Mary Lou McDonald had previously said unification was within "touching distance" after the return of power-sharing government to Northern Ireland, led by her Sinn Fein colleague Michelle O'Neill. But she acknowledges there is "an awful lot of work to be done".

Mary Lou McDonald had previously said unification was within “touching distance” after the return of power-sharing government to Northern Ireland, led by her Sinn Fein colleague Michelle O’Neill. But she acknowledges there is “an awful lot of work to be done”.

Mary Lou McDonald was speaking to Sky News following the restoration of the Northern Ireland executive, where her party - a nationalist group - is now the largest caucus in Belfast for the first time since the Good Friday Agreement came into effect.

She said: “What I firmly believe is - in this decade - we will have those referendums, and it’s my job and the job of people like me who believe in reunification to convince, to win hearts and minds and to convince people of that opportunity - part of which, by the way, will be really consolidating our relationship with Britain as our next door neighbour and good friend.”

Asked if she meant before 2030, Ms McDonald said “yes”.

        • WatTyler@lemmy.zipEnglish
          13·
          5 months ago

          Half us English are malding already; the other half find intermittent enjoyment in their malding as a coping mechanism.

        • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zoneEnglish
          29·
          5 months ago

          Not sure I’ve ever even met anyone who’d care if Northern Ireland split off. Maybe some Rangers fans?

          • TheMongoose@kbin.social
            28·
            5 months ago

            Not sure I’ve ever even met anyone who’d care if Northern Ireland split off. Maybe some Rangers fans?

            There were literally decades of violence and terrorism over that, so clearly someone cares.

            That being said, But then I’m Welsh and live in England, I do not have a horse in this race. If the people in NI want to unify with Ireland and regain all their EU citizenship benefits as well as removing the whole “Northern Ireland border issue”, then I wouldn’t blame them at all.

          • Osa-Eris-Xero512@kbin.social
            9·
            5 months ago

            Not just Northern Ireland, if Scotland and Wales fucked off with a unifed Ireland to form Great Ireland without the English.

          • bdonvr@thelemmy.clubEnglish
            5·
            5 months ago

            Wasn’t there like a few decades of violence/terrorism in Ireland pretty recently about this? I think there’s definitely people who care bud

            • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zoneEnglish
              1·
              5 months ago

              That’s not the English though is it? Everyone seems to think we care deeply about keeping Northern Ireland as some kind of vassal state, but mostly people just think about who’s getting kicked off Britain’s Got Talent this week.