Éire Nua U.S. National Committee Response to Rep. Joe Courtney’s remarks on the Good Friday Peace Accord delivered on December 11TH, 2018 to the House of Representatives ( ref. https://www.c-span.org/video/?455782-1/morning-hour)

Rep. Courtney contributed five minutes of national attention by speaking on the possible impact of Brexit on the1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

“One of the great diplomatic successes in our time” he acknowledged the contributions by Rep. Neal (Ma), the Friends of Ireland Caucus, Senator Mitchell, Mr. Hass, and former President Clinton.

Regrettably, Rep. Courtney made no mention of reuniting the six occupied counties in the northeast of Ireland.

Concern for the British Brexit plan, he did not address the fundamental problems related to British involvement in Ireland during his speech on the House floor.

British restrictions over full Irish self-determination remain in place and is supported by US policy. This constructive ambiguity was deliberately written into the Good Friday Agreement.

Partition, sectarianism, gerrymandering, hate walls, and a monarchy remains in place in the six counties. Hard partitioning (border) or soft partitioning (border), with Brexit (or without) is the British problem. In our opinion, the U.S. role should be to get the British out of Ireland and support the wishes of the Irish people to build a New Ireland that is a 32 county democratic republic, utilizing the nation-building proposed Federal system, Éire Nua, which is policy of Republican Sinn Fein, a political party in all 32 Irish counties.

What the U.S. policy should be advocating for:

1. Recognition of an inclusive, non-sectarian 32-county Federal system Ireland, based on the All-Ireland general election on December 1918 that resulted in Sinn Fein winning 73 out of 105 Irish seats, forming the National Assembly of the 32-county Ireland, The First Dail Eireann, on January 21^st, 1919, and the British unjustifiable response, shutting down the all-Ireland elected assembly.
2. A New Ireland, voted by the people of all Ireland, should be actively supported by U.S. policy.
3. This New Ireland will include a Constitution, a Charter of Rights, separation of Church and State and a truly independent Judiciary.
4. It will include a federal system, based on the historic Provinces (including Ulster’s nine counties) insuring all sections of the Irish people, including unionists, will have input at the local, county, provincial, and national level.
5. This is the Éire Nua solution – the new Federal system Ireland envisioned by the patriots of 1916 and the First Dail Eireann of 1919.

The Eire Nua U.S. National Campaign Committee