SINN FÉIN:THE FUTURE relationship between Ireland and Britain would be influenced by what Queen Elizabeth had to say during her visit this week, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said.
He added that he wanted to see a real and profoundly new and better relationship between the people of Ireland and Britain, one built on equality and mutual respect.
Sinn Féin had been to the forefront in working to bring this about and would continue to do so.
“Sinn Féin is for a new relationship,” said Mr Adams.
“I hope that this visit will hasten the foundation of that relationship, but much will depend on what the British monarch says.”
Speaking in Dublin on Saturday, Mr Adams said that, understandably, the visit was troubling for many Irish citizens, particularly victims of British rule and those with legacy issues in the Republic and the North.
“It is precisely for this reason that we in Sinn Féin oppose this visit and believe that it is premature and insensitive,” he added.
“This is why the party is holding alternative events in Dublin and across the State during the visit.”
British interference in Irish affairs had come at a huge cost to the Irish people, including partition and its consequences which were still being felt to this day.
“Irish republicans too have caused much hurt to people in Britain,” he added.
“I regret this.”
Mr Adams said the full normalisation of relationships between Ireland and Britain was, therefore, important.
“This will require the ending of partition,” he added.
He said: “The Good Friday Agreement is the foundation upon which this new relationship, between unionists and nationalists and between Ireland and Britain, can be forged.”
Increasingly, he said, decisions affecting the lives of people in the North were being made in Ireland and not in Britain.
“Republicans want to continue and to accelerate this process,” Mr Adams added.
The first meeting of the new Assembly and the agreement on government departments was evidence of that, he said.
“The united Ireland that republicans sought to build must embrace our island’s diversity in its fullest sense, including the sense of Britishness felt by many unionists, as well as our indigenous and traditional Irish culture and the cultures of people who have come to Ireland in recent times,” he added.
Mr Adams also announced that the party would hold two major conferences, on the theme of “Towards a new Republic”, in Dublin and Cork next month.