BELFAST, United Kingdom — Irish republicans
Sinn Fein said on Monday the party had a “decade of opportunity” to achieve the
goal of a united Ireland ahead of upcoming elections to Northern Ireland’s
devolved assembly.
اضافة اعلان
Ten days of campaigning remain ahead of the crucial
vote, which could see Sinn Fein emerge as the largest party in Northern
Ireland, and follows months of disagreement over the future of the province
after
Britain’s exit from the EU.
“We’ve often referred to this as the decade of
opportunity,” Sinn Fein’s leader Mary Lou McDonald told reporters, as she
launched the party’s manifesto at a campaign event in Belfast.
As well as a call
for a united Ireland, the manifesto also says the Irish and British governments
must set a date for a referendum on the unification of Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland, known as a border poll.
“We believe that change will happen, significant
change will happen in the course of this decade,” McDonald said when pushed on
a time frame for achieving the goal.
“We believe very, very strongly that Irish society —
north and south, east and west — is ready for change. We are Irish republicans,
we are united Irelanders because we believe passionately that is the best
proposition, the best future,” she added.
Northern Ireland’s politics were thrown into
disarray in February when pro-
UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) First Minister
Paul Givan resigned from his position over post-Brexit trading arrangements,
provoking the collapse of the province’s power-sharing executive.
The DUP has refused to commit to re-joining the
government at Stormont after the election unless changes can be made to the
controversial trade rules known as the Northern Ireland protocol.
Opinion polls suggest that Sinn Fein is on course to
emerge as the largest party in the Northern Ireland assembly following the May
5 vote and could lead the province’s power-sharing government.
The possibility of a Northern Irish government led by a
nationalist first minister after decades of unionist leadership has thrown the
implications of Sinn Fein’s aspirations for a border poll into sharp relief.
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