UNITY:NATIONALIST PARTIES throughout Ireland should stand up to the "new pretenders in relation to violent republicanism" and show they have not given up on key republican principles, Mark Durkan told the conference.
Addressing a panel discussion on Irish unity involving representatives of other parties, he said there was a need to provide a modern and credible view of unity in 21st century language.
The parties had to agree a “vision [of unity] that is not a nightmare for unionists and has to be credible”.
“We need now to agree what is meant by unity by consent,” he said. “We have to be ready if a referendum on unity is called. Parties need to get people together to discuss unity and how to win a referendum North and South.” Sinn Féin will then need to say where they stand on nationalist consensus, he added.
Alongside Mr Durkan on the discussion panel was Mary Hanafin (FF), Brian Hayes (FG) Joanna Tuffy (Lab) and David Adams a columnist with The Irish Times.
Ms Hanafin agreed saying: “We will never have a unified society without using the powers of persuasion and democracy. No-one wants a country unified by fear, bullying or violence.”
She stressed the Government’s determination to implement in full the Belfast Agreement and called for more progress on the North-South elements of the accord.
Brian Hayes said if nationalist Ireland is serious about unity, it also needed to be serious about how we are going to arrive at it. Many southern politicians have only given lip-service to the idea, he claimed. “It is useful to talk about it but have they really given any consideration to the governance of that new state?” Nationalist Ireland had to address the issue of Britishness within the island of Ireland, he said.
Joanna Tuffy said: “There is a popular debate about unity [in the South] but no real consideration of what it will mean.” There was a real need for a fresh debate about the type of united Ireland we would have. “We have never tried social democracy throughout Ireland,” she said.
David Adams said the idea of a united Ireland did not scare him. Nationalists had to admit that a genuine commitment to unity by consent included acceptance that there may never be a united Ireland, he added.