PAUL O’BRIEN makes the case for ‘Ireland 2030 — Let the People Vote,’ a campaign to win support within the British trade unions for an Irish unity referendum.
IN MAY 1913, just months before Dublin’s Great Lock-Out, James Connolly wrote: “I have spent a great portion of my life alternating between interpreting Socialism to the Irish and interpreting the Irish to the Socialists. Of the two tasks, I confess, that while I am convinced that the former has been attended with a considerable degree of success, the latter has not.”
The challenge today remains the same. Ireland has spent too long off the agenda of the British labour and trade union movement. In February 2021, the Labour Movement for Irish Unity (originally Labour for Irish Unity) was officially launched in Britain to re-energise the debate on ending British interference and reshaping Ireland’s constitutional future. The Good Friday Agreement must be recognised as a viable roadmap to the realisation of a united Ireland and anchor our activity in the international solidarity of the labour movement.
There can be no denying that political change across Britain and Ireland is accelerating. In the North of Ireland, these historic shifts are arguably even more stark. From the election of the first nationalist first minister and the rise of the “Kneecap generation,” to unionist fragmentation and Belfast’s widely celebrated hosting of the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann this summer, positive progress is well underway.
The arrival of Andy Burnham at 10 Downing Street should have been an opportunity to turn the page on the past. But unfortunately, it seems that it is business as usual. On his first visit to the North of Ireland as Prime Minister, he arrogantly stated that discussion of an Irish unity referendum was “off the table.” Furthermore, he is pressing ahead with a new “Legacy Act” (the ‘Northern Ireland Troubles Bill’) that reads like a charter for covering up British crimes in Ireland.
Just this week, the new Secretary of State to the North of Ireland, Chris Bryant, tabled an amendment granting the Attorney General for England and Wales ultimate veto power over any Troubles-related prosecutions. Directly over the head of the local Public Prosecution Service in the North of Ireland. The implication is clear: we cannot trust the Irish!
Obviously, the Attorney General is a political appointee and a member of the British government. The suggestion of their involvement is widely interpreted as direct political interference from Westminster that stands in breach of the 2000 Criminal Justice Review — a pillar of the Good Friday Agreement — which had specifically stripped the Attorney General of the power to overturn prosecution decisions involving British Armed Forces personnel during the conflict.
Bryant’s detached handling of the Garvaghy Road stand-off typifies the British government’s failing approach to Ireland. While he did eventually ban the Orange Order march, it shouldn’t have taken an emergency plea from Northern Ireland’s chief constable to make him act.
This situation highlights a broader, historical travesty: the region has spent far too long governed by indifferent and poorly informed politicians in Westminster. Whether Tory or Labour, British administrations continue to demonstrate that they have nothing meaningful to offer the people of Ireland.
For British socialists, there remains a clear responsibility to campaign for Irish unification and an end to British-imposed partition. As Karl Marx famously observed: “The lever must be applied in Ireland.” In alignment with this principle, the Labour Movement for Irish Unity has launched a new campaign: “Ireland 2030. Let the People Vote.”
Our objective is straightforward. Given the rapid political shifts already taking place, we believe the Irish people should have the opportunity to vote in a unification referendum by 2030.
While this is an ambitious goal requiring immense work, we believe that maintaining a sharp, strategic focus makes it entirely achievable. The campaign officially launched in September at the TUC Congress in Brighton, featuring a highly successful public meeting with Labour MP John McDonnell, Sinn Fein TD Louise O’Reilly, RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey, and historian Geoff Bell.
This was quickly followed by another major event at the Labour Party conference fringe in Liverpool, addressed by Ian Byrne MP, Labour NEC member Jess Barnard, and LMIU’s Nadine Finch and Geoff Bell.
This coming Friday, the campaign moves to Salford at the Working Class Movement Library. Our speaker line-up includes local MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh, and again Geoff Bell. We hope this evening will successfully mobilise trade-union activists and the vibrant Irish community across Manchester and Salford.
Trade unions should be the vanguard of progressive political change and international solidarity. The labour movements in both Britain and Ireland must proactively shape the future rather than waiting for events to unfold in a haphazard fashion.
The ongoing partition of Ireland is inherently a workers’ issue, deeply tied to everyday struggles for high-quality jobs and for healthcare, housing, and infrastructure. Addressing these systemic issues requires focusing our collective resources to support unification.
While the principal momentum for this movement belongs in Ireland, British socialists share a historic responsibility to place Irish Unity on the Britain political agenda and support the campaign, on terms decided by the Irish.
That is the core mission of the Labour Movement for Irish Unity. Join us on October 23, and let’s work together for an Ireland united and free.
Paul O’Brien is chair of Labour Movement for Irish Unity
“Ireland 2030: Let the People Vote”
7:30pm Friday October 23 2026
Working Class Movement Library, 51 Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX
First published in Morning Star on 16th October 2026