Matt Carthy MEP to host major conference on Irish unity in European Parliament
Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy is hosting a major conference on Brexit and Irish unity tomorrow in the European Parliament in Brussels. The event, ‘Post Brexit: Towards a United Ireland’ will be addressed by several Irish and international speakers, including Paddy Cullivan, Dawn Foster, Kevin Meagher, John Douglas, Gillian Hammill, Peter Shirlow and others.
The conference will hear a keynote address from Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill. ‘Brexit: a catalyst for Irish Unity?’ Panels on ‘Brexit: a catalyst for Irish Unity?’, lessons from the reunification of Germany, and ‘Irish Unity, a progressive demand’ will be chaired by journalists Shona Murray and Brian Maguire.
Speaking from Brussels in advance of the conference, Carthy said: “Sinn Féin MEPs have consistently used our role in the European Parliament to put the questions of Brexit and Irish unity firmly on the agenda.
“This conference, organised by the European United Left (GUE/NGL) group in the Parliament, will be an opportunity to discuss and debate the impact of Brexit on Ireland, and the conversation about a border poll on Irish unity, here in the heart of Europe.
“This conversation is moving beyond the question of a Brexit backstop to prevent the hardening of the British border in Ireland. We are now looking firmly to the future and confidently debating what a united Ireland should look like, and how we can get there. We need to build EU-wide support for the reunification of our country through a border poll carried out under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.” ENDS
