The election of a new president gives us a chance to reset the debate on Irish unity. Both Catherine Connolly – who will be inaugurated as president tomorrow – and Heather Humphreys expressed a strong commitment to Irish unity. The idea that Northern Ireland is a place beyond redemption, incapable of running its own affairs without collapsing every few years, is hardly a compelling invitation to a southern electorate. A failing Northern Ireland is not a strategy for a New Ireland. So rather than asking when a referendum will happen, we need to first ask how and why we would make a New Ireland work.
