have a minute click on to #gaelsletter and watch the amazing
video of GAA greats asking you for your help and support in building a better
future for all of our people.
Back off Boris
Comhgairdheas to the many hundreds of people who took part in a
series of protests against Brexit along the border last Saturday. The ‘Border
Communities Against Brexit’(BCAB) has been very effective in raising
awareness around the threat to the Good Friday Agreement, to the economy of the
island of Ireland and especially to the border communities, posed by Brexit.
Saturday’s event at Carrickcarnon had activists dressed in customs officer’s
clothes and a recreation of the old customs huts that used to sit along the
border corridor. But beyond the theatrics the message was clear and vitally
important.
‘Protect the Protocol’ and ‘Back off Boris’ were
the two main themes for the five protests that took place at Carrickcarnon;
Belcoo/Blacklion; Aughnacloy; Lifford Bridge and Bridgend, Derry. The message
from all of the speakers was the same. Firstly, a warning to Boris Johnson not
to trigger Article 16. Secondly, a demand that every effort must be made by the
EU and the Irish government to defend the Protocol and the Good Friday
Agreement.
Colin Harvey, who is professor of Human Rights Law at Queen’s
University told the crowd: “The Protocol mitigates the damage that the
British Brexiteers want to impose on this island … what is scandalous is the
lack of discussion about the opportunities that the Protocol provides for all
the people of the North.”
The Chair of BCAB Damian McGenity reminded those at the protest
that the majority of citizens in the North voted to remain in the EU and that a
majority of their political representatives support the Protocol. He pointed
too to the benefits of the Protocol. Evidence of this emerged last week in the
latest statistics on trade from the Central Statistics Office in Dublin which
showed that the value and amount of trade between the North and the South has
increased dramatically.
In the first nine months of this year trade North to South has
increased by 60 per cent and from South to North by 48 per cent in the same
period. In money terms exports from the North to the South have so far
increased in 2021 by €1,061m (£897m) to €2,822m (£2,385m). Trade South to North
has jumped by €835m (£706m) to €2,577m (£2,178m).
In addition the advantage for the North of having open access to
the EU and to the British market has seen several important new job
announcements. Ardagh Metal Packaging announced its intention to invest $200m
and create 170 jobs in a new beverage can plant near Belfast. The
pharmaceuticals group, Almac, also announced that it is going to create 1,000
jobs over the next three years.
Meanwhile in the British Parliament the DUP’s Ian Paisley
engaged in the kind of hyperbole unionist leaders seeking to frighten and
intimidate their supporters have used for generations. According to Paisley the
Protocol is being used by Brussels to “destroy this part of the United
Kingdom by insisting on the enforcement of a protocol in a disgraceful
manner." And he demanded that the Johnson government "Invoke
Article 16 and invoke it now, and stop dillydallying on this issue. Put
business out of the misery in Northern Ireland."
This kind of doomsday rhetoric has no basis in fact. On the
contrary triggering Article 16 would open up the real likelihood of a trade war
between the British government and the EU with the North caught in the middle.
According to a report in the Financial Times many businesses in the north
are “filled with dread at the prospect of yet more disruption and
uncertainty if Article 16 was triggered.”
BCAB is leading the way in challenging the British government,
the DUP and others who have chosen to ignore the democratic vote of the people.
Last week Sinn Féin hosted over 180 business representatives to discuss the
economic opportunities created by the Protocol and the potential for greater
investment and more jobs arising from Irish Unity. They and we are looking to a
better future, a more prosperous future. God speed the Day.
An Irish National Health Service
The Proclamation of 1916 states that the Republic guarantees … “equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation … cherishing all the children of the nation equally …” It doesn’t say except for those who have a disability, or are sick, or who have mental health issues, or who need an operation.
Recent statistics reveal that over 900,000 people in the South
are on a hospital waiting list. At the current rate the number will soon top
one million. In the North a report last month noted that 348,867 people are
waiting for a first consultant appointment – an increase of almost 40,000 over
last year.
There are lots of reasons for these appalling stats. Mostly it’s
as a result of under-investment and under capacity within the health systems
and in the South by decisions taken by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
governments. In the last 20 years, since Micheál Martin was Minister for Health
in 2000, there have been eight Health Ministers from these two parties. All
have promised an end to the crisis in the health service. They have all failed.
When I was a TD in Louth I learned very quickly that every
winter Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda was going to come under huge
pressure.
In the North the crisis in the Health Service is exacerbated by
the fact that the purse strings are held by London and the Tories have been
hell bent on privatisation for years. So too is the FFFG coalition in Dublin.
Covid has added to this very real crisis in our two health
services one result of which is that patients urgently needing treatment for
life threatening illnesses such as cancer are waiting longer than advisable for
appointments and treatment.
The answer in the short term at this time in our history is for
as much all-island cooperation and coordination as practicable to make best use
of available limited resources. In the longer term we need an Irish National
Health Service that is free at the point of access and is sufficiently funded
to meet the health needs of citizens. This isn’t pie in the sky. This is a
realizable, achievable objective. It just needs political will.
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