At their desks and ready to begin are 40 sixth-form students, an MP and a former taoiseach.
“I was interested because you always hear about a united Ireland, but you never actually hear about what’s going to happen, if it actually happens,” says Lewis Dobbins from Lumen Christi College in Derry.
“I think for me, it’s definitely motivated me to look into what it would actually mean,” says his classmate Liam Wilson. “You hear your parents and grandparents talk, but you just hear what they think, without actually knowing why.”
He and pupils from three other Derry schools – St Joseph’s Boys’ School, St Mary’s College and St Brigid’s College – are in the city’s Playhouse theatre to listen to Leo Varadkar, who is about to deliver a speech outlining his thoughts on the next steps towards a referendum on Irish unity as the guest of the SDLP’s New Ireland Commission. First, though, there is work to be done.
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Varadkar and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, the outgoing SDLP leader, move from table to table as each group writes down their hopes and fears for the future – and their aspirations for wider society – with big fluorescent markers.
The word “safe” comes up a lot; so too does the desire for a peaceful future, for more university places in their home city and the chance of a job here rather than having to move away.
“I really enjoyed that we were able to give our perspective on the issue,” says Jenna McLaughlin from St Mary’s College. “I want a united Ireland, and people are obviously going to have varying opinions, but it’s not a thing we talk about.”
“It is something that comes up in my household,” says Becca Connolly, also from St Mary’s. “We talk about politics in general, and I have my views and my parents have the same views, but I’m open to having conversations with other people who have opposite views.”
“I think I have to learn more about it,” says her friend Anna Mallon. “I don’t think I know enough about it, actually, to make a full-on decision about it.”
“I would have wanted a united Ireland anyway, but hearing what Leo [Varadkar] was saying, it makes a stronger case for it, that you’ll get actual benefits from it,” says Dobbins.
Acknowledged in Varadkar’s speech – and discussed in the room – was how to make the debate around unification an inclusive one. It did not go unnoticed by the pupils that, while all the city’s second-level schools were invited, only Catholic institutions chose to take part.
“When I came into the room I noticed it was all Catholic schools and I thought, well that’s not really fair, it’s a talk for everybody, not just nationalists,” said Evan Curran from St Joseph’s College.
“The main reason we’re having these conversations is so we know what we’re getting into. If there’s a united Ireland and unionists aren’t happy, or republicans aren’t happy with unionists not being happy, there’s going to be riots, even conflict, so for it to prosper it needs to be a safe environment for everyone, no matter what your background is.”
“If it’s an all-inclusive conversation about a new Ireland, surely it shouldn’t all just be Catholics talking to each other? Surely unionists and Protestant schools should be also engaging in this conversation as well,” said Jayden Nixon, also from St Joseph’s.
“I think it’s hard for them, because I wouldn’t really go to a talk about giving the Republic back to them [the UK],” says Dobbins. “It would be a first step, but it’s hard to take.”
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