16/06/2026
With great fanfare, the Blueshirts have unveiled a "blueprint" for Irish unity. Forgive our scepticism.
Those who partitioned, administered and normalised British rule hardly inspire confidence as architects of national liberation.
The Republic Will Not Be Delivered by the Parties of Partition
The publication of Simon Harris's blueprint for Irish unity has been met with predictable fanfare from the political establishment. Yet for Irish republicans, it raises an obvious question, why should the Irish people place their trust in parties that have spent a century managing, normalising and defending the consequences of partition?
The Seán Heuston 1916 Society stands firmly for the right of the Irish nation to self-determination. That right was proclaimed in Easter Week 1916 and ratified by the Irish people in the General Election of 1918.
It did not originate in Leinster House committees, nor does it depend on the permission of British governments or the political calculations of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
For generations, both establishment parties accepted partition as a permanent fact of life while republicans continued to uphold the national demand for freedom and unity. Today, as constitutional change becomes a growing reality, those same parties seek to position themselves as architects of Irish unity. Their sudden conversion is difficult to take seriously.
The national question cannot be solved through endless reports, forums and carefully managed conversations designed to avoid confronting the root cause of division, Britain's continued claim to sovereignty over part of our country. The issue before the Irish people is not administrative reform but national liberation.
We as Republicans support dialogue with all traditions on this island and recognise the need to build a future that respects the rights and identities of all citizens.
However, genuine reconciliation can only be built upon equality, democracy and an end to partition.
The Republic proclaimed in 1916 remains unfinished. Irish unity is not a gift to be granted by political elites but a democratic right to be asserted by the Irish people.
The task of this generation is not merely to discuss unity, but to organise for it and achieve it.
We in the 1916 Societies believe that our "One Ireland, One Vote" campaign offers a democratic and national pathway to Irish unity. The future of Ireland should be decided by the Irish people as a whole, through an all-Ireland referendum that allows the nation to exercise its sovereign right to self-determination and complete the unfinished business of national reunification.
