United Ireland, Legacy Act and Gaza among Kelly’s Easter oration

NATIONALISTS and republicans at this year’s Easter Commemorations in Carrickmore were addressed by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly, who told them there ‘is no miracle in a United Ireland’.

Addressing the crowd, the North Belfast MLA and one of Sinn Féin’s most senior figures, focused on the party’s ascendancy across the island of Ireland, highlighting some recent watershed moments.

“Most recently, Sinn Féin became the biggest party in the assembly in 2002 and the largest party on the island,” he said. “Last year, Sinn Féin became the largest party in local council elections in the six counties for the first time in the history of partition.

“Michelle O’Neill, a proud republican woman from County Tyrone, becoming the First Minister was unthinkable not so very long ago – and what a leader she is!”

Mr Kelly then went on to discuss the growing appetite for a border referendum in the south, and laid out Mary Lou McDonald’s readiness to run for Taoiseach.

“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who have passed power between each other for a century, are doing all they can to avoid an election.

“They should call a general election and let the people decide who should be Taoiseach!”

Mr Kelly spent some time elucidating the vision Sinn Féin has for a future 32-county Irish republic.

“Our goal as Irish republicans is an Irish unity that is inclusive; that unionists will feel welcome in; that they are part of.

“It means believing in the intercultural society, where discrimination of any kind is outlawed; an anathema to all individuals within that society.”

About halfway through his oration, Mr Kelly turned to the issue of the much-despised Legacy Act.

“One thing that all parties in the North are currently agreed on is that the Legacy Act, which was forced through Westminster, should be rejected in its entirety,” he said.

Towards the tail end of his speech, Mr Kelly defended Sinn Féin’s decision not to protest the against the conflict in Gaza by boycotting the St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.

“In the US, both Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill articulated the obscenity of the genocide both outside and inside the Whitehouse,” he said.

“The question was not: ‘Should you go to the White House?’, but, rather, ‘How can you not go to the White House to fight for a ceasefire, for life-saving food and medical supplies and an end to genocide?’.

“We have learned from our own struggle to use every opportunity and every path to achieve justice and freedom,” Mr Kelly said.