MARK Carruthers of the BBC conducted an interview with Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald last Sunday, and inevitably the question of a reunited Ireland came up. Inevitably also, Carruthers noted that opinion polls show that there  is not a majority in NEI in favour of a reunited Ireland.

Wisely, if not inevitably, Mary Lou drew attention to the need for a citizens’ assembly, where all affected by a future reunited Ireland could present their vision of what a new Ireland should look like. She also said, yet again, that she believed a border poll would be held before the end of this decade. 

As Mary Lou tells it, the responsibility for setting up a citizens’ assembly rests with the Dublin Government. The main disadvantage is that the Dublin Government would rather eat its own eyeballs than do anything tCitihat might further a reunited Ireland. Why would they? As the Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil-Greens coalition has shown, even the traditional rivals FG and FF are happy to work together as long as it blocks Sinn Féin from coming to power. Turkeys, as has more than once been said, have an aversion to voting for Christmas. 

Might Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil be shamed or pressured into setting up a citizens’ assembly?  Certainly not shamed, since shame is an emotion which both totally lack. Can Sinn Féin and/or others pressure them into agreeing to a citizens’ assembly? Very doubtful – see above re turkeys and Christmas.

But all is not lost. There must be an election in the South within eighteen months and there is a good chance that Sinn Féin will be elected as the largest party: the latest opinion poll shows Sinn Féin on 34 per cent, Fine Gael on 20 per cent and Fianna Fáil on 15 per cent. Were Sinn Féin to become the largest party in government in the South (as it currently is in the north), it can be taken as read that they’ll establish a citizens’ assembly to reflect on a new Ireland. 

By its nature, a citizens’ assembly should include a representative sample of the population. That would mean there should be room for a number of unionists in the assembly. Whether they’ll choose to participate is another matter. On past form they probably won’t.

Which would be very foolish. Their views on how a new Ireland should look need to be given a fair hearing and an open-minded reception. It’s not a question of if you’re not in you can’t win; rather that if you’re not in, others will speak and influence any final reports, leaving you speechless and without any sort of influence. 

What aspects of a reunited Ireland should be under consideration in such an assembly? Should Stormont continue as a regional assembly with the main parliament in Dublin?  Should there be a change of anthem and/or flag? Should a designated number of seats in the new all-Ireland parliament  be reserved for those currently unionist? Should there be halfway houses on the road to full reunification? Personally, I’d be opposed to almost all of those listed, but that’s not the point. The point is they need consideration. In fact, they must be considered. 

These are just some of the matters to be decided when a citizens’ assembly has been agreed on. The content of the reports by the citizens’ assembly could be decided by a simple majority or  a weighted majority. This is of course in contrast to a border poll as stipulated in the Good Friday Agreement, the terms of which couldn’t be clearer: 50 per cent + 1 is the majority needed

Meanwhile, I would suggest that groups such as Ireland’s Future should put their shoulder to the current Dublin Government’s door and organise a mass petition, signed by those who believe a citizens’ assembly would be a good idea. If nothing else, it’d impress on the FF and FG shape-shifters that the people of Ireland are serious about this and that no vested interests, whether Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or unionist, will be allowed to wish it out of existence. 

As the song says, the time has come.