SINN FEIN has called for an “incremental and phased” transition to a united Ireland, with national chairman Declan Kearney promising that it will set out “clear practical steps that go beyond the rhetoric of unity.”

On Tuesday, packed meeting of the party’s commission on the future of Ireland in Armagh heard from Mr Kearney and a range of other speakers, including health service worker Sinead Hughes and Ian Marshall, head of business development and policy in the centre for advanced sustainable energy at Queen’s University Belfast. 

Mr Kearney, who represents South Antrim in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that “the level of discussion on constitutional change is remarkable.”

He added that, following 18 public events and sectoral meetings organised by the commission, “there is now an unprecedented cross-party political consensus on the need to plan and prepare for Irish unity.”

“The pathway to a new Ireland should be incremental and phased — intelligently and democratically managed. Sinn Fein has a clear plan for the transition to a new national democratic settlement on our island,” Mr Kearney said. 

“We will set out our plan in the forthcoming Irish general election.”

He explained the plan would include the appointment of a minister of state for reunification, publication of a green paper on constitutional change in the first 100 days of a new government term and convening a citizens’ assembly on Ireland’s constitutional future.

“At its core, the partition of our country institutionalised the denial of the Irish people’s right to self-determination,” Mr Kearney said.

“Irish unity has become the defining issue for our generation. We can be the authors of a new future. One that is positive, progressive, inclusive, anti-sectarian and multicultural.”