From force to persuasion

In the absence of any substantive change since we left on Thursday, Gerry Adams has probably correctly identified the real democratic battleground in the years to come – winning Unionists over to a United Ireland:

There will be a united Ireland. And our task, and that of all sensible Irish political leaders, should be to prepare for reunification. We have to be prepared to give assurances and guarantees and to commit to protecting the rights of every citizen, without exception. Winning Unionists over to republicanism will not be easy, but it is not impossible.

We have to show them by our words and actions, or our non-actions, that Sinn Fein – that Irish republicanism, always a generous philosophy – is their future. That together we can build a future of equals that empowers and enriches and cherishes all the children of the nation equally.

Risible as this may sound to many Unionists, such a strategy is a natural democratic response to the results of the 2001 census, which confirmed that a change in the constitutional status would be highly unlikely to be carried on the basis of a headcount of Catholics outnumbering Protestants.

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty