It’s only January, but we’ve already got a strong contender for 2017’s word of the year.
Sinn Féin held a United Ireland conference in Dublin today, where many of its most prominent members, including Gerry Adams, gave speeches on the theme.
One speaker, Kevin Maher, emphasised the importance of opening up the debate around Irish re-unification to the country at large, rather than keeping it to the confines of the Sinn Féin party membership.
Maher, who had been an adviser to former Northern secretary Shaun Woodward of the UK Labour Party, made this point by coining a fantastic new phrase. “The debate needs to be deShinnerised. The whole of Irish politics needs to buy into this debate.”
Imagining a New Republic –@GerryAdamsSF https://t.co/MfTkOvsdPi pic.twitter.com/usvYq4wNGo
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) January 21, 2017
“Shinner” is a colloquial term for members and supports of the Sinn Féin party. Maher’s broader point, according to the Irish Times, is that the debate around what will become of Ireland’s north-south border will not flourish unless all voices are heard, including those which are currently marginalised.
Irish unity has been a key tenet of Sinn Féin’s manifesto since its formation, and it’s an aim that has only strengthened in the months following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.
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