Sinn Féin National Party Chairperson Declan Kearney has accused the Tories and the DUP of using a wrecking ball against the Good Friday Agreement and insists now is the time to begin preparations for constitutional change in Ireland.

In a blog for An Phoblacht the South Antrim MLA wrote:

”Over £430 million immediately available to tackle the cost-of-living pressures is frozen in a bank account because the DUP is vetoing the restoration of the northern power sharing Executive which it collapsed last February. 

”The DUP position is reckless and irresponsible. But it is also deeply damaging to power sharing and the political process.

”There is no evidence that the DUP is committed to proper power sharing unless it is on DUP terms.”

And Declan Kearney said that the Tories were giving cover to DUP to run the northern power sharing institutions into the ground and that the Good Friday Agreement was under sustained attack

”In the meantime, this present Tory government in London acted last week to unilaterally break international law, by effectively tearing up the Protocol and, by extension, Britain’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.

”The Tories are giving cover to the DUP for running the power sharing institutions in the north into the ground; and the DUP’s stance provides cover for the Tories in its ‘cold war’ stand-off with Europe.

“The DUP, with the support of the Tories, is not only vetoing the strand one, power sharing institutions of the GFA, it has already been blocking the strand two, North-South Ministerial Council from working since October 2021.

”When all of these factors are put together, it is undeniable the Good Friday Agreement is under an unprecedented and sustained attack.”

However, the Sinn Féin Chair said that the political landscape has changed and that there are new unimaginable opportunities emerging for a new agreed Ireland.

”The days of the DUP and unionist extremists dictating the terms of democracy, power sharing, or implementation of the GFA are long finished.

Previously unimaginable opportunities are emerging in Ireland. Momentous change with the scale and significance of decades has been happening.

”The political landscape has changed irreversibly.

”We have arrived at a new historic moment. It is time to begin planning for the next phase of the peace process, and preparing for a new, agreed Ireland.’’

You can read the full text of Declan Kearney’s blog here