Irish unity poll in 5 years vows Sinn Fein chief
Mcdonald fires up party’s poll campaign with 2025 promise
MARY Lou Mcdonald has fired her party’s election starting gun with the promise of a referendum on Irish unity within five years.
The Sinn Fein president laid out a series of campaign promises in her presidential speech at the party’s Ard Fheis in Derry last night.
The country will head to the polls early next year and May at the latest.
The party leader promised that if her party gets into power they will prioritise the pursuit of Irish unity.
Ms Mcdonald said Sinn Fein would deliver a referendum on unity within the next five years, the lifetime of a government.
At a party fringe event earlier in the day, former leader Gerry Adams said: “A united Ireland is no longer an aspiration, it is a project.” In other areas, Ms Mcdonald said “college fees will be completely abolished under Sinn Fein,” the “largest social housing building project in the history of the State” would be launched by the party and a new living wage of over €12 an hour would be made law – a €2 hike on the current minimum wage.
She added “we will revolutionise childcare” and “introduce healthcare as a right”.
The leader’s speech was broadcast live on RTE One last night, but Sinn Fein lost out on valuable primetime coverage on BBC Northern Ireland.
This was the second time this has happened in three years as the political broadcast rules in the North would not let one party, Sinn Fein on this occasion, have a primetime slot in the middle of a general election. It happened in 2016 when Stormont elections were imminent and this time it is too close to the Westminster polling day of December 12. There was a deputy leadership challenge from John O’dowd, taking on incumbent Michelle O’neill – but his challenge failed after a secret ballot vote by delegates. Earlier in the day before Ms Mcdonald’s speech, Martin Kenny thanked the Ard Fheis for the good wishes sent to him and his family after the horrific attack on his family home last month when his car was burnt out in the driveway. The Sligo-leitrim TD said he was standing up for what he believes in when he spoke out against protestors opposing new direct provision centres.