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Sinn F\u00e9in leaders are to tell Jeremy Corbyn that Irish interests must be protected whatever the outcome of his Brexit negotiations with the British Prime Minister.<\/p>\nSinn F\u00e9in leaders are to tell Jeremy Corbyn that Irish interests must be protected whatever the outcome of his Brexit negotiations with the British Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
Party president Mary Lou McDonald and vice president Michelle O\u2019Neill will hold talks with the UK’s Labour leader in London on Monday.<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald outlined the message she would deliver to Mr Corbyn while unveiling the party\u2019s European and local council election candidates in Co Dublin today.<\/p>\n
At the event in Roganstown, she confirmed Sinn F\u00e9in would hold a convention in Belfast next weekend to select a candidate to contest a potential European election in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready for the task ahead, these are very important elections because we are at a very critical time, not least because of Brexit and the chaos in London which continues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke with Prime Minister Theresa May in the course of last week and tomorrow a Sinn F\u00e9in delegation will go to London.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will meet with Jeremy Corbyn. We will set out again the very clear need to protect Irish interests and make it very clear that whatever way Brexit lands \u2013 deal or no deal \u2013 Irish interests have to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cOur peace process, our all-Ireland economy and crucially, our citizens\u2019 rights, cannot be the collateral damage to the Tory Brexit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs O\u2019Neill told the launch event that Irish unity was within grasp of republicans.<\/p>\n
\u201cA new conversation and public discourse is underway about Ireland\u2019s strategic interests post-Brexit and our constitutional future,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople of all shades of opinion can see that the Good Friday Agreement provides a peaceful and democratic path to Irish Unity and with it a pathway back into the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe political landscape is changing. Change is in the air. Over the past two elections in the North the unionist majority has gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion of a perpetual unionist majority \u2013 the very basis of partition \u2013 is gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrexit has now also completely transformed the context.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who were previously apathetic about a United Ireland are re-engaged, and people who would have been opposed to a United Ireland are now reconsidering their position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no doubt that Brexit has been a catalyst for mainstreaming the debate, where people of all shades of opinion are considering the benefits of remaining within the United Kingdom against the merits of staying within the European Union through a unified Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Brexit means \u2013 Deal or No Deal \u2013 is that a United Ireland is no longer a long-term aim.<\/p>\n
\u201cA referendum on Irish unity is a very real prospect within the next number of years. A United Ireland is within our grasp.\u201d<\/p>\n