2025: A year to advance the Republican vision for Ireland’s future – Mary Lou McDonald TD

Mary Lou McDonald TD has stated that “In 2025, Sinn Féin will work relentlessly with determination and ambition to advance the Republican vision for Ireland’s future. We will work to build an Ireland that is fairer, united, and more equal; to achieve a new era where workers, families and communities come first.”

Ms McDonald said that Sinn Féin’s all-Ireland team is on the side of ordinary people and will continue to build the momentum for political change right across Ireland.

The Sinn Féin Leader said:

“In the Executive, in the Assembly and in Oireachtas, Sinn Féin will continue to stand-up for working people and for communities throughout Ireland. We will be their voice; we will represent them, and we will work to make their lives better. We will hold the incoming government to account with purpose, energy, and passion.

“2025 must be the year in which we see real progress for workers and families. We cannot afford another five years of Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael crises in housing, health, childcare, the cost of living and their scandalous waste of public money.

“Sinn Féin will continue to advance our groundbreaking plans to end the housing crisis, transform our health services, deliver affordable childcare, and reduce living costs in the long term. We will champion a future of economic growth, the strengthening of workers’ rights, social progress and prosperity – a future in which we strive for climate justice and energy independence, where we uphold the right of our young people to have their opportunity to build a good future in Ireland and ensure that there is a route home for those who have left.

“We will fight on the side of ordinary people to make a difference and to convince even more people that, with their support, a real alternative to perpetual Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael governments is possible. Our goal remains – to deliver the first government for working people in the history of the state. We will keep working to make this a reality.

“This is a time of generational change in Ireland. The momentum continues to grow for the ending of partition and the reunification of our country. The incoming government must prioritise planning and preparations for constitutional change.

“These next steps must include publishing a green paper on Irish Unity, appointing a Minister for Reunification at the Department of An Taoiseach, setting up an Oireachtas Committee on Constitutional Change and establishing an inclusive Citizens’ Assembly on Unity.

“Irish Unity referendums must happen in this decade. The people, north and south, must have their say. It is the responsibility of both governments, in Dublin and London, to play a leading role in fostering a mature and positive conversation about the future.

“The people of Ireland have resolutely stood with the people of Palestine and Gaza over the past year as they’ve endured slaughter, mass displacement, and starvation – brutal human rights violations at the hands of the Israeli regime. The new year must bring an immediate ceasefire and an end to this genocide. The incoming government must lead the international community holding Israel to accounts through sanctions. This means passing the Occupied Territories Bill once the Dáil reconvenes. There can be no more delay, no more excuses, only decisive action.

“Above all, 2025 will be a year of dedicated activism as we reach for the Ireland envisaged by the proclamation. As always, Sinn Féin representatives and grassroots members will be on the ground, in our communities campaigning on the issues that really matter to working people.

“We are driven by ambition, by hope, by the unwavering belief that Ireland can be a better, fairer, more equal place. To those who share this belief, I say – we are on your side, we have your back, and we are not giving up. Not now. Not ever.

“Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh.”