We owe our young generation change, we owe them a United Ireland

It is becoming evident that the young generation here in the North, the generation who never really experienced conflict are envisioning themselves living in a United Ireland, with the most recent Lucid Talk poll revealing 57% of 18-24 year olds want to see Irish Unification in their lifetime.

Some say this generation never experienced conflict, but every day we experience the worst aspects of its legacy. The continuation of sectarianism, failed power sharing, suicide in working class areas linked to inter generational PTSD, poverty, deprivation, housing shortages etc etc. All of these aspects are the result of 40 years of armed conflict, a direct result of the elephant in the room; the Partition of Ireland.

We hear time and time again that we need to give this place a chance to work. The fact of the matter is, we have given it a chance to work, for over a century in fact. The time to give this place a chance to work was in 1921, when as one of the industrial & economic powerhouses of the world the opportunity was there to win over its opponents, but instead they opted for a sectarian and racist orange state where a large proportion of the population were shut out of reaping any benefits of partition, this eventually exploded in 1969 resulting in armed conflict and here we are today.

The time has come for political change in Ireland, and our young people, those told to keep quiet while the older generations rant about the past are no longer keeping quiet.

We know what we want, we want an Ireland where we dont have to emigrate, we want an Ireland where we can get well paid jobs, we want an Ireland where we have access to housing, access to education and where we can raise our children free from sectarianism and exploitation. We want an Ireland with an adequate and free healthcare system. We want an Ireland that cares about the environment and invests in a sustainable future. We an Ireland of socio equality and economic fairness that looks after our most vulnerable.

What we want cannot be achieved in a partitioned Ireland, where to the North our most important decisions are made 600 miles away in a Westminster chamber and those decisions devolved to Stormont are held to ransom by a volatile Unionist minority and to the south we have a dysfunctional gombeen & corrupt state where the financial needs of property developers and multi-national corporations come before the people.

We want change, we want Irish Unity and Generation Irish Unity are finding our voices.

Sinead Costello

YesForUnity