Recent comments by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham that a referendum on Irish Unity is “off the table” will come as no surprise to Irish Republicans.

Twenty-eight years have passed since the signing of the Stormont Agreement (Good Friday Agreement), since then Provisional Sinn Féin have been promising the nationalist population a Border Poll. Every year it’s “only a matter of time” McGuinness, Adams, Mary Lou and O’Neill have repeated it on loop and their supporters have swallowed every word.

The Stormont Agreement does not promise a referendum on Irish Unity, it only establishes a mechanism by which one can be called by the British Secretary of State. That leaves the decision solely with the British government, no different from the position before the Stormont Agreement. That is a fact. The British government is under no obligation to call a referendum no matter the circumstances.

Make no mistake: the Stormont Agreement has done nothing but copper-fasten the partition of our country. In a recent Irish Times article on “dissident” Irish republicans, Dr. Johnny Byrne, senior lecturer in criminology at Ulster University, said “the trajectory toward normalisation only runs in one direction.” Normalising the British occupation of Ireland was, and still is, the central purpose of the Stormont Agreement, to extinguish the flame of Irish republicanism and secure permanent acceptance of the status quo.

Burnham’s comments will no doubt embarrass the leadership of Provisional Sinn Féin. It’s likely they’ll “pull out” of Stormont to save face with supporters, but what will that achieve? We all witnessed how well that went in 2017 when they did not return until 2020.

The Stormont Agreement has failed as we always said it would. We’d like to ask our former comrades in Provisional Sinn Féin what’s their alternative? They have nothing to offer and they should leave the stage. 

“Leave it to those who are willing”

Sinn Féin Poblachtach reiterates our position that a truly democratic referendum is impossible while Ireland stays divided and part of it remains under foreign occupation. We demand a British declaration of intent to withdraw from Ireland! To quote Pádraig Pearse “Ireland unfree shall never be at peace”

Sinn Féin Poblachtach proposes Éire Nua’s four-province federal solution for open discussion. Unionists themselves considered this model back in the 1970s as a possible outcome of British withdrawal. It is a fair, realistic framework for governance that, by addressing centuries of injustice, would provide the strongest foundation for lasting peace in Ireland.

Críoch

Ranganna:[RSF News] Statements